When the Intel Rocket Lake processor was first released, the company had a difficult time deciding which motherboard would be the best fit for its new processor. The processor is a major upgrade over the previous generation of Intel processors, and the new architecture has some interesting changes.
If you’re looking for a motherboard that can handle the power of the Intel Rocket Lake processor, the Asus Tuf Gaming B560m Plus is a great option. This motherboard features a whopping 128GB of DDR4 memory support, which should be enough to handle most gaming requirements.
In this post, we’ll look at the new features, current availability, and price range of the Intel Rocket Lake processor and determine which motherboard will give you the most bang for your buck.
Best B560 ATX Motherboard:
There are not many good ATX b560 boards with reasonable prices. Still three notable ones:
Asrock B560 Pro4
Quite affordable with 6+2 phase VRM that can handle the i5 range comfortably and locked i7s with good airflow with RGB/ARGB headers.
The primary cons are outlook, 1GB LAN, and Asrock bios often not liked by many.
Asus PRIME H570-PLUS
A great board with affordable pricing. It has 6+2 phase VRM and is decent for locked i5/i7 CPUs.
Aorus B560 Pro AX
Currently, this is our top recommendation for the B560 ATX board with 12+1 50A DrMos power stages, which can handle pretty much any high-end CPU for a good cause.
All the features like 2.5G land, wifi 6, high-end audio, and RGB/ARGB are available. Probably this one is best for users who don’t overlock much but still want a high-end CPU.
Best High End B560 Micro-ATX Motherboard:
There are a couple of micro ATX boards now in the mid-high range. But our top recommendations are:
Asus Tuf Gaming B560m Plus
Hands down the best micro ATX board currently on the market. With a solid 8+1 Drmos power stage that can handle pretty much any high-end CPU and bundled all features including 2.5g Lan. The only cons can be not that high end audio and yellow accents!
ASRock B560M Steel Legend
Another solid board with 8+2 Drmos power stages and all the necessary features. Great for a white-themed build. The only cons are the heatsink design and price could be better to make it competitive over Asus TuF.
MSI B560M Mortar
NOT RECOMMENDED: Avoid it totally.
Mortar is a black sleek board with 12+1 phase discreet Mosfet VRM, and all the necessary features and wifi version might be white mixed. Although this is indeed a capable board, we would prefer to see power stages instead of VRM, which are much better than traditional phases.
But still, this is an excellent board for handling any high-end processor.
Aorus B560M Elite
The same black and sleek design board with similar VRM as mortar with all necessary features. Capable of handling any high-end locked processor in a good case. The only cons we would prefer is to be slightly lower in price to be more competitive over TUF unless someone chooses full black and Aorus!
Quick Note: Integrated power stages are usually much better in terms of efficiency and performance than traditional phase design. Thus Asus Tuf and steel legend are better with fewer phase counts over mortar and elite.
Best Budget B560 Micro-ATX Motherboard:
ASRock B560M Pro4
This is the best budget b560 board you can get right now. With 6+2 phase VRM and decent features with RGB/ARGB headers. It is almost perfect for i5 and could be okay for locked i7 with good airflow.
Gigabyte B560M DS3H AC
With the 6+2 phase, If you want to pair an i5 and need wifi, then this is a decent consideration in a good airflow case. It consists RGB/ARGB headers. The price could be lower, though nothing that stands out.
Boards To Keep In Mind:
MSI B560M Pro VDH Wifi
NOT RECOMMENDED normally.
Avoid it unless you pair a 10th gen CPU since it will support both NVME slots.
This board has a 5+2 phase design is a decent-looking blackboard to pair with i5. However, if the price is 110$ range, then it should be considered over DS3H as the heatsink design is much better.
MSI B560M Bazooka
With a 5+2 phase design as Pro VDH, it has a better heatsink. Although we prefer MSI didn’t ruin the look with a green color accent. But if that doesn’t bother you and is priced around 100 bucks, then definitely a good choice.
Quick Note: If you want to pair a 10th gen CPU on b560, so far, some models of MSI seem to support both SSD slots as mentioned in the spec. Some users have said gigabyte also supported SSD on the top slot even though it was not mentioned officially. As of Asus, it is not formally mentioned, or no user feedback has been found yet.
Conclusion
In conclusion, we have a lot of choices when it comes to choosing a motherboard. Still, there are three main factors that you need to consider before you make your choice: price, compatibility with the CPU, and overclocking ability.
The Intel Rocket Lake processors are currently the greatest mainstream CPU series.
These new processors from Intel will be replacing the same or old generation of AMD CPUs.
As such, you should definitely consider getting one of the best motherboards for Intel Rocket Lake if you intend to build a new PC.