Gigabyte is one of the most popular PC component manufacturers in the space. From motherboards to graphics cards, Gigabyte makes a lot of components that are essential for a PC build. In this article, we’ll be taking a look at the best Gigabyte motherboards you can buy right now. Gigabyte is perhaps the first name that comes to mind while discussing motherboards. There are a ton of Gigabyte motherboards on the market, so we’ll try to make the purchase decision easier for you by filtering out some of the best ones that are worth considering. We’re also including some new Z690 chipset-based LGA 1700 motherboards for Intel’s new Alder Lake chips. This ever-evolving list will be updated over time to include the best motherboards as they’re launched, so be sure to stay tuned. With that out of the way, let’s get started with the list:
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- Best Z690 motherboard: Gigabyte Z690 Aorus Xtreme
- Affordable Z690 motherboard: Gigabyte Z690 Aorus Ultra
- Best Z690 motherboard with DDR4 support: Gigabyte Z690 Aero G DDR4
- Best Z590 motherboard: Gigabyte Z590 Aorus Tachyon
- Best B550 motherboard: Gigabyte B550 Aorus Elite AX V2
- Best Mini ITX X570 Motherboard: Gigabyte X570-I Aorus Pro Wi-Fi
Best Z690 motherboard: Gigabyte Z690 Aorus Xtreme
The Gigabyte Z690 Aorus Xtreme is one of the most expensive Gigabyte motherboards you can buy right now. In fact, it’s one of the most expensive Z690 motherboards on the market, going head-to-head with the best ASUS motherboards offerings. For $899, Gigabyte is offering what we think is the best high-performance board you can buy. The Gigabyte Z690 Aorus Xtreme is an E-ATX motherboard that’s perfect for a mid-tower to a full tower PC case. This particular motherboard comes with all the bell and whistles you’d expect a premium board to have.
The Gigabyte Z690 Aorus Xtreme features a robust 20+1+2 phase configuration. Each power stage can handle 105 amps of current. This means the Gigabyte Z690 Aorus Xtreme is capable of handling more overall power than any other motherboard out there. It’s a perfect option for those who’re looking to overclock the most demanding CPUs out there like the Intel Core i9-12900K. The VRM cooling is also perfectly capable of handling demanding needs. It’s got a sophisticated cooling solution to keep it cool at all times.
Almost the entire PCB of the Gigabyte Z690 Aorus Xtreme is covered in metal. This even includes the DDR5 RAM slots. You can buy third-party coolers to keep the RAM modules cool, but this is the only Z690 motherboard on the market to have a custom heatsink for the RAM modules built-in. This particular motherboard also has a lot of RGB lights. There’s a total of customizable RGB zones on the board. You can use a wide variety of software to create quite the light show inside the case with this motherboard.
Next to the LGA 1700, the Gigabyte Z690 Aorus Xtreme sports four DIMM slots. You can install up to 128GB of DDR5 memory and the board supports DDR5 XMP up to 6600MHz memory speeds. You’ll probably have a hard time buying DDR5 modules with that kind of memory speed, but it’s safe to say that the motherboard is ready for a high-performance build. Notably, the Gigabyte Z690 Aorus Xtreme also comes with two full-sized PCIe 5.0 x16 slots. Both of these slots are reinforced and they feature a stainless steel design with shielding.
The Gigabyte Z690 Aorus Xtreme sports as many as four M.2 slots for storage with support for PCIe 4.0 modules. Additionally, you also get six SATA connectors with support for RAID 0,1, 5, and 10. The motherboard is also fully equipped to accommodate a ton of I/O. The pre-installed I/O shield at the back covers a range of ports including 12 USB ports, 2 ethernet ports, an optical S/PDIF jack, 2 audio jacks, and more. You don’t get an HDMI or a DisplayPort, but that’s not really a necessity since you’ll most likely be using a discrete GPU for your build if you’re buying this motherboard. Overall, the Gigabyte Z690 Aorus Xtreme is an excellent motherboard that’s capable of handling even the most demanding CPUs out there. We recommend pairing this kind of high-performance motherboard with a 12900K for high-end gaming or content creation rig.
- The Gigabyte Z690 Aorus Xtreme is one of the most expensive and feature-packed Z690 motherboards you can buy right now.
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Alternate Z690 motherboard pick: Gigabyte Z690 Aorus Master
The Gigabyte Z690 Aorus Master may not be as expensive as the Aorus Extreme motherboard we just saw, but we think it’s just as good. It lacks some of the premium features but the Aorus Master is a solid Z690 motherboard for those looking to build a new Alder Lake chip-based PC right now. This particular motherboard also comes with a black-colored PCB with a ton of metal shroud cover covering a lot of components. The VRM heatsink is also sophisticated enough to keep it cool even under heavy load.
The Gigabyte Z690 Aorus Master also sports a 19+1+2 configuration of 105 amp power stages. It can deliver plenty of power even for the most demanding Alder Lake CPUs out there. You can pair with any of the existing Alder Lake CPUs out there but it’s best if you opt this for a high-end build with a 12900K. The VRM is covered with a sophisticated heatsink that should be enough to keep the thermal output in check. The bottom portion of the board is also covered with a metal shroud, covering the M.2 slots. This particular motherboard comes with a full-sized PCIe 5.0 x16 slot with reinforced armor. Notably, you also get support for DDR5 memory modules, but there’s no built-in heatsink for the modules on this one.
The Gigabyte Z690 Aorus Master will let you install up to 128GB of DDR5 memory with support for up to XMP 6400+ speeds. Again, it’s not as fast as the ones you can install on the Aorus Xtreme motherboard, but it’s still plenty for a high-end build. You also get two RGB zones that can be customized with any RGB Fusion 2.0 software. There’s are plenty of customization options to choose from, and we think it adds a nice touch of RGB to the overall build inside the PC case. You get two more PCIe x16 slots in addition to the one mentioned above. For storage, we’re looking at four M.2 connectors and six SATA connectors with support for RAID 0,1,5, and 10.
The Gigabyte Z690 Aorus Master comes with a pre-installed I/O shield and it covers a variety of ports. You get as many as 11 USB ports which include two Type C ports. There’s also an RJ-45 port and a DisplayPort for those who want to use an integrated GPU. As a high-end motherboard, you also get plenty of headers on the PCB for connecting a lot of different peripherals including RGB lights, fans/pumps, USB devices, and more. Overall, we think the Gigabyte Z690 Aorus Master is a solid motherboard with an LGA 1700 CPU socket. Sure, it’s not the best of what Gigabyte has to offer, but it comes close. We particularly like how it’s not going to be the most expensive component in your build like the Aorus Xtreme board. You can always step down to something that’s a bit more affordable, but we think the Aorus Master strikes a good balance between price, performance, and the features on offer.
- The Gigabyte Z690 Aorus Master is a great alternative to the more expensive Aorus Xtreme motherboard.
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Affordable Z690 motherboard: Gigabyte Z690 Aorus Ultra
The Gigabyte Z690 Aorus Ultra is a significant step down in terms of the pricing, but it’s still an excellent motherboard to consider your new Alder Lake PC build. This particular motherboard features Intel’s Z690 Express chipset along with an LGA 1700 CPU socket. You can use this particular board with pretty much any Alder Lake CPUs out there. Currently, Intel has only launched the Core i5-12600K, Core i7-12700K, and the Core i9-12900K CPUs, so these are your only options. The best thing about this particular motherboard is that it supports both DDR5 memory and the new PCIe 5.0, which means it’s a great option for building a futureproof PC.
The Gigabyte Z690 Aorus Ultra supports up to 128GB of DDR5 memory with up to DDR5-6200 memory speeds. This means you’ll be able to pair it with even the most powerful DDR5 RAM modules out there on the market. It also supports Intel’s Extreme Memory Profile (XMP) memory modules, which is great. It goes without saying that you won’t be able to use DDR4 memory modules with this motherboard, though. You’ll have to buy a different board for that if you’re planning to carry your old DDR4 kit.
The Gigabyte Z690 Aorus Ultra also features a full-sized PCIe 5.0 x16 slot for all the new supported peripherals whenever they come out. You also get two more PCIe x16 slots, running at x4. These also conform to PCIe 3.0 standard. For those who’re still using a dual GPU setup, you’ll be happy to know that this motherboard also supports that. For storage, the Gigabyte Z690 Aorus Ultra features four M.2 connectors and six SATA connectors with support for RAID 0,1,5, and 10. This should be enough to dish out a high-end PC with plenty of storage onboard.
This particular motherboard features a 16+1+2 phase design for carrying 105 amps of power. It also supports overclocking, which means you will be able to take advantage of the new unlocked Alder Lake chips and push them to their limits. The VRM heatsink also keeps the modules cool at all times, which is good to maintain a stable performance. There’s not much in the name of RGB lights on this board and it’s subtle enough to showcase some sort of customization.
The Gigabyte Z690 Aorus Ultra comes with a pre-installed I/O shield and it covers a decent selection of ports at the back. It includes 13 USB ports, a DisplayPort for those using an integrated GPU to boot, an RJ-45 port for the internet, an optical S/PDIF out connector, and two audio jacks. You also have a ton of headers for all the additional peripherals that you may want to connect like RGB lights, fans, USB peripherals, and more.
All in all, the Gigabyte Z690 Aorus Ultra is a fantastic motherboard that offers plenty of great features at a relatively affordable price. It’s not as expensive as the other Z690 boards we’ve mentioned in this collection, and it’s a great option for a wide variety of Alder Lake builds.
- The Gigabyte Z690 Aorus Ultra is a relatively affordable motherboard with Intel's Z690 chipset and an LGA 1700 socket.
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Best Z690 motherboard with DDR4 support: Gigabyte Z690 Aero G DDR4
We understand not everybody is looking to get their hands on DDR5 modules just yet for their PC builds. The new DDR5 memory modules are great, but there’s no denying that they’re super expensive and very hard to come by. DDR4 is still a fantastic option for your new build and it’s also supported by the new Alder Lake chips. If you’re in the market to buy a new motherboard with DDR4 memory support for your Alder Lake PC build, then we recommend picking up the Gigabyte Aero G DDR4 motherboard.
The Gigabyte Z690 Aero G DDR4 is one of the most affordable Z690 motherboards in this collection. It features Intel’s new Z690 chipset and it also carries the new LGA 1700 CPU socket for these new CPUs. Gigabyte has managed to keep the overall cost of this board low by ditching some features, but you won’t necessarily miss those features as a budget shopper. The all-black PCB of this motherboard, as you can see, features some white shroud coverings to add a bit of contrast. The board also features RGB lights, so it’s not entirely devoid of customization for the price.
This ATX form factor motherboard features a robust power delivery system to push even the most demanding Alder Lake CPUs out there. Despite the affordable price tag, this motherboard is very much capable of handling the Core i9-12900K CPU with overclocked speeds. That being said, the performance may be limited with high-performance CPUs, so you’re better using something like the Core i5-12600K with this motherboard. For memory, you can install up to 128GB of DDR4 RAM kit with up to DDR4-5300 memory speeds. It also supports XMP profile memory modules, so that’s good too. Since it supports DDR4 memory modules, you won’t be able to install DDR5 memory kits on this board. You’ll have to buy a new supported motherboard for that, so do keep this in mind.
That being said, you won’t be missing out on all the new fancy Alder Lake features. The Gigabyte Aero G DDR4 motherboard comes with support for PCIe 5.0 with a full-sized X16 slot running the show. You get two more x16 slots that conform to PCIe 3.0 standards. The M.2 connectors support PCIe 4.0 modules are hidden under the shroud. Additionally, you also get up to six SATA connectors on this motherboard with support for RAID 0,1,5, and 10.
The Gigabyte Aero G motherboard also comes with plenty of ports at the back. The I/O shield comes pre-installed out of the box, which means that’s one step less while building the PC. The rear panel ports include as many as 10 USB ports, an HDMI and a DisplayPort for onboard graphics support to boot without a discrete GPU, an RJ-45 jack, a S/PDIF port, and more. You get a lot of value for your money with this motherboard. It’s our pick for the best Z690 motherboard with DDR4 memory support, but it also happens to be an affordable motherboard option on the market.
- The Gigabyte Z690 Aero G is a solid option for those looking to carry their DDR4 modules for a new Alder Lake PC build.
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Best Z590 motherboard: Gigabyte Z590 Aorus Tachyon
The Gigabyte Z590 Aorus Tachyon is one of the most powerful motherboards you can buy for your Intel PC build. It features the Intel Z590 chipset and LGA 1200 CPU socket which means it can be used with Intel’s 10th and 11th gen processors. You might want to check out the Z690 motherboards listed above if you’re looking to build a new PC with Intel’s Alder Lake CPUs. The Tachyon motherboard, as you can see, is a tall E-ATX board with an all-black PCB.
The Gigabyte Z590 Aorus Tachyon features a direct 12-phase VRM with 100A power stages for reliable power delivery. The VRM is kept cool by the heatsink that’s covered with the extended rear panel cover. This particular board is known for handling even the most demanding CPUs on the market with overclocking support. In fact, this is one of the best motherboards you can buy for your overclocking needs, and it’s highly popular in the overclocking community. There’s not much in the name of customization, but you do see the Tachyon text on the VRM heatsink cover on the top along with the Aorus logo at the bottom.
The best thing about this motherboard is that it also supports memory overclocking. You’ll be able to boost the memory timings of your DDR4 memory modules further with tight timings. It’ll come at a cost of high voltage, though, so do keep that in mind. That being said, you’ll be able to high-performance DDR4 modules right out of the box without having to overclock, so it’s not a big deal, really. It only supports DDR4 modules and that’s because both 10th and 11th gen Intel processors don’t support the DDR5 memory standard.
You get a total of four PCIe x16 slots on this motherboard, out of which one is running at x16. This is the reinforced slot on this motherboard, so it’s perfect for installing your GPU. You also get a slot running at x8, x4, and x1 and both the X4 and x1 slots conform to PCIe 3.0 standard. Dual GPU support is also available on this board for those of you who’re still interested in that. For storage, the Gigabyte Z590 Aorus Tachyon sports a total of three M.2 connectors hidden under the shroud for cooling. Additionally, you also get six SATA connectors with support for RAID 0,1,5, and 10.
As for the ports at the back, the Z590 Aorus Tachyon sports up to 8 USB ports, an HDMI out, an ethernet port, and audio ports. You also get the legacy PS/2 keyboard and mouse port, which is a nice addition. The I/O shield, however, isn’t installed out of the box. You also get a ton of other headers for your RGB lights, USB ports, fans, and pumps. Overall, the Z590 Aorus Tachyon from Gigabyte is a solid motherboard. We know a lot of you are sticking to the older Intel processors for your build and this motherboard is a great option for that.
- The Gigabyte Z590 Aorus Tachyon is one of the best motherboards for those leaning towards an Intel CPU for their build. It's offers a good mix of features and relaible performance even for the most demanding builds.
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Alternate best Z590 motherboard: Gigabyte Z590 Vision G
The Gigabyte Vision G is essentially the Z590 version of the newer Z690 Aero G motherboard we’ve listed above. These motherboards from Gigabyte are built for creator-centric PCs, and they offer a good set of features for the price. Much like the Z690 Aero G, the Z590 Vision G from Gigabyte also comes with distinct black and white aesthetics. It’s a breath of freshness among the pool of black-colored motherboards that we’ve been seeing on the market lately. This is also suitable for those looking to build a new PC with an all-white aesthetics.
Gigabyte has kept the over aesthetics very minimal with just a few RGB lights. You can see the Vision branding on top of the VRM heatsink cover along with a Gigabyte branding towards the bottom. This motherboard, as the name suggests comes with Intel’s Z590 chipset, which means it’s good building a PC using one of the older 10th or 11th gen Intel CPUs. It also carries the LGA 1200 CPU socket for the same, which is great.
The Gigabyte Z590 Vision G is suitable for a high-performance build. It comes with a potent VRM for reliable power delivery to the CPU. The motherboard is proven to handle even the demanding CPUs on the market, so you should have no issues dishing out a high-performance content creation workstation with this board. It comes with four DIMM slots with support for up to 128GB of RAM. It supports up to DDR4-4800 memory speeds, making it a highly reliable option for a high-end build. Just like every other motherboard on this list, this one also supports an XMP profile for better memory speeds, which is a nice addition.
When it comes to expansion slots, we’re looking at three PCIe x16 slots out of which two conform to PCIe 3.0 standard and run at x4. The x16 slot on the top is reinforced to be used with modern GPUs. For storage, you get a couple of M.2 slots that are covered by the heat-spreader to keep the temperatures in check. Additionally, you can also connect as many as six SATA ports with support for RAID 0,1,5, and 10. This motherboard is also ready for Intel’s Optane memory if you wish to go with that.
As for the ports, the Vision G carries a decent amount of ports at the back along with a bunch of headers to support additional peripherals. You get a total of 10 USB ports at the back including two USB Type-C ports. You also get an RJ-45 jack, an HDMI port, and a full stack of audio jacks. As a high-end board, you also get enough headers to connect other after-market peripherals including RGB controllers, fans, cooling pumps, and more. Overall, this is a fantastic Z590 motherboard that doesn’t skimp on any important features. It’s also not as expensive as most other Z590 motherboards on the market, so that’s great too. You can always step up to more expensive options, but we think this should be enough for most users who’re looking to dish out a relatively high-end PC.
- The Gigabyte Vision G is a great motherboard that carries the Intel Z590 chipset and an LGA 1200 socket for both 10th and 11th gen Intel Core processors.
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Best B550 motherboard: Gigabyte B550 Aorus Elite AX V2
If you don’t want to spend a lot of money on a motherboard buying the best CPU chipset for your AMD build, then you can consider going for a B550 motherboard. There are plenty of B550 motherboards on the market and Gigabyte itself makes a lot of reliable ones. The Gigabyte B550 Aorus Elite AX V2 is our pick for the best B550 motherboard you can buy right now. It’s an inexpensive board that offers a lot of great features including a sophisticated cooling solution for the VRM, M.2 slots with heat-spreaders, and more.
As the name suggests, the Gigabyte B550 Aorus Elite AX V2 carries the B550 chipset for AMD builds. It also comes with an AM4 CPU socket which means it’s good to be used with both Ryzen 5000 and the Ryzen 3000 series CPUs. AMD’s B550 chipset is known to be very reliable for the overall performance of the build, and this is one of the best boards you’ll find with this particular chipset. The B550 Aorus Elite AX V2 also comes with a sophisticated VRM heatsink to keep it cool at all times, regardless of the load. Overclocking is also an option with this motherboard, however, we don’t necessarily recommend using the most powerful Ryzen CPUs with this board. We think the Ryzen 5 5600X would be a good pair for it.
This particular motherboard also comes with four DIMM slots with support for up to 128GB of memory. Gigabyte says it supports memory speeds of up to DDR4-4733, which is pretty solid. You also get support for the XMP profile to further increase the speeds with overclocking. As for the expansion slot, we’re looking at three full-sized PCIe x16 slots and a single x1 slot at the bottom. Only the top-most slot supports PCIe 4.0 while the rest of the conform to PCIe 3.0 standard. For storage, you get two M.2 connectors along with six SATA connectors with support for RAID 0,1,5, and 10. Having only two M.2 connectors could be a deal-breaker for many but its’ not really considering this is a budget-centric motherboard. You’ll have to opt for an expensive one to get more M.2 connectors.
Despite the relatively affordable price tag, the Gigabyte B550 Aorus Elite AX V2 comes with a pre-installed I/O shield. You also get a decent selection of ports at the back. It includes seven USB ports, a single HDMI and a DisplayPort, an RJ-45 port, and a full stack of audio ports. Additionally, you also get a ton of internal I/O connectors on this motherboard including headers for fans, RGB lights, pumps, and more. Overall, we think the Gigabyte Aorus B550 Elite AX V2 is one of the best B550 boards you can get on the market right now. It’s not as expensive as a lot of other ports, yet it offers plenty of useful features. Gigabyte also makes other B550 boards, but we think the Elite AX V2 is the one you should consider buying.
- The Gigabyte B550 Aorus Elite AX V2 is a solid motherboard for the price. It offers all the important features and reliable performance, all while keeping the price relatively low.
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Best Mini ITX X570 Motherboard: Gigabyte X570-I Aorus Pro Wi-Fi
The Gigabyte X570 Aorus is a relatively old motherboard but we think it’s still one of the best ones you can buy for your mini-ITX build. Gigabyte happens to have some of the best motherboards for a mini-ITX PC, and this one’s definitely up there on the top with other options on the market. This particular motherboard, as the name suggests, features an X570 chipset for an AMD build. It also carries the AM4 socket which means it’s compatible with Ryzen 5000 series, Ryzen 3000 series CPUs on the market.
The Gigabyte X570 isn’t the most premium mini-ITX motherboards you can buy. However, it offers plenty of great features for a solid build. It features a robust power delivery system for reliable power delivery to the components. We don’t necessarily recommend using a high-performance CPU for a mini-ITX build, but it’s safe to say that this motherboard will definitely be able to handle the load. We think this motherboard would be a solid pair for a mid-range CPU like the Ryzen 5 5600X. You get two DIMM slots next to the AM4 socket with support for up to 64GB RAM.
Gigabyte says the motherboard supports up to DDR4-5300 memory speeds, which is pretty good for even the best AMD CPUs out there on the market. It also comes with support for extreme memory profile (XMP) memory modules, so that’s a nice addition too. We think it’s a good time to remind you that this motherboard doesn’t support the new DDR5 memory standard. None of the existing AMD CPUs on the market support the DDR5 memory standard, so we’ll only start seeing compatible motherboards around the launch of new AMD CPUs.
The Gigabyte X570 motherboard also comes with three full-sized x16 PCIe slots. Two of them run at x16 while the last one conforms to PCIe 3.0 and runs at x8. It’s not much but it’s still plenty to install one of the newer 30-series GPU. For storage, you get a couple of M.2 connectors and four SATA connectors with support for RAID 0,1, and 10. This motherboard comes with a pre-installed I/O shield and covers a decent array of ports. You get 6 USB ports including a USB Type C port, an RJ-45 connector, a DisplayPort and an HDMI for integrated onboard graphics, and a set of audio jacks.
Despite the small size of this motherboard, it comes with a decent set of headers for fans, RGB, USB, and more. A lot of motherboards for SFF builds tend to skimp on the headers, but Gigabyte has done a rather decent job of retaining as many as they could given the size. Overall, we think this is a solid motherboard for your mini-ITX build. It also looks fairly simple with little to no RGB bling. We think it’s perfect for those looking to dish out a minimal SFF build. You can grab the variant of this board with an Intel chipset and support LGA socket, so that’s not really an issue either.
- The Gigabyte X570-I Aorus Pro Wi-Fi is one of the very mini-ITX motherboards that's worthy of being added to this collection. Despite the form-factor, the X570-I packs a ton of features and offers reliable performance for even the most demanding SFF build.
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Best Gigabyte motherboards you can buy in 2021: Final Thoughts
Gigabyte, as we mentioned earlier, is a popular name in the PC hardware space with a lot of great products under its belt. The company also makes some of our favorite motherboards on the market. From expensive gaming motherboards to relatively affordable creator-centric boards, we’ve added a lot of good motherboards to this ever-evolving list. The Gigabyte Z590 Aorus Tachyon is what we think is the best Gigabyte motherboard for those looking to build an Intel-based PC right now. AMD users can rely on the B550 Aorus Elite AX V2 as a solid platform for their build. We’ve also included some Z690 motherboards in the collection for those looking to build a high-performance PC with one of the new Intel Alder Lake chips.
Depending on your processor of choice, you can also check out our dedicated collections of the best motherboards for Intel chips or the best motherboards for AMD chips. These collections have some really good options and they’ll save you a lot of time combing through each unit. We also encourage you to join our XDA Computing Forums to have discussions and get more product recommendations from our community members.
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