10 Best Motherboards for i9 9900K

Intel’s i9-9900K is one of the best processors for extreme gaming and streaming performance. It can turn itself into a beast when combined with the right components. For gaming enthusiasts, it has all the ingredients for ultimate performance. 

It is also an absolute powerhouse for content creators with 8 cores and 16 threads. Nevertheless, complementing this processor with the right motherboard can be a tough job. Truth is, with all different sorts of sockets and chipsets, it can become confusing. To make things easier for you, we’ve researched and thoroughly examined the market for the best motherboards for the i9 9900k processor. 

Let’s get down to business. 

10 Best Motherboards for i9 9900K

1. Best High-Performance Motherboard for i9 9900K  – Gigabyte Z390 AORUS Xtreme
2. Best Budget Motherboard for i9 9900k – MSI Z390-A PRO LGA1151
3. Best Mid-range Motherboard for i9 9900k – Asus Prime Z390-A Motherboard
4. Best ATX Motherboard for i9 9900k – MSI MPG Z390 Gaming Plus
5. Best Micro-ATX Motherboard for i9 9900k – MSI MPG Z390M Gaming Edge
6. Best RGB Gaming Motherboard for i9 9900k – GIGABYTE Z390 AORUS ULTRA
7. Best Motherboard for i9 9990k and RTX 2080 ti – GIGABYTE Z390 AORUS PRO
8. Best mini-ITX Motherboard for i9 9900k – MSI MPG Z390I Gaming Edge
9. Best Z390 Budget Motherboard for i9 9900k – GIGABYTE Z390 Ultra Durable
10. Best High-end Motherboard for i9 9900k – ASUS ROG Maximus XI Hero

QUICK SUMMARY:

Image	Motherboard	Features	Price
High-Performance	Gigabyte Z390 AORUS Xtreme Premium Build  Triple M.2 Slots Supports up to 128 GB DDR4 RAM Supports PCIe 4.0 mode RGB Fusion	9.8	Check Price
Best Budget	MSI Z390-A PRO Support 64 GB DDR4 RAM (OC) Powerful VRM USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type A+C NVMe SSD Slot Compaitble with MicroATX	9.1	Check Price
Best Mid-range	Asus Prime Z390-A Supports max DDR4 64GB (4200+ OC) USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type (A+C) Intel Optane Ready  Dual M.2 Slots  Asus Aura Sync Compliant	9.3	Check Price
Best ATX	MSI MPG Z390 Gaming Plus Dual M.2 Slots  Intel Optane Ready RAM support for 64GB DDR4 (OC) AMD Crossfire Compatible  Dual-Display Output (HDMI+DVI)	9.4	Check Price
Best MicroATX	MSI MPG Z390M Gaming Edge OC RAM Support – 64GB (4400+ Mhz) Twin Turbo Dual M.2 Slots USB 3.1 Gen 1 Dual Type C ports Water Pump Connector SLI and Crossfire Compatible	9.6	Check Price
Best RGB Gaming	GIGABYTE Z390 AORUS ULTRA 12+1 Powerful VRM Triple M.2 NVMe Slots USB 3.1 Gen 2  Onboard WiFi RAM support up to 64GB DDR4	9.5	Check Price
Best Mobo for RTX 2080	GIGABYTE Z390 AORUS PRO 13 Power Phase Design Premium Build  128GB DDR4 RAM support (OC) Dual NVMe M.2 Slots Extensive Heatsink Design	9.5	Check Price
Best Mini ITX	MSI MPG Z390I Gaming Edge Supports up to 32GB DDR4  Dual NVMe Turbo M.2 Slots Dedicated heatsinks USB 3.1 Gen 2 HDMI Output	9.2	Check Price
Best Z390	GIGABYTE Z390 Ultra Durable 12 Phase Digital VRM  Solid Build Quality RAM OC up to 4133 MHz (64GB Max) PCIe Gen 3 NVMe M.2 Slot HDMI output	9.3	Check Price
Best High-end	ASUS ROG Maximus XI Hero 10 Phase Powerful VRM Layout Extended Heatsinks  Dual CPU Power Connectors 64 GB DDR4 RAM (4400+ MHz) USB 3.1 Gen 2 (Type A+C)	9.9	Check Price

Best High-Performance Motherboard for i9 9900K

Gigabyte Z390 AORUS Xtreme

Z390 Arous Xtreme bonds extreme performance with perfect integration. Various features make this motherboard stay ahead of the pack. It features a USB thunderbolt turbocharger, great for gaming enthusiasts for fast charging portable devices. Furthermore, the motherboard features three m.2 slots that can run both PCI 3.0e and PCIe 4.0. 

The bottom line with PCI e4.0? 

The new PCIe 4.0 module can shunt around 16Gb/s of data across the more modern SSDs and graphic cards. In simple words, extreme and seamless performance. Additionally, the motherboard incorporates two 8-pin CPU connectors to provide sufficient resources for overclocking.

The chipset can easily handle those extreme and rugged gaming sessions with an advanced 16-phase digital VRM cooling configuration. This feature ensures VRM temperatures remain under control no matter how hard you go at it.  Along the back, we have a couple of LED strip headers and two RGB LED strip headers. Furthermore, the motherboard comes with Aorus’s RGB fan commander. This control hub lets you connect additional fan headers and RGB lighting strips. 

For memory, the motherboard can support up to 128 GB of RAM via 4 DIMM slots, each at a clock speed of 4400MHz. Overall, this z390 chipset adopts an aesthetic design that’s ideal for modern gamers. The PCB is in matte black with the rest of the housing, such as heat sinks and tops in gun metallic. The motherboard houses RGB lighting in multiple zones. These lights can be further customized to match your gaming setup with Gigabytes RGB Fusion software. 

One important thing to consider here is that this motherboard is only compatible with the ATX form factor.

Best Budget Motherboard for i9 9900k

MSI Z390-A PRO LGA1151

Declaring the MSI Z390-A motherboard, the best entry-level motherboard for i9-9900k wouldn’t be an understatement. The motherboard offers 4 DIMM slots that can handle a clock speed of 4400Mhz with a maximum capacity of 128GB. 

MSI has gone the extra mile with an extended heatsink on the VRM, offering ample cooling to dissipate the excessive heat. At the back, there is an abundance of all necessary I/O ports. Surprisingly, the I/O ports even include USB 3.1 and a USB-C connector. As for the aesthetics, it has a pretty nice looking layout. Even though it doesn’t have those gun metallic and matte black finish to it,  it looks pretty good in the coffee brown PCB

Unfortunately, this motherboard does not feature much of the fancy RGB or LED lighting to complement the aesthetics of your next gaming pc. The motherboard stumbles in storage, offering only one m.2 slot. Going down the drain, this is a catastrophe for people looking for expandable storage options. Nonetheless, the m.2 socket can fire up PCIe NVME SSDs with turbo transfer speeds up to 32Gb/s. 

Considering the price point, this motherboard is also slightly limited in its capacity for yielding great overclocking results, but it has an excellent performance in its store.

Best Mid-range Motherboard for i9 9900k

Asus Prime Z390-A Motherboard

ASUS simply delivered an ideal balance of affordability and a fully-featured motherboard with its Prime Z390 motherboard. In essence, this is a motherboard that contains all the essential features at the lowest price.

The motherboard features 4 DIMM slots, supporting up to 64GB of DDR 4 RAM, overclockable at 4266 MHZ.  In terms of storage, the motherboard has dual m.2 slots. These slots are integrated with Intel Optane Ready, capable of swapping data at a whopping 32 Gb/s. Ideally, both of these slots have thermal pads for better heat diffusion. 

On the I/O front, the motherboard offers both USB C and USB 3.1 sockets. The high point is that it even provides USB C via the front panel. The motherboard has a leading edge over its rivals in the cooling department. Both chipset and m2 slots are equipped with separate heatsink and heatshield, respectively. Additionally, there are 7 fan connectors. The connections are Asus’ AURA Sync compliant. In other words, the RGB components can synchronize colors. 

In terms of aesthetics, there are two RGB Strips. The shields are in plain silver and the PCB in matte black. The only downside is that it doesn’t feature a protective backplate and an addressable RGB connector. 

Best ATX Motherboard for i9 9900k

MSI MPG Z390 Gaming Plus

This Z390 Gaming Plus motherboard by MSI is part of their ‘MSI Performance Gaming’ line up. This lineup is entirely gaming and performance-centric, providing just the resources to optimally operate the latest i9-9900k processors and the latest RTX 2080ti graphic cards. In a nutshell, MSI has focused solely on providing all the modern gaming arena features with this Z390 motherboard. The quality is not compromised, which is surprising at this price point. 

Storage-wise, the motherboard is equipped with dual m.2 slots integrated with Intel’s Optane Ready technology. Intel’s Optane Technology powers SSDs to shunt around 32Gb/s of data across each other. The downside? Both these sockets do not feature heat sinks, integral for heat dissipation in such high-speed data transfers.

The primary m.2 slot is situated close to the PCI-e slot, which wouldn’t help much with the heat diffusion. The motherboard features dual-channel memory slots with up to 128GB of DDR 4 overclockable at 4.4 GHz on the memory front. The motherboard offers 6 PCIe slots, with the primary two PCIe slots capable of delivering up to 16x bus speed. The primary PCIe 16x slot is also metallically reinforced. The PCIe slots are not SLI compatible but do offer AMD crossfire compatibility. In simple words, you cannot operate two NVidia graphic cards together at once. However, with AMD’s Crossfire, it can optimally run two AMD graphic cards. 

As for the I/O housing, MSI takes the lead by extending the heat sink to cover the I/O module, which is impressive for heat dissipation. The chipset offers 7 PWM fan connectors. One of these PWM connectors even features the water pump, so if you’re looking for a build with custom water cooling, you’re on the right end. The I/O port offers 4 USB 3.1 2nd gen connectors, capable of transferring 5Gb/s data. Additionally, it has an HDMI, DVI input, and 8 channel audio ports. 

MSI could have done much better for aesthetics since it has only two LED strips with no RGB lighting. Nonetheless, the chipset features two RGB connectors to offer gaming enthusiasts to improve their aesthetics.

Best Micro-ATX Motherboard for i9 9900k

MSI MPG Z390M Gaming Edge

To take hold of the 390M Micro-ATX form factor, ‘MSI Performance Gaming’ Lineup introduced Gaming Edge. Identical to Gaming Plus, this motherboard offers considerable power to run Intel’s i9900k at optimal stock speeds. It features 4 DIMM slots that can support up to 64GB of DDR4 ram, overclockable up to 4400Mhz. With the dual-channel mode, the memory is configured to offer performance stability for extended overclocking sessions. 

On the storage front, the motherboard features twin-turbo dual M.2 slots. Similar to Gaming Plus, this motherboard is also instated with Intel Optane technology.  Since Intel Optane can offer up to 32Gb/s of data transfer speed, it also requires higher bandwidths. However, this motherboard falls short of providing a separate bandwidth gateway for these M.2 slots. The bandwidth for these M.2 slots is shared with on-board SATA ports. This motherboard’s I/O module offers 3 x USB 3.1 Gen 2 connectors and 6 x USB 3.1 Gen1 connectors with 2 x USB Type-C connectors. Ideally, the heatsink covers used for the VRM also cover the I/O shield. 

There are 2 PWM headers and 5 DC fans headers for performance-hungry enthusiasts looking for supplementary cooling. Out of these, the 4-pin water pump connector offers support for significant cooling during extreme overclocking potential.  There are 6 PCIe slots, with the two primary slots offering up to 16 times bandwidth, ideal for dual graphic card support. More importantly, the motherboard is both SLI and Crossfire compliant, offering gaming enthusiasts the compatibility to use dual NVidia or AMD cards. 

Even with a single RGB led strip along the back of the chipset, the motherboard looks elegant. Additionally, the motherboard also offers both RGB and addressable RGB headers. Therefore, it offers enough customization options for people looking to make the best out of their gaming PC.

Best RGB Gaming Motherboard for i9 9900k

GIGABYTE Z390 AORUS ULTRA

GIGABYTE has put itself directly on top of the competition with its Z390 AORUS ULTRA. This motherboard correctly engineers extreme performance along with gaming aesthetics. To throttle the best performance out of i9-9900K, it provides insane 12+1 VRM phases. This ensures the opportunity to overclock the 9th generation Intel Processor i9 9900k. 

It is understood, overclocking translates into heat. Therefore, the motherboard offers almost all the adequate heat dissipation features one may expect from a Z390 motherboard. The power-hungry components are covered with 2 heat sinks. These heatsinks are then extended to the MOSFETs via a heatpipe, ascertaining the best heat dissipation. 

It’s just not it! Focusing on the storage, it offers triple m.2 slots. At best, each slot retrieves NVMe support, and dedicated heat sinks. The motherboard features three x16 PCIe sockets, operational at x16, x8, x4. The primary socket has the highest bandwidth, i.e., x16, and it also has metallic support protection. 

On top of the board, you get 4 DIMM slots capable of supporting up to 64GB of DDR-4 4133Mhz RAM.  For the I/O part, there are six thunderbolt SATA slots, capable of 6Gb/s bandwidth speed. Additionally, there are 4 USB 3.1 Gen 2 connectors, a built-in Wi-Fi antenna powered by Intel’s 1.73Gb/s CNVi network. On the downside, the motherboard only has one display output, i.e., HDMI. There is no option to connect a secondary display. However, this is justifiable by the fact that modern gamers are not using integrated graphics anymore.

For extreme gamers, the motherboard also offers 5 smart fan headers with dedicated thermal sensors to ensure the desired cooling during those rugged sessions. It is worth mentioning here that the motherboard looks stunning with RGBs spread throughout the board. From the RGB strip around the real back panel to the RGB lighting on the front shields, this mobo catches the eyes like none other.

Best Motherboard for i9 9900k and RTX 2080 ti

GIGABYTE Z390 AORUS PRO

It goes without saying, GIGABYTE’s Z390 AORUS PRO can be considered as the most budget-friendly gaming motherboard for all the right reasons. It combines all the fantastic features required for rigorous performance and rendering of modern games. 

With 12-Phase VRMs, it offers excellent power delivery for extreme overclocking sessions without a sigh. The higher frequency of VRMs can evenly distribute the load for handling the resource-hungry Intel i9900k and RTX 2080 Ti. 

Despite the efficient VRMs, let’s admit that overclocking the CPU to its limits would trigger higher temperatures. For efficient thermal dissipation, the motherboard is fitted with heatsinks stretched out to the MOSFETs via heatpipe.  Over and above, the motherboard has a massive memory capacity. With quad DIMM slots, it supports up to 128GB, overclockable up to 4266 MHz. In all fairness, this is more than enough for any gaming rig. For storage, the motherboard incorporates dual m.2 slots. Both of these slots have dedicated thermal heatsinks. Unlike AORUS ULTRA, this motherboard does not have a third M.2 slot for a wireless card.

There are six four-pin fan headers spread across the board. Also, there are 6 PWM four-pin fan headers. To improve the aesthetics, you also get 4 lighting strip headers. The rear I/O module features three USB 3.1 1st Gen slots and two USB 3.1 Gen 2 connectors. A motherboard focused on gaming wouldn’t be complete without elegance. Aorus’ signature orange RGB lightning with matte black PCB is definitely exquisite.

Best mini-ITX Motherboard for i9 9900k

MSI MPG Z390I Gaming Edge

It is surprising how MSI has incorporated a ton of performance-boosting features into such a tiny motherboard. The motherboard offers dual-channel support for up to 64GB of DDR4 RAM, overclockable at a whooping 4600 MHZ. 

For the storage, the motherboard has dual m.2 slots. Both of these slots feature NVMe and Twin Turbo support, with speeds of up to 32Gb/s. This allows for five times faster data transfer speeds than the regular m.2 slots using SATA III connections. The downside, however, is that the board does not offer any heatsink over these M.2 slots. However, to optimize this mini-ITX motherboard for maximum cooling of VRMs and MOSFETs, MSI features extended heatsinks on top of the motherboard.

Now, much like the mini-ITX industry standard, the motherboard only has one PCI-e x16 slot, protected by MSI’s Steel Armour Protection. On the I/O side, the motherboard features a total of 10 USB connectors. Out of these 10, there are two USB 3.1 Gen 2, four USB 3.1 Gen 1, and two USB 2.0 connectors. There is also one HDMI output at the back panel. There is an exclusion of USB Type-C, however, which can prove to be a dealbreaker for some gaming enthusiasts.  

Aesthetically, the motherboard looks ripped with its black, grey, and silver contrast. However, if you’re looking for a flashing rig, the board has an additional 4-pin RGB header.

Best Z390 Motherboard for i9 9900k

GIGABYTE Z390 Ultra Durable

This motherboard can be asserted as the best Z390 gaming motherboard for all the good reasons. It packs all the powerful features and components under a budget that’s hard to believe in. The motherboard is loaded with 10+2 phases of digital VRM, making it a serious contender in the budget motherboards. The cherry on the top, it also has 6 temperature sensors spread across the board to ensure the VRMs along with the other energy-sensitive components stay cool during sturdy overclocking sessions.  

Moreover, the chipset on the board also features 4 fan connectors. These connectors can also support water pump cooling. Storage-wise, it offers one NVMe supported PCI Gen3 M.2 slot, which is engineered to reach up to 32 Gbps data transfer speeds.  For memory, the motherboard has 4 dual-channel DIMM sockets that can support up to 128GB of DDR4 memory. The XMP profile on the chipset is further enhanced, making it possible to overclock the DDR4s up to 4133 Mhz. 

On the I/O front, the motherboard includes a total of seven USB 3 Gen 1 connectors, one thunderbolt 5-pin header and 1 HDMI out slot on the back. The board includes 3 expansion slots on the motherboard. These slots are compatible with AMD Crossfire. The primary slot is dedicated to provide full bandwidth of x16 to empower newer graphic cards. The only shortcoming on this side is the exclusion of Nvidia SLI support for running multiple Nvidia graphic cards.  

To provide the most imminent features on a tight budget, Gigabyte has excluded any modern RGB features from this motherboard. Nonetheless, the motherboard layout is solid and elegant. The motherboard includes one RGB header for gaming enthusiasts who’d like to further complement the aesthetics.

Best High-end Motherboard for i9 9900k

ASUS ROG Maximus XI Hero

Last on the list is a beast. The ASUS ROG Maximus XI Hero is a powerful motherboard,  containing almost everything you need to build a perfect ATX gaming rig. The motherboard looks as premium as other motherboards from the Republic of Gamers series by ASUS. From matte black finish to other components in brushed metallic color, the motherboard looks groovy. The stylish illuminated ROG logo on the board is the icing on the cake. 

But that’s not it!  You have the option to further extend the class with the available RGB and addressable RGB headers. Also, the RGB structures across the motherboard are powered by Asus Aura Sync and fully customizable using the Aura software.

Looking into performance features, this motherboard really means business. It offers ample power for overclocking both 8th and 9th Gen Intel processors using 10 phase PWD. To deliver the required power to resource-hungry i9900k, the chipset offers both an 8-pin and 4-pin power connector. For optimal heat dissipation, this motherboard offers a lot. In fact, the motherboard reserves heatsink on almost all the required components, including the I/O module, dedicated heat sinks on both M.2 slots, and a heat sink above the PCH.  

In terms of storage, the motherboard has dual m.2 sockets configured with Intel Optane Ready. The primary M.2 slot can use both SATA and PCI bandwidth. However, ASUS loses out on bringing the same for the secondary M.2 slot, which only uses PCI bandwidth. On the memory front, it includes 4 DIMM slots, supporting a maximum capacity of 64 GB DDR 4 RAM. The rams can be overclocked up to 4400Mhz and beyond.  To push the boundaries further, this motherboard beefs up with 6 SATA ports and three PCIe x16 slots. Practically, the primary slot is only capable of delivering x16 bandwidth speeds, while the other two slots each offer x8 and x4 speeds, respectively.

Connectivity-wise, the motherboard is also fully stacked. On the front, it offers a front USB Gen 2 type-C connector and USB 3.1 Gen 1 connector. On the rear IO module, it offers one type C connector and three USB 3.1 Gen 2 ports. To consolidate for better heat dissipation, it also has 8 fan connectors, 6 chassis fan headers, and an additional CPU header. 

Factors To Consider While Choosing the Best Motherboard for Intel i9 9900k

The motherboard, inevitably, is the cornerstone of a good PC build. It’s the motherboard that determines the potential of how efficiently you can use the other core components of your system. 

Processor

Processors are installed on a motherboard via sockets. You should only buy a motherboard that offers the right socket for your processor. Since Intel’s 9th gen i9 9900k requires an LGA 1151 socket to be installed on a motherboard. Thus, before picking up the motherboard, make sure it has the compatible LGA 1151 socket for the CPU. 

Size

To give you the size flexibility to build your PCs, motherboard and cases comes in three form factors. In case you do not have any space constraints for your gaming setup, you can build a full-sized gaming rig. However, if you want to put your PC in your room, you may be limited to using a micro ATX or mini ITX form factor to save space.
Typically, large ATX motherboards offer more features than micro or mini ITX motherboards. Depending on this, you can decide on which form factor to choose.

RAM

While the processor is essential in handling the computational tasks, RAM ultimately stores all the temporary information and is vital for speed in games and applications. Most modern applications and games require significant memory to operate smoothly. Before choosing a motherboard, make sure it meets the memory requirements of your PC. When choosing a motherboard, you’ll most likely observe the designations for the RAM type and bus speed it supports, i.e., DDR3 3200Mhz or DDR4-4200Mhz. This indicates the generation and speed bandwidth.  

Storage

Since most modern PCs use SSDs for storage due to their fast speeds, you need to ensure the motherboard provides the option and flexibility to install multiple storage options. While most of the entry-level motherboards offer storage options via SATA ports, the newer NVMe storage ports offer blazing fast speeds using the PCIe connections. Depending on your storage needs, you should consider the availability of storage ports and their types before choosing a motherboard. 

PCIe Connectors

To make the most out of your motherboard, you need to decide which features are inevitable for your next PC build. Foremost, you should check the PCIe connections. It’s the PCIe slots that determine how many dedicated graphics cards you can use at once and at what bandwidth speed. Since most modern graphic cards are heavy, you would also like to ensure these PCIe slots are metallically reinforced. 

Features

Most modern motherboards come with built-in features that save you a ton of effort and cash to install additional expansion cards like Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. If you need any of these features right off the board, always factor that in. 

Our Review Process: Why You Should Trust Us

Here at OvrClock, we are committed to keeping our editorial and product recommendation processes completely independent from our monetization — so, you can always be sure we are recommending the best PC Parts for you without any partiality.

The OvrClock team has been reviewing all parts of a PC build for years now, and we use our expert opinion and experiences when making recommendations. We try to get our hands on and actually test all of the products we recommend, in addition to the dozens of alternatives that are not on the final list. This allows us to provide insights beyond what you can find from reading other online reviews, and get a true and more clear understanding of the best options. Our diverse team and vast experience also allow us to highlight each product’s ideal use cases, as well as the perfect customer profile for any given product.

For Motherboards, we test things including but not limited to: power delivery setup, base and overclocking speeds, ports, audio and Wi-Fi connectivity, and RGB customizability, among many other factors. Our experience allows us to translate these insights into actionable conclusions and purchase recommendations for you, without you having to test all the products, or having to sift through piles and piles of data from our motherboard testing. All of the recommended motherboards and dozens of others not in this roundup have been tested with an Intel Core i9-9900k processor, and the aforementioned motherboards have been shortlisted based on their stellar performance with the Intel Core i9-9900k processor.

For any questions about our product selection and recommendation process, feel free to contact us.

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