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Looking for the best motherboard for the Intel Core i7 12700KF?
The Intel Core i7 12700KF is an underrated CPU that packs a lot of power for gaming and productivity at a super affordable price. But to get the most out of it, you need the right motherboard.
In this guide, I’ll break down my top three motherboard picks for the i7 12700KF. Each one offers a great mix of features, reliability, and value for money.
First, we have a budget-friendly option that delivers excellent performance without breaking the bank. Next, we’ll look at a premium choice that offers top-tier features and performance. Finally, my top pick combines outstanding performance, a rich feature set, and great value.
Number 3. MSI PRO Z690-A WIFI – Best Budget Motherboard For Intel Core i7 12700KF
The MSI Pro Z690-A WiFi is one of the best value and most reasonable choices for those who want to maximize their i7 12700KF gaming experience without breaking the bank. This motherboard offers all basic features without compromising on performance, which makes it perfect if you don’t need anything extra fancy but still want a flagship platform for your Alder Lake CPU.
Since it is based on the Z690 chipset, the MSI Pro Z690-A WiFi motherboard is a great choice for users that want to overclock their i7 12700KF processor without spending a lot of money.
In terms of power delivery, the MSI Pro Z690-A is a great choice for moderate overclocking, but if you want to do anything more than that then this board may not be up your alley. The 8+4 phase VRM is acceptable at best, but that’s what you expect from a value-oriented Z690 motherboard.
The VRM gets adequately cooled using large heatsinks with several fins, however, you cannot expect it to hold up with competitive overclocks over an extended period of time.
The Z690 chipset at this price point is an incredible bonus, coupled with the ability to use DDR5 memory and PCIe Gen 5 ports too. There are also four M.2 slots for your storage needs, and the connectivity is handled by a 2.5 GbE LAN port as well as WiFi 6E.
Look wise it has a rather dull and basic design, as it does not have any significant RGB lighting zones on the board. Since there isn’t any other color or pattern for added flair, it makes this board look last in innovation compared to its competitors.
On the plus side, the Pro Z690-A is a basic board that will save you from installing 30 different RGB software. This makes the build more stable and simple by eliminating extra programs such as lighting control panels or fan profiles required for customizing your system according to your taste.
In terms of alternatives, the ASUS PRIME Z690-P falls close in price to the MSI Pro Z690-A, however, it falls short when it comes to the overall feature set. Moreover, the VRM design of the MSI board is superior, making it our pick for this spot.
Conclusively, the MSI Pro Z690-A is an excellent choice for those looking to purchase one of the best value motherboards for the 12th Gen Alder Lake processors like the i7 12700KF. It offers a variety of features and acceptable power delivery at an affordable price point, which is about everything you can ask for in a gaming motherboard.
Number 2. ASUS ROG Strix Z790-F Gaming WiFi – Best Premium Motherboard For Intel Core i7 12700KF
The ASUS ROG Strix Z790-F Gaming WiFi is a high-end motherboard through and through with a powerful VRM configuration and is overloaded with features to back it up. It’s nice to see that ASUS has taken note of what features can help make themselves stand out above the rest while offering uncompromising performance.
Starting with the VRMs, the Z790-F packs a very strong setup. Its 16+1+2-phase configuration can easily power even a Core i9 14900K at 5.9 GHz which means you can practically overclock any CPU on this motherboard. The VRMs are also cooled incredibly well thanks to the massive heatsink covering every single inch. Even under load, the VRMs stay well below 60 degrees Celsius and show no signs of thermal throttling whatsoever.
While the VRM design on the Z790-F is certainly impressive, this board has perhaps one of the absolute best rear IO configurations I have ever seen. There are a total of 12 USB ports with 4 USB 2.0 type-A ports for plugging in peripherals while the rest of the USB ports operate at USB 3.2 speeds or faster. This USB port config is the perfect balance for any type of a motherboard and more vendors should put at least a couple of USB 2.0 ports since they will be occupied by a mouse and a keyboard anyway.
Not only that, this board also has a full array audio jack including optical S/PDIF that’s connected to the Realtek ALC4080 Codec, so if you’re an audio enthusiast, you should be pretty happy with this setup.
You also get WiFi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3, BIOS FlashBack and CMOS clear buttons, HDMI and DisplayPort, and a 2.5 gigabit ethernet port so you’re pretty much covered for everything. If you need Thunderbolt then you can also install an add-in card thanks to the Thunderbolt 4 connector on the bottom of the motherboard.
Now if we move to the PCIe connectors, Asus has actually done a decent job of putting 3 x16 slots, and a x1 slot. It looks like a good setup, but I don’t think it’s going to be very useful. Firstly, once you plug-in a graphics card on the top slot, the only x1 slot will be completely covered up no matter how slim the graphics card is.
Secondly, the top x16 slot is a PCIe 5.0 slot that shares bandwidth with the top M.2 slot. Since the M.2 slot is also a gen 5.0 slot, the PCIe 5.0 x16 slot will switch to x8 which defeats the purpose of having this slot to begin with.
It’s not that dire of a situation; it’s just that the PCIe layout could’ve been more well thought-out. I am pleased to say that aesthetically, Asus has a track record of making some impressive looking motherboards and this one is no exception.
The whole anti-RGB all-black look with minimal branding on the heatsinks makes it almost too easy to fit inside any type of a PC. I guess the STRIX logo on the VRM heatsink is quite big and could’ve been toned down a little, but even then, it’s perfectly serviceable.
While the ASUS ROG Strix Z790-F Gaming WiFi is an amazing motherboard, there are so many great motherboards in this price category so there is a lot of competitition.
The most standout choices are the Gigabyte Z790 AORUS ELITE X WIFI7, the MSI MAG Z790 TOMAHAWK MAX WIFI, the MSI MPG Z790 EDGE WIFI, and the GIGABYTE Z790 AERO G. All of these are fantastic motherboards with similarly powerful VRMs and unique features of their own, and yet the ASUS ROG Strix Z790-F Gaming WiFi managed to edge out all of them due to it offering more features.
In conclusion, if you’re looking for a top-of-the-line motherboard with everything you could ask for, then the ASUS ROG Strix Z790-F Gaming WiFi should satisfy all your needs. Whether you’re planning a build today or for the future, it’s packed with a strong VRM and hefty I/O to cover whatever you need to accomplish at an affordable price.
Number 1. GIGABYTE Z790 AORUS ELITE AX – Our Top Choice
Our top choice, the Gigabyte Z790 Aorus Elite AX is one of the strongest contenders for the best Z790 motherboards available in terms of offering value for money. It’s an all-rounder that covers every aspect while being cost-efficient, as Gigabyte manages to keep the costs down while still managing to offer competitive features for the consumer.
In terms of looks, this board is a rather simplistically designed ATX form factor motherboard that features a large heat sink design with plenty of cooling on the VRMs. Much of the PCB is exposed, so such a design keeps its price down towards the reasonable end.
Gigabyte knows how to make great motherboards, it builds upon the foundations of the older Z690 variant and is a better choice especially if you plan to upgrade in the future to 13th or 14th Gen CPUs due to the better VRM configuration.
Its PCB is all black, while the heatsinks have a black and gray color combination, giving the board a sleek look. There are RGB elements towards the bottom of the board that can be customized to your liking using the Gigabyte RGB Fusion 2.0 software.
The motherboard also features four DDR5-based DIMM slots with 128GB overclockable to 7600 MHz. It sports a dual-channel memory architecture, and those looking to enable the maximum capacity of performance will want to use this board’s high overclocking capability with the new XMP 3.0 memory module support.
When it comes to PCIe slots, it has three of them. However, only the top PCIe slot wired to the CPU socket is a fully functional PCIe Gen 5 x16 slot, which will open up your upgrade paths for the future, the remaining two are standard PCIe 4 slots with the ratings of x4 speed.
Additionally Gigabyte offers exclusive stainless steel PCIe shielding on this board. The new-generation PCIe 5.0 armor is 20% wider to provide reinforced tensile strength. Its stainless steel pins have multiple points to penetrate the PCB and increase the durability of the SMD.
The board features four Gen 4 M.2 ports. The M.2 Thermal Guard III installed here features a 6x optimized heat dissipation surface and double-sided M.2 heatsinks to prevent bottlenecks and throttling. EZ-Latch Plus is also present, which enhances the user experience with a quick-release and screwless design of the M.2 connectors.
When it comes to connectivity features, it uses WiFi 6E with a dedicated 6GHz band. It enables lower latency and seamless connectivity, where you can enjoy up to 2.4 Gbps speeds.
The 2.5 GB/s LAN chip, makes it perfect for improved gaming experiences. It also features WIMA and Fine Gold audio capacitors, which allow the Z790 Aorus Elite AX to reproduce studio-grade quality.
The Q-Flash Plus feature allows the user to upgrade the BIOS without installing the CPU, memory, or graphics card. This feature might not be so handy for now, but if you’re planning to upgrade your rig down the line, you will be thankful.
The rear IO has a fair share of options when it comes to high-speed USBs. The fastest USB port is a Type-C format USB 3.2 Gen2x2, which rates up to 20 GB/s. All in all, compared to its competitors, this is the best overall value motherboard right now to pair with the intel core i7 12700kf due to its features, value, and performance.
So what do you think? Which of these is the best motherboard for you?
Or do you think another motherboard is better for the i7 12700kf?
Tell us in the comments below.
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