Trying to find the best motherboard for the Ryzen 7 9700X?

The Ryzen 7 9700X is a fantastic mid-range Zen 5 CPU with excellent efficiency and great gaming and productivity performance. It’s one of the more practical CPUs from the Zen 5 lineup, with 8 cores, 16 threads, and a 65W TDP. To get the most out of this chip, you need a good motherboard that can showcase its potential.

For this guide, I’ve done an extensive review of the best motherboards available for the 9700X and ranked them based on metrics such as VRM design, aesthetics, features, and value for money.

Before moving on make sure you check the following detailed tutorial on how to choose the best motherboard for you: How To Choose The Right Motherboard For Your Needs: A Comprehensive Guide

Our Top Picks

• 3. MSI B650 Gaming Plus WiFi Gaming – Best Budget Motherboard for the Ryzen 7 9700X
• 2. ASRock X870 Pro RS WiFi – Best Premium Motherboards For the Ryzen 7 9700X
• 1. GIGABYTE X670 AORUS Elite AX – Our Top Choice

Why Should You Trust Us?

This article is written by Konstantinos Chiotis, a seasoned tech enthusiast with more than a decade of industry experience. Having built his first PC at the age of 14, he has spent over 24 years exploring every nook and cranny of computer components, from motherboards and CPU coolers to high-end graphics cards. His hands-on involvement ensures that each recommendation is backed by real-world testing and practical know-how.

Konstantinos’s deep-rooted passion for new technologies drives him to meticulously compare performance, design, and value across different products. That commitment, combined with an unwavering focus on clear and honest explanations, helps readers make informed choices for their gaming or productivity builds. Readers can trust that the insights in this guide come from extensive research and a genuine love for PC building.

How We Chose Best Motherboards for Ryzen 7 9700X

Finding the right motherboard for the Ryzen 7 9700X required a focused approach that emphasizes performance, stability, and overall value. Several factors were taken into account to narrow down the contenders and highlight the boards that excel in gaming, productivity, and overclocking scenarios. Here’s a closer look at the key criteria that helped shape these recommendations:

• Power Delivery and VRM Design
  The Ryzen 7 9700X might be a mid-range Zen 5 CPU, but it still benefits from robust voltage regulation. Boards with high-quality power phases and efficient VRM cooling were prioritized, ensuring stable performance even when pushing clock speeds.
• Memory Compatibility
  DDR5 support, along with higher memory frequencies, has become essential for AM5 platforms. Special attention went to boards that allow users to take advantage of DDR5 up to 7200 MT/s or beyond, enhancing both gaming and productivity tasks.
• Connectivity Options
  Features such as Wi-Fi 6E or Wi-Fi 7, 2.5Gb Ethernet, and multiple USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C ports elevate the user experience. Boards with extra M.2 slots, PCIe 4.0 or 5.0 capabilities, and advanced audio also stood out, especially for gamers and content creators looking to future-proof their systems.
• Aesthetics and Design
  While aesthetics may not be the top priority for everyone, an appealing layout that complements other components can be a bonus. Subtle RGB lighting, color-coordinated heatsinks, and convenient quick-release latches for M.2 slots were all taken into account during evaluation.
• Value for Money
  A hefty price tag is not always indicative of better performance. Price-to-performance ratios were carefully compared to find motherboards that strike a balance between premium features and affordability. Boards that performed similarly to higher-tier options but at a more wallet-friendly cost were placed higher on the list.

Below is a quick snapshot of the core factors:

These guidelines made it easier to compare motherboards across B650, X670, and X870 chipsets for the 9700X. By evaluating each product on power efficiency, user-focused features, and overall reliability, the final list highlights the best options to unlock the full potential of this mid-range Zen 5 powerhouse.

Best Motherboards for Ryzen 7 9700X Comparison Table

Best Motherboards For Ryzen 7 9700X Reviews

Number 3. MSI B650 Gaming Plus WiFi Gaming – Best Budget Motherboard for the Ryzen 7 9700X

The MSI B650 Gaming Plus WiFi is a great option for a budget build with the Ryzen 7 9700X offering a low retail price point compared to its competitors, without compromising on any of the essentials that you would need to build a solid PC. This motherboard offers adequate VRMs, along with excellent connectivity options, and comes with the new WiFi 6E built-in for cherry on top.

Looking into the design and aesthetics, you are not going to find any RGB on the motherboard. For this price range, frankly, that shouldn’t be your main concern either. On the VRM heatsink, you will find the typical MSI branding with black and white dots and lines, and it follows the black and grayish theme throughout the board to further compliment the overall look. For a budget motherboard, it certainly does a great job at maintaining a decent aesthetic and highlighting different features of the board in relevant places.

The board also uses a silver steel armor PCIe slot, which not only reinforces the slot but also further continues the established theme of the board, followed by the chipset heatsink in the same aesthetic. All of this establishes a design harmony when looking at the board, which is certainly appreciable at a budget price point.

Coming to the power delivery, it uses a 15-phase VRM setup (12+2+1) which is cooled by two heatsinks. These heatsinks use aluminum along with a fin design on the sides and are relatively thick. You also get high quality thermal pads and choke pads that ensure the performance remains stable while your cores are running at a high speed. This allows them to manage the VRM thermals quite effectively, providing acceptable temperature levels of around 82 degrees celsius in Cinebench benchmark tests.

With a solid power delivery for your components, you are looking at potential overhead even for overclocking. It also provides 2 8-pin power connectors for the CPU. Needless to say, the power delivery will not be your bottleneck when it comes to performance.

Speaking of performance, the board features 4x DDR5 memory slots, with support for speeds up to 7200 MHz and a maximum capacity of 256GB. Along with that, you are looking at 2x PCI-e Gen 4 x16 slots for your graphics card. There is no support for PCI-e Gen 5, both in storage and x16 slots, so that is something to consider if you really are looking to future-proof your build.

For storage, you are getting 2x M.2 Gen 4 slots, with a dedicated heatsink and thermal pad for one of the slots that MSI is naming Shield Frozr. You also get an EZ M.2 clip that removes the need for a screw, making it even easier to install SSDs. This is a neat little addition to the features and not a common sight in this range.

In terms of connectivity, you get 7 USB ports on the rear IO. The great thing is all of these ports are USB 3.0, so you don’t have to worry about using an inferior port mistakenly. On the back panel, there’s also an HDMI and DisplayPort for integrated graphics, along with a 2.5 gig Realtek Ethernet port, and WiFi connectors for the built-in AMD WiFi 6E support. All of this is great, however, the IO shield does not come pre-installed. You will need to install it manually, before installing the motherboard.

Compared to its competitors, like the AsRock B650 Steel Legend WiFi or the ASUS TUF Gaming B650-E WiFi, the MSI board provides a better value for money, without missing any important features. Plus, you get better connectivity options, compared to the ASUS equivalent, along with a slightly better VRM setup.

All in all, the MSI B650 Gaming Plus WiFi is a great option for a new gen value setup that offers all of the connectivity options you will ever need, along with a decent VRM setup that ensures the motherboard performs under high loads.

RATINGS:

• VRM Design: 8/10
• Connectivity: 9/10
• Aesthetics: 8/10
• Features: 8/10
• Value for Money: 8.5/10
• Overall Rating: 8.5/10

Number 2. ASRock X870 Pro RS WiFi – Best Premium Motherboards For the Ryzen 7 9700X

While the X870E chipset is the best that AMD has to offer right now, it’s not exactly the most practical choice. Of course, when you are hunting for a premium motherboard, extensive features are sometimes more important than sheer practicality. Still, assuming you want to find a good pairing for mid-range Ryzen 9000 CPUs such as the 9700X, it’s important to keep functionality in mind.

ASRock X870 Pro RS is a high-end yet practical pick for AM5 processors. It has all the features one could ask for, without going overboard on gimmicks or price.

While comparing this board to its predecessor, the X670 Pro RS, I was surprised to see how many upgrades ASRock was able to cram into this one. It features more PCIe 5.0 lanes for storage, a beefier VRM setup, and a cleaner design that makes it easier to work with.

Speaking of which, ASRock went all out with the design of this motherboard. It features a sleek white appearance that’s uniform with both the PCB and heatsinks. There’s a massive rear panel cover with the “Pro” branding on it and the M.2 cover features a subtle strip of RGB underneath. The VRM heatsinks are gigantic, and they do a great job of dissipating heat efficiently.

I also appreciate this new trend of toolless M.2 SSD installation, and I’m glad to see that ASRock is keeping up with the status quo. The quick-release mechanism on all the M.2 slots eliminates the need for any screws, making the building experience easier. Such tiny improvements go a long way when you’re spending hundreds of dollars on a board.

Unfortunately, while there are three M.2 slots on this board, only one of them features the quick-release mechanism. This is of course the slot that features PCIe 5.0 speeds. The rest of the PCIe 4.0 speeds feature the usual screw. While most people will only be using one slot, this does seem like an unnecessary way to cut corners.

Fortunately, ASRock did not cut any corners with the performance. This board features four DDR5 DIMM slots with support for speeds up to 8000 MT/s. I also appreciate the robust 17-phase power design for the VRM configuration. This makes the motherboard capable enough for any AM5 CPU, even with a bit of overclocking thrown into the mix.

In terms of connectivity, it features Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4, and 2.5Gb Ethernet. The port selection is also great, as you get two USB 4 Type-C ports, plenty of USB 3.2 Gen 1 and Gen 2 ports, a BIOS flashback button, and optical audio output. It’s worth noting that you can get this motherboard for a cheaper price if you go with the non-WiFi version.

One of the few motherboards that come close to the design and overall performance of the ASRock X870 Pro RS is the Gigabyte X870 Aorus Elite WiFi ICE. This board also features a white PCB and has an extra PCIe 3.0 M.2 slot over the ASRock. Other than that difference, they are identical.

However, what sets the ASRock apart from the Gigabyte is the price. Considering the specs and performance are nearly identical, the fact that the ASRock is cheaper goes a long way to a more balanced build. You can spend that extra money on a fast M.2 drive or a better cooler, which will translate to better performance in the long run.

All in all, the ASRock X870 Pro RS is a fantastic premium motherboard. It’s a bit more pricey than last generation’s X670 boards, but it has more PCIe 5.0 lanes and a robust VRM configuration. I would have liked to see the M.2 quick-release latch on all slots, but that’s a minor complaint, overall it’s a solid motherboard all around and I recommend it for both mid-range and high-end builds.

To sum up, what I like is…

• The addition of high-end features without a ludicrous price
• The sleek white PCB with a minimalistic design
• The Excellent memory overclocking
• And the Robust VRM setup

On the downside…

• Quick releases latches are only present on one M.2 slot

Ratings

• Design: 9/10
• Features: 9/10
• Connectivity: 9/10
• Power Delivery: 9/10
• Value: 8.5/10
• Overall Rating: 9/10

Number 1. GIGABYTE X670 AORUS Elite AX – Our Top Choice

Some might consider X670 motherboards to be irrelevant when it comes to the newer ryzen 9000 cpus with the introduction of the X870 and X870E. However, with how great of a value most X670 boards represent, that’s not the case. The Gigabyte X670 Aorus Elite is proof that a smaller number doesn’t always translate to a worse experience.

Sure, you get fewer PCIe 5.0 lanes for the graphics card and storage, but for the majority of gamers and traditional users, this won’t matter. You still get a PCIe 5.0 support on one of the four M.2 slots, and PCIe 4.0 for the x16 graphics card slot. So, in real-world usage, you’re not missing out on a lot in the first place.

Compared to its predecessor, the X570 Aorus Elite AX, the X670 Elite features the new AM5 socket, a significantly better VRM configuration, an extra M.2 slot, and much more. It’s rare to see a manufacturer provide such significant upgrades in almost every way, but the new chipset certainly helps here.

Design-wise, the X570 Aorus Elite looks noticeably different from previous Aorus Elite motherboards. It features a matte black PCB with light grey accents on the heatsinks and rear IO cover. A gigantic Aorus eagle logo sits proudly on the VRM heatsink, and there’s minimal branding on the chipset and M.2 heatsinks.

Unfortunately, if you’re looking for any sort of integrated RGB, this board won’t satisfy your needs. That’s not inherently a bad thing, but considering that a lot of motherboards have that nowadays, it might disappoint some people.

On the other hand, I do have to appreciate the EZ-latch design on the M.2 and PCIe slots. These quick release latches are easy to work with and make the building process much easier. You’ll also find some debugging LEDs at the bottom that light up during the POST process. This helps a lot in troubleshooting any potential issues with your system.

In terms of performance, this motherboard is no slouch. It supports DDR5 kits at up to 8000MT/s (with overclocking), so you won’t have trouble with high-performance RAM kits. The memory training times are great, and you won’t have any problems with boot times.

I also found the 20-phase VRM setup to be highly impressive. Admittedly, I think this is quite overkill for any mainstream motherboard, especially considering it’s stronger than many X870 boards. However, I can’t complain when we’re getting such incredible stability at a cheap price. Needless to say, this board can handle any high-end processor with ease.

However, the PCIe x16 slot only supports PCIe 4.0, not PCIe 5.0. Admittedly, there’s a negligible difference in performance when running your graphics card in PCIe 5.0 over PCIe 4.0. With that said, it’s great to see that at least one of the M.2 slots supports PCIe 5.0 speeds.

For wireless connectivity, you get Wi-Fi 6E, and Bluetooth 5.3. You also get a 2.5Gb Ethernet port for a fast and stable wired connection. As for the rest of the ports, you get a USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C port, plenty of 3.2 Gen 1 and Gen 2 Type-A ports, HDMI Out, and a dedicated USB for flashing BIOS. Of course, you also get a dedicated BIOS flashback button that’s common with most mid-range boards these days.

It’s worth noting that if you spend a bit of money, you can get Gigabyte’s own X870 Aorus Elite AX. However, I believe the X670 version is the better value. Sure, the X870 version has more PCIe 5.0 lanes for your drives and graphics card, but that won’t matter much if you’re a traditional gamer. The more noticeable addition is USB 4, which will matter more to people dealing with high-speed data transfers.

If none of that matters to you (and it won’t if all you care about is gaming), the X670 is a much better value proposition. You can spend the extra money on a graphics card, more storage, or even faster memory. All of these are more important than PCIe 5.0 lanes for the average gamer, and this is why I prefer this X670 motherboard over some X870 options.

Simply put, the X670 Aorus Elite AX is the best overall motherboard for AM5 CPUs like the Ryzen 7 9700X. It has all the ports you could need, an overbuilt VRM setup, and performance that’s ready for next-gen components. It’s a fantastic buy despite being an older chipset. I highly recommend it for any high-performance gaming build.

To sum up, what I like is….

• The low price making AM5 builds affordable
• The overbuilt VRM configuration
• A whopping four M.2 slots
• And The EZ-latch design on PCIe and M.2 slots

On the downside…

• Only the top x16 slot supports PCIe 5.0
• And there are No USB 4.0 ports

Ratings

• Design: 8/10
• Features: 8.5/10
• Connectivity: 9/10
• Power Delivery: 9/10
• Value: 9.5/10
• Overall Rating: 9/10

FAQ

1. Is DDR5 memory necessary for the Ryzen 7 9700X?
Yes, DDR5 memory is necessary for the Ryzen 7 9700X because it uses the AM5 socket, which only supports DDR5. This requirement helps improve gaming and multitasking performance, especially if the motherboard supports high memory speeds, such as 7200 MHz or more.

2. How important is a motherboard’s VRM quality for the Ryzen 7 9700X?
VRM quality is crucial because it delivers stable power to the CPU, especially during demanding tasks or overclocking. A motherboard with a robust VRM, like the 15-phase setup on the MSI B650 Gaming Plus WiFi or the 20-phase design on the GIGABYTE X670 AORUS Elite AX, helps maintain consistent performance and prevents overheating.

3. Can the Ryzen 7 9700X be overclocked on these motherboards?
Yes, the Ryzen 7 9700X can be overclocked on B650, X670, and X870 motherboards if they offer solid VRMs and a BIOS with overclocking features. Even budget boards like the MSI B650 Gaming Plus WiFi include decent VRM cooling that can handle moderate overclocking.

4. Is PCIe Gen 5 important when building a system around the Ryzen 7 9700X?
PCIe Gen 5 is helpful for future-proofing and supporting ultra-fast M.2 SSDs, but it might not be essential for every user right now. Boards like the ASRock X870 Pro RS WiFi provide PCIe 5.0, while the MSI B650 Gaming Plus WiFi limits you to PCIe 4.0. For most gaming and everyday tasks, PCIe 4.0 still delivers great performance.

5. How many M.2 slots are recommended for the Ryzen 7 9700X?
Having at least two M.2 slots is recommended for most gamers and content creators, as it allows for separate drives for the operating system and additional storage. The GIGABYTE X670 AORUS Elite AX provides up to four M.2 slots, including a PCIe 5.0-enabled one, which is excellent for high-performance builds.

6. Should the lack of a pre-installed I/O shield be a deal-breaker?
It’s usually not a deal-breaker. While premium motherboards often feature a pre-installed I/O shield for convenient installation, more budget-friendly options like the MSI B650 Gaming Plus WiFi may require a separate I/O shield. Installation only takes a moment, so it shouldn’t affect the overall motherboard quality.

7. Which motherboard offers the best value for money for the Ryzen 7 9700X?
The best value depends on user needs, but the GIGABYTE X670 AORUS Elite AX stands out for delivering strong VRM performance, multiple M.2 slots, and WiFi 6E while keeping costs lower than many X870 options. This balance makes it an excellent choice for both mid-range and high-performance builds.

• Author
• Recent Posts

Konstantinos Chiotis

Combining a passion for tech and enthusiasm for games sparks dedication. Striving to learn the ways of new technologies and discussing components such as motherboards, GPUs, and processors in detail is a part of Konstantinos's life. These factors are what drive him to write eloquently on hardware comparisons and reviews. Most importantly Konstantinos is a PC builder since he was 14years old and he has been in the tech industry for more than a decade and that is what makes him stand above in the realm of PC gaming and hardware.

Latest posts by Konstantinos Chiotis (see all)

• Top 3 Best CPU Coolers For Intel Core i7 12700k In 2025 - April 17, 2025
• Top 3 Best CPU Coolers for Ryzen 9 5900X In 2025 - April 16, 2025
• TOP 3 Best CPU Coolers for Ryzen 7 9700X In 2025 - April 11, 2025