Best Motherboards for Intel LGA 1851 Socket

The MSI PRO Z890-A WiFi motherboard is a balanced solution for users looking for high performance and reliability at a reasonable price. Despite belonging to the middle class, its equipment, overall quality and chipset capabilities are able to satisfy the needs of a more demanding audience. A PCI-E 5.0 graphics card slot and one M.2 Gen5 slot provide the highest speed of graphics and storage. Three more M.2 Gen4 slots offer additional storage options. Four DIMM slots can accommodate DDR5 memory modules with a frequency of up to 9200 MHz, which has not even been released for sale yet.

An additional advantage of the board is its advanced networking capabilities. Built-in Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 provide fast wireless communication in next-generation networks, and the LAN port provides a high-speed wired connection of up to 5 Gbps. Support for the Thunderbolt 5 protocol is useful for working with high-speed storage devices, connecting external video cards or using high-resolution monitors (up to 8K). The manufacturer places special emphasis on additional MSI AI LAN Manager software for optimizing network traffic during games and the MSI Center complex for working with AI, overclocking components, managing cooling and lighting.

The stability of the board is ensured by a powerful 17-phase (14+1+1+1) power supply system and an additional Supplemental PCI-E Power connector, which maintains reliability under high loads. The board has seven fan headers, including those that support liquid cooling, and also provides ample connectivity options. Massive heatsinks on the VRM and M.2 slots provide effective cooling and functionality, although the use of white heatsinks on a black PCB may seem like a questionable decision from an aesthetic point of view.

Given the fairly high competition among the first wave of motherboards with the LGA 1851 socket, many manufacturers are trying to offer buyers something, so to speak, above the norm. In the case of the MSI Z890 GAMING PLUS WIFI motherboard, additional trump cards are the pumped-up Intel Killer E5000 network controller with a throughput of 5 Gbps, a built-in wireless receiver with Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth v 5.4, a simplified EZ DIY mounting system for connecting most components and an adapted MSI Click BIOS X with simplified overclocking tools and AI Boost support.

In addition, the manufacturer emphasizes a carefully designed 17-phase power subsystem with TVS diodes, a new power phase grounding system, improved power connectors, a larger radiator, and a compacted PCB textolite. After all, the board must meet the standards of the Z890 chipset and given the capabilities of new Intel processors and DDR5 memory, many users will probably want to play around with overclocking the components.

MSI Z890 GAMING PLUS WIFI is compatible with the latest DDR5 RAM with a fairly high frequency of up to 9200 MHz and, in addition to XMP, has support for MSI Memory Boost technology. For data storage, there are four M.2 slots in a standard Z890 chipset layout (1x5.0 + 3x4.0). All slots are equipped with the Shield Frozr II cooling system. On the rear panel there are 9 USB ports, including one USB 4 with Thunderbolt 4 support, as well as HDMI 2.1 and DisplayPort 1.4 for connecting monitors. And due to the support of the proprietary MSI Mystic Light system, fans of backlighting will be able to synchronize all components with RGB / ARGB LEDs.

According to Intel tradition, immediately after the launch of a new socket, most manufacturers initially release more advanced and far from the most affordable solutions. Here is the ASRock Z890 Pro-A, which in fact belongs to the "basic" RPO line, flaunts equipment almost at the level of overclocker boards, is based on the top Z890 chipset and costs more than most users would like.

The board is equipped with a 16+1+1+1+1-phase VRM with Dr.MOS for powering the processor and video card, ensuring high system stability when overclocking components. All critical system elements that may suffer from overheating are equipped with massive radiators. Four available DDR5 DIMM slots support memory with a maximum clock frequency of 8666 MHz (total capacity up to 256 GB). Dual-channel mode and XMP support allow for high memory bandwidth, which, as tests show, plays an important role in the performance of new Intel processors.

In addition, the ASRock Z890 Pro-A is equipped with one PCI-E 5.0 slot for connecting a video card and four M.2 ports of different classes: one of them is Blazing M.2 (PCI-E 5.0), the other three are Hyper M.2 (PCI-E 4.0). HDMI 2.1 and DisplayPort 1.4 are available for image output. One of the USB connectors supports the Thunderbolt 4 protocol, which is a mandatory requirement for the Z890 chipset. The picture is completed by the Dragon RTL8125BG network controller with a throughput of 2.5 Gbps. But, alas, there is no wireless receiver here.

Immediately after the announcement of the LGA 1851 socket, Asus announced a whole scattering of motherboards from the ROG Strix and ROG Maximus series, addressed to PC enthusiasts and gamers. However, the prices at the start are steep (to put it mildly), so from the point of view of "price-quality-functionality" for most users, the pumped-up boards from the Prime line are a more interesting option. One of such options is the Asus PRIME Z890-P WIFI ATX board, equipped with a powerful 18-phase power converter, four slots for high-speed DDR5-8400 memory and four M.2 ports for SSD drives. Plus, it has support for the new Wi-Fi 7 and Thunderbolt 4 standards.

In addition to modern equipment, the model supports the NPU Boost function, which overclocks the capabilities of the integrated neural processor used in the new Core Ultra series processors with one click. According to Asus, the coprocessor's productivity is thus increased by almost a quarter. In addition to this, the board is equipped with a whole range of Asus's own AI developments, including an improved AI Cooling thermal control system, a feature for optimizing network traffic AI Networking II, a built-in AI Advisor assistant, a proprietary AEMP II RAM accelerator, and basic tools for overclocking AI Overclocking components. Although, in the latter case, the overclocking capabilities are still inferior to the flagship boards from the ROG Strix and ROG Maximus lines.

Otherwise, the Asus PRIME Z890-P WIFI is in many ways similar to similar solutions based on the flagship Intel Z890 chipset. The integration of the PCI-E 5.0 bus provides connection of the latest video cards and SSD drives. Additional connectors for water pumps and coolers allow you to assemble a powerful air or liquid cooling system on its basis. Radiators for VRM, M.2 and the chipset will help keep the temperature of overclocked components under control. And the built-in Aura Syn system will allow you to connect to the board and synchronize components with RGB backlighting.

Gigabyte Z890M GAMING X is a compact micro-ATX board for the Intel LGA 1851 platform, created with an eye on gaming PCs and systems with an eye on overclocking (but not too much). The model supports the latest second-generation Intel Core Ultra series processors and DDR5 memory with an impressive clock frequency of up to 8800 MHz. Despite its compact dimensions, in terms of slot layout, it is not much inferior to ATX analogs, providing the user with 4 DIMM slots, into which up to 256 GB of memory can be loaded.

The board is equipped with a digital VRM with 8+1+2 power phases and an advanced VRM Thermal Armor Advanced cooling system, which guarantees stable operation under high static loads or moderate overclocking. Among the additional tools, the manufacturer emphasizes the built-in Power Monitor complex for monitoring the processor power phases in real time, the AI SNATCH processor overclocking application and the built-in D5 Bionic Corsa AI complex for overclocking RAM. According to the company's representatives, Bionic Corsa together with XMP is capable of giving DDR5 memory an impressive 20% acceleration. And all this in just a couple of clicks. Considering that Intel chips are very sensitive to memory speed, on paper it turns out to be a rather tempting bonus.

In other respects, the Gigabyte Z890M GAMING X is also almost in no way inferior to its counterparts with the Intel Z890 chipset. The board has two reinforced PCIe 16x slots operating in 16x/4x modes, as well as three M.2 slots for connecting high-speed SSDs. One of them supports the latest PCI-E 5.0 bus, the other two work with PCI-E 4.0. The integrated M.2 Thermal Guard radiator provides effective cooling of drives prone to overheating. In addition, the board is equipped with a 2.5 GbE LAN port, one HDMI 2.1 and two DisplayPort 2.1 for directly connecting monitors to the integrated GPU.