Best EATX Motherboard

The 6 Best EATX Motherboards

Kaelum Ross

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Jun 8, 2020

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Sometimes, ATX isn’t big enough.

Perhaps you’re looking for a motherboard form factor that can accommodate the most high-end build/overclocking possible.

Whether it’s for the most powerful gaming PC, streaming rig, server, or even a production build, E-ATX is the way to go.

Which is why we’ve put together this feature on the best E-ATX motherboards available today.

(We’ve even included an XL-ATX choice for someone who wants the largest motherboard for their next monster setup).

Top Picks

Intel vs AMD EATX Motherboards

We’ve touched on this topic more in our motherboard CPU combos feature.

While AMD usually takes the top spot in the mid-range Micro ATX / ATX motherboard sizes, Intel is king for E-ATX.

There are simply more good options available between the Z490 and X299 chipsets in this form factor when building a very high-end PC.

This is why we’ve primarily focussed this guide on Intel options.

The picks below are some of the best options for Intel Core i9-9900K and 10th gen HEDT CPUs.

(But we’ve included a very worthy high-end AMD Extended-ATX motherboard pick for those interested).

Now, let’s get to it:

Overall Best E-ATX Motherboard: MSI X299 Pro

What a beast this is.

The X299 Pro strikes an amazing balance between accommodating different types of high-end builders whilst also maintaining excellent value for its price.

Let’s start with the graphics card potential for gaming/production builds.

With 4 x PCIe 3.0 x16 slots combined with an impressive bandwidth, you’ve got an SLI/Crossfire motherboard capable of 3-way graphics card integration.

On top of that, it’s filled with great onboard/BIOs facilities for overclocking

Combined with the right GPU/other hardware, this is an amazing 4k gaming motherboard.

It’s hard to imagine needing more for any upcoming games.

This is also a motherboard with 8 RAM Slots.

This means you can have up to 256GB of DDR4 RAM (overclocked up to 4200Mhz).

This memory capability will future-proof you for pretty much any build, even if you are video editing at 8K (and beyond) or building an intensive server PC.

The other great storage option that you’ll definitely want in a high-end build is 2 x PCIe Gen 3 x4 M.2 storage outputs.

Combined with the motherboard’s extended heatsink reaching over these inputs, you’ll have an amazing performance for dual NVMe SSD storage.

Easily one of the best LGA 2066 motherboards around, giving you compatibility with Intel’s Core-X processors, you’ll be able to achieve some incredible processing power.

The X299 Pro has many more great features that we could take all day describing, from a good featured I/O panel to great onboard audio.

While this is certainly one of the best gaming motherboards around, we would go further and say it has all you need if you’re building a high-end production PC too.

Simply put, if you’re looking at an EATX PC and don’t want to fork out double the price for the high-end picks below, this is a no brainer pick.

Purchase

Runner-Up Best E-ATX Motherboard: Gigabyte X299X AORUS Master

If you have a slightly higher budget, this Gigabyte motherboard is an even more feature-packed option.

Boasting an X299X chipset, it’s a fantastic motherboard for Intel 10th gen CPUs (and 9th gen).

This board offers:

The above are just the highlights. 

There are a bunch of additional onboard/BIOs features that make this a premium motherboard (anything from excellent onboard heatsinks to great build quality for durability in a heavy EATX PC Case).

Combined they make this the best motherboard for overclocking at its respective price-point.

With the incredible graphics card, storage, RAM, and cooling capability, you’ve got an incredible motherboard for video editing, gaming, streaming, and production.

We wanted to give the Aorus master our top spot, but we think the MSI motherboard has everything the average E-ATX build will need for around 25% less cost.

That said, if your wallet is thick but not so thick that you’re looking at our high-end picks below, then this is likely the best mobo pick for you.

Purchase

High-End Best Intel E-ATX Motherboard: MSI MEG Z490 GODLIKE

And now we come to the choice for those who care more for power than price.

Brand new to the market, this MSI motherboard is simply incredible.

To start, it’s built on the Z490 chipset / LGA 1200 socket, which combined with the features below, easily makes this one of (if not the) best motherboard for Core i9 10900K and other 10th gen CPUs.

  • 3 x PCI-e x16 slots
  • 4 x DDR4 RAM slots with max speeds up to 5000 MHz+
  • Fantastic I/O panel with Intel JHL7540 Thunderbolt 3 controller
  • 3 x M.2 storage outputs with Frozr heatsinks, and an adapter for a further 2

You may be asking yourself, “why does this board have less max RAM/GPU slots than our runner-up pick”?

Well, while we love the high RAM/GPU approach, the Z490 GODLIKE has chosen alternate bandwidth allocations.

Each motherboard can only circulate so much power and this MSI offering puts more into its CPU chipset, overclocking potential, and other features.

We’re sure you’ve also noticed that this is perhaps the best looking motherboard on the market.

With a fantastic array of headers for an RGB build, wonderful LED lighting, and an OLED screen to act as a “dashboard” for your computer status.

With a host of onboard features and incredible thermal solutions across the board, reviews are quickly finding that this is one of the best motherboards for overclocking available.

You’re going to get incredible high FPS 4K gaming if tied with the right CPU/GPUs, and a future-proofed production machine with the insane RAM overclocking.

If budget isn’t a concern, and your only question is “how do I achieve the most power” for your Intel build, this is the one.

Purchase

High-End Best AMD E-ATX Motherboard: MSI MEG X570 GODLIKE

Now, we’ve focussed on Intel E-ATX mobos as there are better options for them in most of the price ranges.

But for a premium choice, MSI released an AMD version of our top Intel pick that is just as impressive.

This AMD offering stands out for a few reasons, but the biggest is that it’s one of the best X570 motherboards on the market perfect for Ryzen 9 CPUs.

The X570 chipset enables PCI-e 4.0 support which will give you incredible bandwidth/performance for top-end GPUs/M.2 storage.

While this bandwidth may not be fully exploited with all current hardware, you easily have one of the best motherboards for an RX 5700 / other 5000 GPUs as these can take advantage of it.

Let’s breakdown the spec highlights:

  • 4 x PCIe 4.0 x16 slots with 4-way Crossfire support
  • 4 x DDR4 slots with up to 128GB RAM OC’ed up to 5000Mhz+
  • 3 x onboard high-performance M.2 storage with an M.2 XPANDER-Z GEN 4 PCIe adapter allowing for 2 more, all with excellent thermal control
  • Incredible build quality, design and light features (including onboard lights, RGB header availability and OLED screen)
  • Fantastic onboard audio and Wi-Fi

As we’ve stated above, you can make an incredible gaming build with 2-3 GPUs.

But if you’re looking for more, this is perhaps the best Quad-GPU motherboard available today.

Additionally, the thermal solutions across the board will give you incredible overclocking capability, with benchmarks showing amazing OC performance on this board for RAM, CPUs, and GPUs.

The top of its class, the GODLIKE is one of, if not the best X570 motherboard on the market.

If your heart is set on AMD and this is out of your price range, there are good options in other form factors.

But if you have the budget, know that you really can’t get much better than this.

Purchase

Best Budget E-ATX Motherboard: EVGA X299 FTW K

If you’re going for an E-ATX build, whether for high-end gaming or production, we’d recommend the picks above.

That being said, what EVGA manages to fit into this cheap EATX motherboard is insane for the price.

This includes:

  • 8 x DDR4 RAM slots for up to 256GB memory
  • 4 x PCIe x16 slots with capability for up to 3-way SLI GPU builds.
  • 2 x M.2 storage outputs
  • Great onboard lighting (though not as many RGB header options available as the above/others)

As you can see, you still have the utility here for a high-end build for gaming, streaming, video editing, and other production rigs.

You don’t have the same level of onboard features for overclocking/cooling as you do on the above boards, but it’s still capable of great clock speeds across your hardware.

Aside from that, the biggest problem here is the user complaints of issues.

It’s common for hardware that seems “too good to be true” for its price point to have lots of users complaining about defected units.

Now EVGA is a big manufacturer and you can expect your warranty to cover problems.

But depending on what the issue/s are, it may be painful to go through the process as it appears to have been for many others.

That being said, such a risk is a worthy trade-off if you can’t afford the other mobos and want an E-ATX PC.

One of the cheapest X299 motherboards available, if you’re trying to build a high-end machine on a budget, this is an incredible pick.

Purchase

Best XL-ATX Motherboard: Gigabyte X299X AORUS Designare 10G

We’ll start by repeating what is said in our complete guide to motherboard sizes:

You don’t need an XL-ATX motherboard over an E-ATX one for a large high-end build.

The options above will give you more than enough for a premium gaming motherboard (or for production, streaming, etc).

That being said…

If you simply want more space to play with in a “super tower” PC case, we included this as it’s still a fantastic pick.

A Socket 2066 motherboard, the AORUS Designare boast:

  • 8 x DDR4 RAM slots for up to 256GB memory at 
  • 4 PCIe x16 outputs capable of 4-way CrossFire or SLI builds
  • A fantastic I/O panel including 2 x Thunderbolt 3 connectors
  • Great Onboard Realtek ALC1220-VB HD audio
  • Gorgeous LED lighting with great RGB header support for an RGB build
  • Fantastic build quality with lots of port reinforcement, good for such a large setup

When you can combine this colossal graphics card capability with all of the onboard thermal solutions/excellent BIOs, you have one of the best gaming motherboards for overclocking.

Its price-point sits in between our top picks and high-end picks, and we’d say that’s about right for what it offers.

If you’re looking to build an absolute monstrous PC both in power and size, this is perhaps the best XL-ATX Intel motherboard available.

Purchase

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