After looking at our selection of the best budget-oriented AMD B350 motherboards, now we're looking at our favorite Z370 motherboards meant to be coupled with Intel's latest 8th-gen Core processors a.k.a. Coffee Lake. There are loads of great Z370 motherboards to choose from and pricing starts at a little over $100.

We've considered multiple options from the likes of Asus, Asrock, MSI, Gigabyte, SuperMicro and Evga, breaking down choices in the categories described below based on budget and form factor. The good news is that for the most part you can't go really wrong, but as usual we hope these picks can help you narrow down your choices.

Best Entry-Level

MSI Z370-A Pro
In numbers
Price:
$425 on Amazon

The Contenders

For those wanting to save every last dollar on a faster GPU. There are a few candidates here priced between $120 and $130. The Asus Prime Z370-P looks okay, not great but a decent offering. That said we're going to swipe left on that one, I swear Asus is incapable of competitive pricing their motherboards, $140 for a board with budget audio and networking, and super underwhelming storage options, next.

For $10 less the Gigabyte Z370 Aorus Gaming WiFi is an attractive option with Intel Gigabit networking, Creative Sound Core 3D audio, 6 SATA ports and Wireless networking with Bluetooth. You can also get the Asrock Z370 Pro4 at this price and while that board has a better VRM it does away with WiFi support and offers a cheaper audio solution.

Then we have the cheapest board and arguably the best, the MSI Z370-A Pro. This unassuming Z370 motherboard overclocks like a champ, pushing both 8th-gen CPUs and DDR4 memory to the max. The feature set won't blow your socks off but overall a high quality board that can't be beat at this price, so MSI's Z370-A Pro wins my best entry-level board award.

Coming in second I agonized over the Asrock Z370 Pro4 and Gigabyte Z370 Aorus Gaming WiFi, both selling for $130 right now. The Asrock board is arguably the better overclocker but the Aorus is no slouch either. For us the Gigabyte board is the more well-rounded offering an unbeatable feature set at this price point, so it's the runner up.

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Best Value All-Rounder

ASRock Z370 Extreme 4
In numbers
Price:
$664 on Amazon
TechSpot Metascore:
86

The Contenders

For those willing to spend a little more there's no shortage of options but the standouts are listed above. Again, the Asus is quite solid but sadly overpriced at $175, this feels more like a $140-ish motherboard.

The other three boards are so evenly matched it's difficult to make a pick. Though the Gigabyte Z370 Aorus Ultra Gaming has suffered reports of high VRM temperatures and I've noticed very mixed reviews online, particularly at Newegg, so with possible issues there I'd look to either the MSI Z370 Gaming M5 or Asrock Z370 Extreme4.

For me the Asrock Z370 Extreme4 is the winner here. The board is not just the most affordable of the bunch but offers a great feature set and very solid VRM. User reviews for this one are also overwhelmingly positive everywhere you look. The Asrock UEFI is easy to navigate and overclocking is a breeze, even for novice users.

Still if you can't get the Z370 Extreme4 or don't care much for Asrock, a worthy alternative is MSI's Z370 Gaming M5 which on top of well rounded is an awesome looking motherboard, too.

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Best of the Best, No Compromises

MSI Z370 Godlike Gaming
In numbers
Price:
$890 on Amazon
TechSpot Metascore:
93
User Reviews:
7.8

The Contenders

So you want the best of the best, you don't care if your motherboard costs more than the CPU, you've got money to burn. Well in that case you can skip over Gigabyte and Asrock, at least for now, both are too reserved for the likes of you. $220 for Gigabyte's Gaming 7 and Asrock's Taichi... you don't have time for that mainstream rubbish.

Asus does offer a few high-end boards like the ROG Maximus X Apex, an interesting looking board for $350. The focus for the Apex is on overclocking and that comes with a number of compromises making this specialist too focused for this category. Then there's the Maximus X Formula, Asus has caked it in that plastic armor and I don't know about you, but I find that incredibly tacky on a $450 motherboard. I find it tacky on any motherboard to be honest, but at this price point it just seems out of place.

There's also the MSI Z370 Godlike at an insane $500, but it's a pretty awesome motherboard that one. Still MSI has gone a bit overboard on the plastic bits here as well and for reasons I'll never understand they've shielded the VRM heatsinks from airflow using plastic covers, they've got RGB though, so worth it, am I right?

Seriously though. I really can't give MSI a hard time over this, the Z370 Godlike is an amazing motherboard. I was able to reach an incredible 5.3 GHz with the 8700K, something no other Z370 board has been able to replicate.

Despite the plastic shrouds the VRM temp under full load remained surprisingly low. We're talking around 70 degrees, which is most impressive. So a well deserved win here for MSI, even if the board does cost $500, though the feature list is unlike anything I've seen before.

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Best Micro ATX

Asrock Z370M Pro4
In numbers
Price:
$277 on Amazon

The Contenders

If you've got 24.4 x 24.4 cm worth of motherboard tray to fill, which Z370 motherboard should you get? Well, your options here are extremely limited, there are three ways to go that I'm aware of, and just one of them makes sense.

The Asrock Z370M Pro4 is the obvious choice as it's the MicroATX version of the similar sounding Z370 Pro4 that we looked at earlier. Priced at $130 you get a very solid VRM, 4-DIMM slots, 6-SATA ports, Intel Gigabit LAN and two PCIe 3.0 x16 slots, though of course the second is only wired for x4 bandwidth.

For considerably more, the Asus ROG Strix Z370-G Gaming can be had at $185, but you'll be hard pressed to work out what you're getting for the extra $55. Asus does have a better audio solution, you also get wireless networking and a few extra USB ports. That said you also get tightly packed PCIe x16 slots and VRM heatsinks without proper fins.

Then there's the insanely underwhelming EVGA Z370 121-KS-E375-KR. You have to wonder how EVGA came up with that name, but that aside, for an expensive $200 you get Intel Gigabit networking, no wireless, a basic Realtek ALC1220 codec, standard storage and basic a USB configuration, no Type-C. Crazy, but not at this price point, thank you very much.

So Asrock and their practical Z370M Pro4 win this category, almost by default.

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Best Mini-ITX

ASRock Fatal1ty Z370 Gaming-ITX/AC
In numbers
Price:
$180

The Contenders

I know what you're thinking, MicroATX boards are pretty big, but don't worry, we do have something smaller. There are a few nice Mini-ITX Z370 boards on offer and the three most expensive and best include the Asus ROG Strix Z370-I Gaming for $190, as well as the Asrock Fatal1ty Z370 Gaming-ITX/ac, and MSI Z370I Gaming Pro Carbon AC for $180.

Of those three boards I don't think you can go wrong. I like the Asrock for its plethora of USB 3.0 ports including a Type-C on the I/O panel. It also offers all 6 SATA ports along with an M.2 on the back of the board. The VRM is solid and you get Thunderbolt 3, Intel wired and wireless networking along with a nice audio solution.

The MSI model lacks the same degree of USB 3.0 support, drops two SATA ports and the four ports that do exist are poorly positioned on the board. So of the two I'm leaning towards the Asrock model.

Then there's the Asus ROG Strix Z370-I Gaming which costs just $10 more, arguably looks better in terms of aesthetics and it offers two M.2 ports, though does only support 4 SATA ports. The VRM looks great on this model, too.

I'm not a fan of the Gigabyte Z370N WiFi. At $160, it's a good bit cheaper than the models just discussed, the VRM isn't nearly as impressive though the rest of the feature set is quite solid. However you can get a similar level of features from the $135 Asrock Z370M-ITX/ac, so if I was after an affordable Z370 Mini-ITX board, that's what I'd go with.

So for this category I was going to call it a tie between Asrock and Asus, however after seeing numerous complaints of coil whine with the Asus, I'll favor the Asrock option.

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