Best Motherboard for Ryzen 9 3950x: Complete Reviews With Comparisons

For those who want to assemble a smaller PC, the ROG Strix X570-I Gaming motherboard presents a viable solution.

It has a mini-ITX form factor, and it loads up essential components for gaming with the Ryzen 9 3950x CPU.

This board packs 10 power phases, a ProCool II power connector, and durable capacitors and alloy chokes.

Review

Since it is a mini ITX board, the ROG Strix X570-I only has two DDR4 DIMM slots.

As per current standards, the two memory slots can only allow a total of 64GB of system RAM.

One benefit is its high-speed memory overclocking capacity of 5100MHz.

In addition to the fewer memory slots, the mini ITX ROG Strix X570-I only has a single PCIe 4.0 x16 socket.

As such, the board cannot accommodate multi-graphics technologies.

Another good thing about the ROG Strix X570-I is it matches the storage interface of the B550 Aorus Elite.

You can have several storage devices using the four SATA 6Gbps sockets and two M.2 slots.

• Rear Panel I/O Ports

The rear panel USB ports on this board are comparable with the B550 Aorus Elite.

It has four USB 3.2 Gen1, three USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-A, and one USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-C.

The ROG Strix X570-I features a DisplayPort and an HDMI port for display connections and three LED-illuminated audio jacks for audio I/O.

One advantage it has over the B550 Aorus Elite and the Prime X570-P is its built-in Wi-Fi module.

Add it to the LAN connectivity, and you’ll get to enjoy both wired and wireless gaming.

• Internal Add-on Ports

The board’s cooling connectors are also pretty much similar to the ones on the B550 Aorus Elite.

However, it only has two headers for RGB lighting.

If you don’t want the budget-oriented option from Gigabyte, you might want to look at the Asus Prime X570-P motherboard.

With 12 DrMOS power stages and ProCool connectors, it can run the Ryzen 9 3950x.

The Prime X570-P is very affordable, yet it packs enough features for quality performance every day.

Review

Like most ATX motherboards, the Prime X570-P has four DDR4 DIMM slots.

Each of these slots can hold a 32GB memory module, which brings the board’s total capacity to 128GB.

Try it out with the Ryzen 9 3950x and see if you can overclock its RAM up to 5100MHz.

The Prime X570-P has two PCIe x16 expansion sockets, one of which can accommodate PCIe 4.0 devices.

There are also three PCIe 4.0 x1 sockets for smaller expansion devices.

Unlike the B550 Aorus Elite, the Prime X570-P conforms to most ATX boards with six SATA 6Gbps ports.

It also has two M.2 slots, and one of them can run PCIe 4.0 and SATA devices.

• Rear Panel I/O Ports

The rear panel connectivity features on the Prime X570-P include a PS/2 combo port, two USB 2.0, two USB 3.2 Gen1, and four USB 3.2 Gen2.

Unfortunately, the board does not have any Type-C USBs.

The rest of the rear panel connectors include an HDMI port, an Ethernet port, and three audio jacks.

Like the B550 Aorus Elite, the Prime X570-P does not come with a wireless module.

• Internal Add-on Ports

You’ll appreciate this board’s internal connectors, which include cooling headers and additional USBs.

You can then add seven more USB ports, more than what the B550 Aorus Elite and the Strix X570-I can allow.

For cooling, you’ll find a CPU fan connector, three chassis fan connectors, a pump connector, and a PCH fan header.

If you have the money to spend, you might want one of Asus’ flagship motherboards—the ROG Crosshair VIII Formula.

It offers excellent overclocking headroom for professional gamers and performance enthusiasts alike.

With this motherboard, you can push the Ryzen 9 3950x to its higher limits.

The Crosshair VIII Formula boasts 16 power stages, the same as the Strix X570-E.

Additionally, it carries the latest components for Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.0, and 5Gbps LAN.

RELATED: Motherboard for Ryzen 9 3900x (Guide)

Review

Among the options, the Crosshair VIII Formula offers the best design.

For one, it has massive heatsinks all over its VRMs, M.2 slots, and PCIe sockets.

In addition to the neat layout of the heatsinks, built-in RGB lights illuminate the board and increase its overall aesthetics.

The board comes equipped with four DDR4 DIMM slots capable of holding 128GB of max system RAM.

Overclocking can bring memory speeds up to 4800MHz with the proper settings.

For expansion options, the board has two PCIe 4.0 x16 sockets, one PCIe 3.0 x16 socket, and one PCIe 4.0 x1 socket.

You can use the three x16 sockets for multi-graphics setups with NVIDIA 2-Way SLI and AMD 3-Way or 2-Way CrossFireX technologies.

Plus, the storage interface is very generous with its eight SATA 6Gbps sockets and two M.2 slots.

• Rear Panel I/O Ports

The rear panel of the Crosshair VIII Formula offers a very comprehensive approach to connectivity.

It has 12 USB ports, none of which are the older and slower USB 2.0.

Four are USB 3.2 Gen1, seven are USB 3.2 Gen2, and one is a USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-C.

Its network connectivity is also of premium quality, with an Aquantia 5G LAN port, an Intel Gigabit LAN port, and an Intel Wi-Fi6 AX200 module.

When it comes to audio components, you’ll get five gold-plated audio jacks and an optical S/PDIF out port.

Unfortunately, the board doesn’t have any display connectors.

As such, you will have to route your display output through your choice of graphics cards.

Extra rear panel features include a Clear CMOS button and a BIOS FlashBack button.

• Internal Add-on Ports

If you look at the Crosshair VIII Formula specs sheet, the part listing Internal I/O ports is relatively longer than for other motherboards.

You can have four USB 3.2 Gen1 ports, two USB 3.2 Gen2 ports, and four USB 2.0 ports added to the front panel.

The board also has plenty of options for cooling and thermal sensors.

The list includes a CPU fan, a CPU OPT fan, three chassis fans, an AIO_PUMP, a W_PUMP+, and a PCH_FAN.

Two more headers allow an optional fan and a H_AMP fan.

The board lets you attach three water sensors so that you can monitor your system’s incoming, outgoing, and flow thermals.

With two ARGB headers and two RGB strip headers, you can improve and customize the overall aesthetics of your rig.

The list doesn’t end there, though. You will find several more internal ports and controls for a wide array of functions.

Once you get to know all of them, who’s to say the board doesn’t live up to expectations?