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The Ryzen 5 5600X sits right in the middle of the Zen 3 lineup from AMD. My testing confirms that anyone who wants a solid upgrade over their entry-level CPUs can get a great value with the 5600X. With the launch of the subsequent AMD AM5 platform, the Ryzen 5 5600X has firmly established itself as one of the best budget CPUs out there. Here are the best motherboards that you should pair with the Ryzen 5 5600X, according to my first-hand experience and testing.
Discover our top picks for Ryzen 5 5600X motherboards in this informative comparison table:
Recently acquired the Ryzen 5 5600X? Dive into our guide selection:
Best Motherboard for Ryzen 5 5600X
My selection of motherboards for the Ryzen 5 5600X is based on thorough testing and hands-on experience:
- Best Overall Motherboard For Ryzen 5 5600X: Gigabyte B550 AORUS Pro V2
- Best Budget Motherboard For Ryzen 5 5600X: ASUS TUF Gaming B550-PLUS WiFi II
- Best White Motherboard For Ryzen 5 5600X: ASUS ROG Strix B550-A Gaming
- Best High-End Motherboard For Ryzen 5 5600X: ASUS ROG Crosshair VIII DARK HERO
- Best Mini-ITX Motherboard For Ryzen 5 5600X: ASRock B550M-ITX/AC
- Best Overclocking Motherboard For Ryzen 5 5600X: MSI MEG X570 Unify
Gigabyte B550 AORUS Pro V2
Best Overall Motherboard For Ryzen 5 5600X
Specification: Supporting Processors: AMD AM4 Ryzen™ 3000 and 5000 Series | Form Factor: ATX Form Factor | PCle Slots: 4.0 Express supported | VRM: 12+2 | Socket: AM4 | Chipset: AMD B550 | Maximum RAM: 128GB
Pros
- Solid VRM design
- Decent overlocking performance
- Attractive design
Cons
- VRM cooling is compromised
Design and Build Quality: Gigabyte has gone for a plain and basic look for the B550 AORUS Pro motherboard. The neutral grey and black B550 AORUS Pro theme is appealing and will fit easily in almost any dark-themed build. The RGB lighting is negligible but the board looks good regardless.
Performance: The power delivery system of the B550 AORUS Pro is quite decent, as Gigabyte has used a 12+2 phase VRM in this design. This motherboard has a 24-pin motherboard power connector and 8-pin CPU power connectors, providing plenty of power. My testing confirms its decent overclocking performance overall.
Features and Connectivity: The Gigabyte AORUS B550 Pro V2 motherboard has only 4 SATA ports for your bulk storage needs, but it offers two slots for M.2 SSDs. There is no WiFi or Bluetooth connectivity, however, so that can be a bit of a disappointment. The rear I/O is stacked with USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports as well as USB 2.0.
Buy It If:
✅ You want excellent connectivity: This motherboard offers modern features, such as the 2.5 Gb/s LAN and a PCIe 4.0 interface slot.
Don’t Buy It If:
❌ You want a better-looking motherboard: When it comes to appearance, the Gigabyte B550 AORUS Pro may not turn heads like other top-tier competitors.
What Makes It The Best Overall Motherboard For Ryzen 5 5600X?
The Gigabyte B550 AORUS Pro V2 has a sturdy VRM, attractive dark design, and good memory frequency, which combine to entitle the Gigabyte B550 AORUS Pro V2 to the award of best overall motherboard for Ryzen 5 5600X.
| Performance: 9/10 | Value: 8/10 |
| Features: 9/10 | Design: 8/10 |
ASUS TUF Gaming B550-PLUS WiFi II
Best Budget Motherboard For Ryzen 5 5600X
Specification: Supporting Processor: AMD AM4 Ryzen™ 3000 and 5000 Series | PCle Slots: 4.0 Express supported | Form Factor: Micro-ATX | VRM: 8+2 | Socket: AMD AMD4 | Chipset: AMD B550 | Maximum RAM: 128GB
Pros
- AI Noise-canceling microphone
- Digi+ VRM for better durability
- LANGuard and TurboLAN
- Affordable
Cons
- No Gen 2 USB 3.2 type C
- No diagnostic panel
Design and Build Quality: The aesthetics of the ASUS TUF Gaming B550-PLUS are quite simple and straightforward. Along with the good contrast of black and grey PCB board, there is limited RGB lighting that provides a touch of personality to the board, though there aren’t many color options.
Performance: The power section of the 8+2 VRM design is durable, robust, and certainly able to meet all your performance needs for the Ryzen 5 5600X. The VRM on the ASUS TUF Gaming B550-PLUS WiFi II motherboard has been made strong to ensure solid overclocking performance, as validated by my testing.
Features and Connectivity: The chipset of the ASUS TUF Gaming B550-PLUS WiFi II board does not support PCIe of 4.0 for the slot of PCIe 16x, but if you plan to pair a fast storage option, the B550-PLUS in M.2 drives supports PCle 4.0. Next to the memory slots, you will also find 5 PCIe expansion slots, of which 2 of them are x16 slots.
The AMD Ryzen 5 5600X is not a particularly demanding CPU, so the TUF Gaming B550-PLUS makes an amazing companion for it from a value standpoint. Its VRM is strong enough for moderate overclocking, and the B550 chipset even offers PCIe 4.0 capability for your storage drives.
– Nauman Siddique
Buy It If:
✅ You want excellent build quality: You get TUF-certified military-grade components and a solid heatsink mounted on VRM, contributing to superior build quality.
Don’t Buy It If:
❌ You want better connectivity: With no presence of Gen 2 USB 3.2 type C connectivity, this product weakens its standing slightly more than the others at the same price.
What Makes It The Best Budget Motherboard For Ryzen 5 5600X?
There is no doubt that the ASUS TUF Gaming B550-PLUS WiFi II is worth the investment, and the dominates its way to being the best budget motherboard for Ryzen 5 5600X because of its overall performance, excellent build quality, and solid features at a modest price.
| Performance: 7/10 | Value: 10/10 |
| Features: 8/10 | Design: 8/10 |
ASUS ROG Strix B550-A Gaming
Best White Motherboard For Ryzen 5 5600X
Specification: Supporting Processor: AMD AM4 Ryzen™ 3000 and 5000 Series | Form Factor: ATX | PCle Slots: 1 x PCIe 4.0 x16, 1 x PCIe 3.0 x16 slot, 3 x PCIe 3.0 x1 slots | VRM: 12+2 | Socket: AM4 | Chipset: AMD B550 | Maximum RAM: 128GB
Pros
- Connectivity is perfect
- Solid overlocking performance
- Many expansion slots
Cons
- Expensive
Design and Build Quality: The highlight feature of the ROG Strix B550-A Gaming motherboard is its stellar white design, which truly separates it from the crowd. It is a perfect fit for an all-white PC build, thanks to its beautiful snow-white aesthetics on top of a dark PCB. The touch of RGB lighting is also quite thoughtful.
Performance: The ASUS ROG Strix B550-A Gaming has a 12+2 Dr. MOS VRM power phase, as well as a 6-layer PCB that provides high performance without overheating due to the ultra-fine alloy clamping. My testing shows that the ROG Strix B550-A delivers admirable overclocking performance when paired with the Ryzen 5 5600X.
Features and Connectivity: Storage drives can be installed using six SATA III connectors or two M.2 ports. Up to two GPUs can be inserted using 3.0 x16 PCle and 4.0 x16 PCle slots with Two-way AMD CrossFireX support. More adapter cards can be installed in three PCIe 3.0 x1 interfaces.
Buy It If:
✅ You want exceptional storage capabilities: You get 6x SATA ports and two M.2 ports, one of which is compatible with 4.0 PCle, and both are metal-reinforced for protection and are designed to use NVM express RAID for faster data transfer.
Don’t Buy It If:
❌ Your budget is limited: This board is more expensive than both the Gigabyte B550 AORUS Elite and the MSI MPG X570 GAMING PLUS, making it quite premium.
What Makes It The Best White Motherboard For Ryzen 5 5600X?
The aesthetic touch of the new design pushes the ASUS ROG Strix B550-A Gaming to be placed as the best white motherboard for Ryzen 5 5600X while clearly showing its shielded PCB with white heat spreaders.
| Performance: 9/10 | Value: 9/10 |
| Features: 8/10 | Design: 10/10 |
ASUS ROG Crosshair VIII DARK HERO
Best High-End Motherboard For Ryzen 5 5600X
Specification: Supporting Processor: AMD AM4 Ryzen™ 3000 and 5000 Series| Form Factor: ATX Form Factor | Storage: 3x M.2; 8x SATA | VRM: 14+2 | Socket: AM4 | Chipset: AMD X570 | Maximum RAM: 128GB
Pros
- Very clean design
- Remarkable performance
- Great overclocking headroom
Cons
- Mediocre memory overclocking
Design and Build Quality: The ROG Crosshair VIII DARK HERO is a new version based on the existing ROG Crosshair model, with a well-organized layout and design, as well as new stylish colorful RGB edges. The ASUS ROG Crosshair VIII DARK HERO offers a matte black PCB color with a blended pattern of printed lines.
Performance: The robust 14+2 phase VRM is better than the standard Crosshair Hero. The levels of power are now rated from 60A to 90A, which brings excellent overclocking performance with CPUs like the Ryzen 5 5600X. The cooling performance of the VRM heatsinks is also outstanding according to my testing.
Features and Connectivity: The IO backplate has plenty of connectivity options, headlined by the USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C ports. Networking is handled by WiFi 6 as well as a 2.5 GbE LAN port. You also have 2 M.2 slots with PCIe 4.0 support for your NVMe drives, as well as 8 additional SATA ports.
Buy It If:
✅ You want to overclock: The ASUS Crosshair VIII DARK HERO features an excellent VRM design along with the new Dynamic OC Switcher, making it an excellent overclocking powerhouse.
Don’t Buy It If:
❌ You have budget constraints: It is not easy to recommend Crosshair VIII DARK HERO for those who can’t afford the premium price tag of this model.
What Makes It The Best High-End Motherboard For Ryzen 5 5600X?
The ASUS ROG Crosshair VIII DARK HERO earns its spot as the best high-end motherboard for Ryzen 5 5600X thanks to its superb connectivity suite, excellent design language, and powerful VRM design making it suitable for overclocking.
| Performance: 9/10 | Value: 7/10 |
| Features: 9/10 | Design: 9/10 |
ASRock B550M-ITX/AC
Best Mini-ITX Motherboard For Ryzen 5 5600X
Specifications: Supporting Processor: AMD AM4 Ryzen™ 3000, 3000G, 4000G, 5000, and 5000G Series | VRM: 8-phase | Socket: AM4 | Chipset: AMD B550 | Form Factor: Mini-ITX | PCIe Slots: 3 |Maximum RAM: 64GB
Pros
Cons
Design and Build Quality: In terms of aesthetics, you get to see a sapphire black PCB on the ASRock B550M-ITX/AC. You can see a small heatsink to take the heat away from the CPU. The sapphire black PCB combined with light gray shields intensify the looks of this mini-ITX motherboard and make it a top pick for black lovers.
Performance: It utilizes an 8-phase VRM design to uninterruptedly run all your motherboard components. At first glance, you may think the VRM is not enough, however, my testing has confirmed that it has enough potential to run the Ryzen 5 5600X at its full capacity and even allow overclocking on your CPU.
Features and Connectivity: For connectivity purposes, you see a total of 6x USB ports with 2x on the front and 4x on the rear. Moreover, it also has dual display ports. In terms of drive bays, you can install 4x SATA3 drives and 1x hyper M.2 drive on the ASRock B550M-ITX/AC.
Buy It If:
✅ You want superb connectivity: On the rear I/O, you see dual display ports, 2x antenna ports, 6x high-speed USB ports, and 1x combined audio jack in this mini-ITX motherboard.
Don’t Buy It If:
❌ You want ease of installation: Some users may find it inconvenient to set up this motherboard with its CPU connector on the rear and congested locking cables between memory and SATA ports.
What Makes It The Best Mini-ITX Motherboard For Ryzen 5 5600X?
The ASRock B550M-ITX/AC has everything you can expect from a small form factor motherboard. Everything ranging from the I/O panel to aesthetics is impressive about this mini-ITX motherboard. The performance it offers and the range of features it delivers in such a compact space helped it earn the crown of the best mini-ITX motherboard for Ryzen 5 5600X.
| Performance: 8/10 | Value: 8/10 |
| Features: 9/10 | Design: 9/10 |
MSI MEG X570 Unify
Best Overclocking Motherboard For Ryzen 5 5600X
Specifications: Supporting Processor: AMD AM4 Ryzen™ 3000 and 5000 Series | VRM: 12+2+1 |Socket: AM4 | Chipset: AMD X570 | Form Factor: ATX | PCIe Slots: x16 x 3 | Maximum RAM: 128GB
Pros
- Three M.2 slots
- Reinforced PCIe slots
- Great overclocking headroom
Cons
- No RGB lighting
- Expensive
Design and Build Quality: MSI has gone for an all-black look with the X570 UNIFY, highlighted by glossy black accents. Unlike most mainstream motherboards, the MSI MEG X570 Unify does not include RGB lighting. However, it incorporates three internal RGB connectors to make your gaming PC shine.
Performance: The MSI MEG X570 Unify comes with an excellent 60A 15-Phase (12+2+1) VRM design. There is also a VRM heatsink which does an excellent job of keeping this part cool even when overclocking. Power is provided by 8+8 pin power connectors that result in excellent overclocking performance according to my test results.
Features and Connectivity: Storage on this board is something to talk about, featuring four SATA ports and 3x M.2 slots. You will also find wireless connectivity options such as Bluetooth 5 and Wi-Fi 6 with this board. Another great thing about this motherboard is that you get a total of 5 PCIe expansion slots, with 3 x 16 expansion slots.
Buy It If:
✅ You want a superb M.2 configuration: You get three M.2 SSD slots which also provide support for Gen 4 PCle SSDs for better performance.
Don’t Buy It If:
❌ You need more SATA ports: The MSI MEG X570 Unify motherboard has only 4 SATA ports which is slightly lower than most other options.
What Makes It The Best Overclocking Motherboard For Ryzen 5 5600X?
The MSI MEG X570 Unify earns the title of the best overlocking motherboard for Ryzen 5 5600X thanks to its robust 12+2+1 phase VRM design and excellent cooling solution. Its storage and connectivity features are also top-notch, justifying its premium price tag.
| Performance: 10/10 | Value: 7/10 |
| Features: 9/10 | Design: 8/10 |
How We Tested & Picked The Best Motherboards For Ryzen 5 5600X
These are the vital factors to keep in mind when you’re in the process of buying a motherboard.
- Form Factor: The measurement of form or size is provided as an ATX, an M-ATX, a mini-ITX, and a few others. To ensure that your motherboard fits snugly on your PC, you need to match your motherboard form with the motherboard-supported case form of the PC you are using.
- Chipset: When it comes to choosing the right motherboard for your AMD Ryzen 5 5600X CPU, you will find AMD B550 and AMD X570 chipsets. While both offer compatibility with the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X processor, these differ in functionality and features. This is for the reason that your motherboard chipset determines all functionality and features.
- CPU Socket: If you are familiar with the AMD Ryzen CPUs, you should know that they all use the AMD AM4 CPU socket that includes the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X. To use this CPU on any motherboard, you need to make sure the motherboard also has an AMD AM4 CPU socket.
- Expansion/PCIe Slots: You should also keep in mind the number and type of PCIe expansion slots available on the motherboard. While all Ryzen 5 5600X motherboards will have at least one x16 PCI-E expansion slot, high-end boards can even add up to three PCI-E cards to maximize functionality.
- Rear Ports & Connectivity: Among the rear ports, you can find options such as USB of the latest generations, Ethernet, Thunderbolt, DisplayPort, HDMI audio ports, Digital Audio, PS / 2 ports, and much more. These connections may also include Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connections, where having new versions of both will provide better performance.
Frequently Asked Questions
We all know that compatibility is important; the Ryzen 5 5600X is compatible with a wide variety of motherboards for the B550 and X570. And if PCIe 4.0 connectivity is not a big deal for you, you can also try motherboards for the A520, B450, and X470.
Yes, only the Ryzen 5 5600X will come with a cooler out of the box. That will be the Wraith Stealth, which is a small step from the Wraith Spire fitted with the Ryzen 5 3600XT.
Any motherboard compatible with Zen 3 will support the Ryzen 5 5600X processor. From now on, motherboards with A520, B550, X570, X470 & B450 chipsets will support the Ryzen 5000 series, but you may need to update the BIOS on older motherboards.
The Ryzen 5 5600X is miles ahead of the 3600X when it comes to gaming performance. The 5600X is one of the best CPUs to get if you want to get a brand-new high-end graphics card. It is the best choice for 2024 and ahead.
Motherboards with the B550 chipset are budget-friendly, unlike the X570. The B550 has almost all the features of the X570, but the overclocking headroom is not better in the B550 if we compare it with the X570 chipset.
We’ve expanded our testing to include more Ryzen 5000 motherboards:
- Best Motherboards For Ryzen 9 5950X
- Best Motherboards For Ryzen 9 5900X
- Best Motherboards For Ryzen 7 5800X3D
- Best Motherboards For Ryzen 5 5600X3D
Recent Updates
- December 26, 2023: Few text changes to improve readability. No products were changed.
- July 11, 2023: Few text changes to improve readability. No products were changed.
- June 14, 2023: One of the products went out of stock, so we have changed it with a better replacement.
- June 2, 2023: Few text changes to improve readability. No products were changed.
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[Hardware Reviewer & Editor]
Meet Nauman Siddique, a highly experienced computer science graduate with more than 15 years of knowledge in technology. Nauman is an expert in the field known for his deep understanding of computer hardware.
As a tech tester, insightful reviewer, and skilled hardware editor, Nauman carefully breaks down important parts like motherboards, graphics cards, processors, PC cases, CPU coolers, and more.
- 15+ years of PC Building Experience
- 10+ years of first-hand knowledge of technology
- 7+ years of doing in-depth testing of PC Hardware
- A motivated individual with a keen interest in tech testing from multiple angles.
- I majored in Computer Science with a Masters in Marketing
- Previously worked at eXputer, EnosTech, and Appuals.
- Completed Course in Computer Systems Specialization From Illinois Tech
Get In Touch: nauman@old.tech4gamers.com
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