Before using your new AMD Ryzen 2600 processor, you'll need a supported AM4 motherboard. I've rounded up some of the best motherboards to get the most out of the processor, regardless of whether or not you desire to overclock.
Amazing Performance
The ASUS ROG Strix X570-E comes with plenty of bells and whistles. You've got full support for PCIe 4.0 (though the Ryzen 5 2600 doesn't support it), an actively cooled chipset, onboard Gigabit LAN with Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax), Gen 4 M.2 slots capable of unidirectional transfer speeds up to 64 GB/s, and plenty of RGB lighting options to boot. It's a stunning motherboard and one that commands quite the price tag.
For Gamers
The MSI X570 GAMING PLUS is a reliable secondary option, supporting up to 128GB RAM, the latest Ryzen processors, and coming with the range-topping X570 chipset. This board supports fast networking, armored PCIe slots, and MSI's RGB lighting system. Not bad for the price.
Budget-friendly
This B450 motherboard from ASRock is more affordable than our other two picks because it comes with fewer advanced features. What you get is a budget-friendly board with everything you need to get the system up and running. Just don't expect to heavy overclock or to push the system past its limits and enjoy a stable experience.
Small & Mighty
The B450 AORUS PRO WIFI from Gigabyte has everything you need to create an efficient yet powerful Mini-ITX PC in a small form factor chassis. It's surprising just how much performance you can get out of this motherboard, though you will be restricted to just a single PCIe slot for a GPU.
Choosing the best motherboard for the Ryzen 5 2600
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Most of these boards are stable enough for some overclocking and will perform well enough under load in games or intense applications. Should you need a great X570 motherboard, you'll want to give the ASUS ROG Strix X570-E some serious consideration because of how much you get for the price.
X570 is the future for AMD processors, and if you want to future-proof your PC build, this will be the chipset for you. We've included a mini-ITX B450 with a better chipset for smaller PC builds, the ASUS Prime X570-P. Though if you plan to upgrade the CPU later, you'll likely need an X570 motherboard.
