We’re going to put together a list of the best budget motherboards. They may not have all the features of their higher priced bigger brothers but they’re solid and dependable components that will serve you well. We’re going to define ‘budget’ as under £100 here, recommending boards that can house the latest and greatest processors without compromising on build quality and reliability. If you’re unsure about weather to go with AMD or Intel have a look at our breakdown here. If you’re planning to use a Skylake or Kaby Lake processor then the MSI Arsenal Z270 PC MATE is a fantastic choice. Offering some fantastic value this board supports 2-way CrossFire and is made by one of the industry leaders in motherboard and gaming component production, MSI. This is a full sized board, so it’s not a small component (make sure to check that its dimensions can fit your case before purchase!) but that does allow for future expansion. The size is due to its CrossFire feature, ensuring that you can fit two GPUs on the board should you wish. While this board may not have the bells and whistles of some of its more expensive models, CrossFire support from MSI at this price point is a very positive sign. If you’re looking for an 8th generation Intel system to make use of the latest Coffee Lake CPUs, then up until recently you were forced to use the Z370 chipset. This has changed with the introduction of the H370, B360 and H310 platforms that are certainly cheaper, but do gradually lose features as you move down through the chipsets. To start with the Z370 is the only set that you can overclock your CPU/DDR4 memory on. As you progress from the Z370 down to the H370, B360 and H310 you’ll be losing all manner of features including PCI-E lanes, total USB ports, maximum high speed IO lanes etc. However, if you’re not planning on overclocking and going ‘full enthusiast’ but still want the power that the 8th generation chips provide, one of these chipsets could be perfect for you. If you’re looking for a solid board to house your AM4 processor then look no further than this fantastic option from MSI. The MSI B350 PC MATE supports the latest Ryzen processors with its AM4 socket, which AMD have confirmed they’ll be supporting for generations to come, so in that case this board is a solid choice for future proofing. AMD processors work well with RAM at higher clock speeds and this board supports 3200MHz RAM which is just at the price/performance sweet spot. As with almost all AMD components, they’re designed to be overclocked which is one distinct advantage AMD has over Intel, who decide to put overclocking behind a pay wall. The board is a fantastic deal if you’re putting together a Ryzen focused system but can live without some of the additional features.
