How Much is a Motherboard?

The cost of motherboard depends upon a lot of factors. Just as is the case with all commercial products out there, there is a vast range of models for motherboards. Therefore, the question, how much is a motherboard, depends upon what category of motherboards you are looking at.

Essentially, a motherboard can cost anywhere between $50-$1500. But the average cost of a motherboard in the budget range is about $70-$130. Mid range motherboards can range anywhere from $150-$180. Popular high end motherboard have an average cost of about $200-$250. Motherboards more expensive than $250 are for extreme builders and enthusiasts.

Again, some motherboards are basic and only suitable for budget-oriented PC builds. Basic motherboard offer the bear minimum specs. The more expensive a motherboard gets, the more additional features it offers.

In the following text I will talk in detail about how much is the average cost of a motherboard in various categories but also talk about factors that affect the price of a motherboard.

So How Much is a Motherboard?

In order to figure out the exact price of a motherboard, I will categorize them based on the chipsets. Since chipsets essentially define the prowess of a motherboard, the price is almost directly related to what chipset the motherboard offers.

Average Price of Budget Motherboards – Intel H510 and H610 Chipset and AMD A520 Chipsets

H510 and H610 are both low end chipsets for Intel motherboards. Motherboard featuring these chipset feature the bear minimum specs such as weaker and fewer VRMs, fewer PCIe lanes, fewer PCIe slots, and slower USB ports.

The H510 chipset is based on the Intel LGA 1200 socket intended for Intel 10th and 11th Gen CPUs.

The H610 chipset is newer and is based on the Intel LGA1700 socket for Intel 12th gen and newer CPUs.

The A520, on the other hand, is a budget chipset for AMD builds featuring the AM4 socket.

As of writing this article, the following are the prices of some of the Intel H and AMD A series motherboards.

Intel H510 Motherboard Prices

Motherboards with Intel H510 chipset are among the cheapest featuring the LGA1200 socket. 

Depending upon what features you need, the prices for motherboard featuring H510 varies between $79-$128. 

The MSI H510M-A Pro is cheapest as it offers fewer features such as a lower number of PCIe expansion slots and fewer video output ports on the back panel.

Whereas the MSI H510I Pro WiFi is among the more expensive model since it offers a compact mini ITX form factor and also built in WiFi.

Intel H610 Motherboard Prices

The H610 is the budget motherboard chipset featuring the LGA1700 socket for the Intel 12th Gen CPUs.

The average cost of these motherboard is about a $100.

AMD A520 Motherboard Prices

AMD A520 is the currently the cheapest motherboard chipset that features the AM4 socket suitable for AMD Ryzen CPUs from 1000 all the way to 5000 series.

AMD A520 motherboards are generally cheaper than the Intel H510 and H610 chipsets primarily because they conform to the older PCIe 3.0 standard and offer slower USB ports. The Intel H510 and H610 have slots that conform to PCIe 4.0 and also offer faster USB ports.

The average cost of an A520 motherboard is about $85-$90 dollar. 

The cheapest A520 motherboard is the MSI A520M-A PRO with the current market price of about $63. Whereas the ASRock A520M-ITX/ac is an outlier with an expensive price tag of $165 primarily due to the fact that it offers a mini-ITX form factor and a built in WiFi. I wouldn’t recommend this motherboard though for this price.

TL;DR, the average price of a budget motherboard is about $85.

Also Read: How Much Should I Spend on a Motherboard?

Average Price of Mid Range Motherboards – Intel B560 and B660 Chipset and AMD B550 Chipsets

Intel B560, B660 and AMD B550 are mid range chipset often preferred by design and editors on a budget, as well as by gamers. 

They offer features such as newer PCIe version, more PCIe lanes, newer and a higher number of USB and M.2 ports, better VRMs, more expansion slots, support for dual graphics card etc

Intel B560 Motherboard Prices

The Intel B550 has the widest range of motherboards ranging from cheap $90 motherboard all the way to the astoundingly expensive MSI MPG B560I Gaming Edge WiFi worth $240, the reason of course being the compact Mini ITX form factor.

But generally the most common price range for B560 motherboards is about $150. Of course, depending upon the bells and whistles you want, the more expensive the motherboard gets even with the mid range chipset.

Intel B660 Motherboard Prices

The primary difference between the B560 and B660 is that the latter features the LGA1700 socket intended for the Intel 12th gen sockets.

Naturally, the B660 motherboards are more expensive on average as compared to B560 motherboards.

At the moment, the average price of an Intel B660 motherboard is about $190.

AMD B550 Motherboard Prices

AMD B550 is a very popular chipset for gamers and enthusiasts. At the moment, this chipset has one of the widest variety of motherboards ranging from cheap $80 motherboard all the way to high end $360 ASUS ROG Strix B550-E Gaming motherboard.

While there are budget and expensive outliers here, the most common price bracket for AMD B550 motherboard is between $130-$180 with the most popular B550 motherboards being in the $180 range.

TL;DR, the average price of a mid range motherboard is about $150.

Average Price of High End Motherboards – Intel Z590 and Z690 Chipset and AMD X570 Chipsets

The Intel Z590 for the 10th and 11th gen CPUs, Intel Z660 for Intel 12th CPUs and AMD X570 for Ryzen 1000-5000 series CPUs are high end chipsets found on top of the line motherboards.

They offer the best features such as the highest number of PCIe lanes, newest connectivity standards, the best VRM and phase power design, and of course, the most attractive looks.

Intel Z560 Motherboard Prices

The cheapest Z590 motherboard is almost as expensive as an average Intel B560 motherboard. Whereas, the most expensive Z590 motherboards are a work of art and of course are not intended for an average user.

Despite the large price range, the average price of the most popular Z590 motherboards is between $200 – $240. 

Intel Z660 Motherboard Prices

The Z660 motherboards featuring the LGA1700 socket with PCIe 5.0 and DDR5 support are more expensive than their Z590 counterpart. The average price of a Z590 motherboard is in the range of $300 however, you can find popular options in the $240 range.

AMD X570 Motherboard Prices

Similar to the Intel high end motherboards, the X series motherboards can be found in a wide price range. The cheapest are worth about $150, whereas, the most expensive can reach $800.

Similar to the Intel Z series, the most popular X570 motherboards are found within the $200-$240 range.

TL;DR, the average price of high end motherboard is easily in the $300 and beyond range, however, since the price range is so vast, the average price of the entire data set can be a bit misleading. The popular models can be found in the $200-$250 range.

Also Read: How Difficult is it to Build a PC? 

Factors That Affect the Price of a Motherboard

To determine how much is a motherboard, you have to look at its features. There are lot of factors that determine the price of the motherboard.

This includes:

1. The Chipset
2. PCIe Lanes
3. PCIe Version
4. CPU Socket
5. Amount of Expansion Slots
6. VRMs
7. Overclocking Support
8. Form Factor
9. USB Ports, their Version and Headers
10. Looks and Design

Also Read: What Makes a Motherboard Good?

1. The Chipset

The chipset is the heart of a motherboard. It basically defines your PC build. The chipset defines what CPU socket your PC will support, the amount of PCIe lanes and their version, the amount of expansion slots etc.

As mentioned earlier, both Intel and AMD have several series of chipsets ranging from budget to high end chipsets.

2. PCIe Lanes

The amount of PCIe lanes the motherboard offers directly relates to how expensive it would be. The amount of PCIe lanes a motherboard can offer depends upon its chipset. 

High end chipsets such as the Z690 can offer 28 PCIe lanes, whereas budget chipsets such as the Intel H510 offers 4 PCIe lanes.

Also Read: How to Check How Many PCIe Lanes Do I Have?

3. PCIe Version

The PCIe version of the lanes and the slots also affect the price of the motherboard.

Motherboard featuring the newer PCIe 4.0 and 5.0 are more expensive than the older motherboards.

Having newer PCIe version can drastically improve the performance of the connected devices. With every new PCIe version, the per lane transfer rate of the slots doubles.

This means that you can install newer and more demanding devices in the PCIe slots.

Also Read: What are PCIe Lanes?

4. CPU Socket

Motherboards featuring CPU sockets for newer generation CPU are often expensive.

For instance the motherboards featuring the LGA1700 socket for 12th gen Intel CPUs are generally more expensive than the motherboard featuring the LGA1200 socket for the 10th and 11th gen CPUs.

Also Read: How to Check What CPU is Compatible With My Motherboard?

5. Amount of Expansion Slots

The amount of PCIe and M.2 slots your motherboard has affects it price. It should be noted that M.2 slots for NVMe SSDs are also utilize PCIe lanes.

6. VRMs – Phase Power Design

Also Read in Detail: What are Motherboard Power Phases and VRMs?

VRMs or Voltage Regulator Modules may look trivial at first, but they are among the most important factor for determining the quality of the motherboard.

The quality, size and the amount of VRMs your motherboard has a great influence on its price. VRMs have the purpose of delivering steady power to the CPU and the RAM.

The better the quality, the more stable and clean power the CPU will get delivered.

VRMs are a highly important component for overclockers since the more and higher quality VRMs your motherboard has, the more you will be able to overclock while maintaining stable operations.

When we talk about how does a $50 and a $300 motherboard differ, the VRMs play a huge role in the difference.

7. Overclocking Support

Not all motherboards are capable of overclocking. With Intel, only the Z series motherboards offer overclocking support, whereas, with AMD, the B and X series motherboards offer overclocking support.

Again, the degree to which you can overclock your CPU while maintaining good overall stability is determined by the quality and the amount of VRMs your motherboard has. 

8. Form Factor

There three typical form factors for motherboards:

• Full ATX – 12 x 9.6 inches (305 x 244 mm)
• Micro ATX – 9.6 x 9.6 inches (244 x 244 mm)
• Mini ITX – 6.7 x 6.7 inches (170 x 170 mm)

Mini ITX motherboards, being the smallest are rare and generally intended for specialized portable builds. They are often quite expensive compared to ATX and Micro ATX if you compare the same specs.

ATX, aka Full or Standard ATX, is generally the golden standard for gamers, enthusiasts and professionals. They offer the most expandability.

Micro ATX motherboards are intended for budget PCs.

9. USB and Video Ports, their Version and Headers

The number of USB ports your motherboard has and their version also has significant impact on the price.

A good motherboard offers not only the newer USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 ports with 20 Gbps transfer rate but will also offer USB headers so that you can connect the front USB ports of your PC case.

A Thunderbolt port or a header can also add further cost to the motherboard.

The USB nomenclature and the version are quite difficult to understand. The following table clarifies this:

Also Read: What are USB Headers?

In addition to that the video output ports and their version also determines the quality and in turn, the price of the motherboard.

10. Looks and Design

And finally, the looks of a motherboard, the amount of customization it offers in the shape of RGB headers, fan headers and AIO cooler support affect the price of a motherboard.

Final Words

So how much is a motherboard. Well, TL:DR:

• Popular budget motherboards have an average cost of $85
• Popular mid range motherboards have an average cost of $150
• Popular high end motherboards have an average cost of $200-$250.

However, depending upon the features you are looking for, you can even find motherboards as cheap as $50 and also as expensive as $1500.