Best B560 motherboards for Intel 11th gen CPUs

Unlike the previous generation chipsets this time Intel has made the overclocking feature available to the non-Z chipset B560 motherboards. For the latest Rocket Lake processors, there is no better affordable option than the B560 if you want most of the advanced features.

The good thing is B560 is not only compatible with the 11th gen Intel CPUs but can also support the 10th gen CPUs making a longer list of CPUs readily supported for overclocking. As AMD has B550 for overclockers and budget PC gamers, Intel is finally ready to tackle and provide users with all the features a PC builder may require to achieve maximum performance.

Major motherboard manufacturers have already released their list of B560 chipset motherboards and after analyzing each one of them, I recommend the following 6 motherboards that will provide you with the best bang for the buck.

ASRock doesn’t have a lot of great B560 motherboards but the Steel Legend is surely a good one to start with. For a processor like i5 11600K, this one will be completely fine for overclocking with 8+2 power stages VRM and medium-sized heatsinks.

It features 2x PCI-E x16 slots for graphics cards where the first one is Gen 4 supported and the second one is Gen 3. It should be noted that Gen 4 is only useable with the 11th gen processors and will work as Gen 3.0 if a 10th gen CPU is used.

The best thing about this motherboard is it features 2x M.2 connectors for fast NVME SSDs and a dedicated M.2 key for a wifi card. For cooling, it features a total of 7x Fan headers and has 2x RGB, 2x ARGB headers for RGB devices which can be synced with the RGB lighting on the chipset and LEDs on the motherboard right border.

Asus has some decent B560 motherboards and one of those is the Strix B560-A Gaming Wifi which gives good competition to the B560 Steel Legend and beats it in a few areas like aesthetics, RAM support and I/O. While the previous motherboard features a single 2.5G Lan port, this one features an additional Inbuilt Wifi 6 adapter for wireless connection.

It also features 8+2 power phases that are actively cooled by the decent-sized heatsinks and should be sufficient for an intermediate level of overclocking. Moreover, there are white-silverish heatsinks over both the M.2 connectors which makes it one of the best white motherboards you can buy for building a white-themed gaming build.

Its I/O is equipped with 9x USB ports in total including a Type C and contains a Bios Flashback button too. For $30 more than the price of Steel Legend, it’s not a bad choice at all but at the same time don’t take it as a serious overclocker because 8+2 power phases may not be enough for an enthusiast overclocker.

The ROG Strix B560-E Gaming Wifi can support memories with a clock speed higher than 5000MHz. It is also a way better premium looking motherboard than most B560 boards out there. The best feature of this board is, however, its VRM that features a 14+2 power stage VRM that use large grooved heatsinks for continuous cooling.

It will be perfect for processors like i7 11700K as well as i9 11900K that feature 8 cores/16 threads as it has great capability to squeeze out performance through overclocking. On top of that, it comes with an identical I/O like that of Strix B560 Gaming Wifi making it overall the best B560 board you can buy.

For connectivity, it comes with a 2×2 Wi-Fi 6E inbuilt wifi adapter and an Intel 2.5G ethernet for both types of internet connections and to increase the personality, it features an RGB logo on the I/O cover.

Just a little downgrade from the B560-E Gaming Wifi, the Aorus Pro AX is another ideal motherboard that allows overclocking better than most B560 motherboards. Thanks to the 12+1 power stages with 50A DrMOS, you can expect stable overclocking with this board and get continuous cooling with the joint heatsinks over the VRM.

It is very much similar to the Strix B560-E but features 3x PCI-E x16 slots instead of 2 while having no PCI-E x1 slots for other expansion cards. Anyways, the use of a PCI-E x1 expansion slot is to install something like a PCI wifi adapter which is already present in it through which you can connect to the internet out of the box.

Aesthetically, it is also very pleasing with 6-layer PCB and RGB lighting on the chipset. For peripherals connectivity, it is equipped with a total of 8x USB ports including C and instead of having the Bios Flashback button at the I/O, it comes with the button onboard.

If you require a smaller motherboard, then Gigabyte has an identical board with similar features which is M-ATX in form factor. That is the Gigabyte B560M Aorus Pro AX.

MSI is on fire with the new Intel motherboards and has a wide range of boards with unique personalization and specifications. Although most motherboards are similar to each other in the Z590 catalogue, the B560 has fewer boards that make it easier to select one from them.

Currently, MAG B560 Tomahawk Wifi is the best value motherboard to get for any overclockable Intel processor. It features a powerful 12+2+1 power phase VRM that is sufficient for overclocking and an inbuilt Wifi adapter for wireless internet connection. There are 2x PCI-E x16 slots for graphics cards and 3x M.2 connectors for NVME SSDs that makes it a good choice for upgradability.

Moreover, for troubleshooting, you will get the Debug LEDs on the right side which are unavailable on the motherboards from other manufacturers. Along with so many good features, it has a rich I/O with a total of 9x USB ports including 2.0, 3.2 Gen 1 and 3.2 Gen 2 Type C that supports up to 20Gbps of transfer speed.

It is available for only $200 and takes the number spot for the best value B560 motherboard without a doubt.

If you don’t want the inbuilt wifi adapter for some reason, the MAG B560 Torpedo replaces the Tomahawk wifi for $20 less. This is currently the best budget B560 board that is packed with all the important features and is a great overclocker due to the 12+2+1 power stage VRM.

It has a similar design compared to the Tomahawk but has a different colour theme and a heatsink less on the primary M.2 connector. This doesn’t decrease its performance at all but provides users with a different look that will mostly suit those who are wanting to build a blue themed build.

One more thing I forgot to mention for the Tomahawk which is also in the case of Torpedo is the availability of an additional 6-pin PCI-E connector that can be used for powering up budget graphics cards making it easier for those who don’t have a 6-pin PCI-E power cable coming out from the power supply.

Wrapping up!

Some B560 boards that are cheaper than the listed ones aren’t worth in my opinion. Most of them feature inferior quality VRM and heatsinks. B560 chipset is made for overclocking and using even a six-core processor like i5 11600K requires powerful VRM and a good CPU cooler which is why it’s important to invest in a good motherboard rather than going too cheap.

For this reason, it’s completely unreasonable to go with any of those boards or you will limit yourself just like on the locked chipsets.

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