11 Best Motherboards for i5-8600K in 2024

The i5-8600K is arguably the best CPU for budget-minded gamers Intel currently offers. Like its more expensive sibling, the i7-8700K, the Core i5-8600K sports six physical cores and can be overclocked to over 5 GHz without much effort—provided you have a Z370 motherboard with solid overclocking performance.

Since the release of the 8^th generation of Intel’s CPUs, motherboards with the Z370 chipset have flooded the market, making it somewhat difficult to distinguish ordinary motherboards from those that are suitable for serious gaming. Luckily for you, we’ve done the research, and here’s our selection of 11 best motherboards for i5-8600K.

Best Motherboards for i5-8600K

1. MSI Z370-A PRO

The MSI Z370-A PRO is built tough. It uses Military Class 6 components shielded by the best protection to make sure your system runs smoothly under the most extreme conditions. All PCI-e slots on the motherboard have extra solder points for a stronger hold, preventing any damage due to heavy-weight graphics cards. Even the audio and power capacitors come from high-end manufacturers known for the quality of their products.

Apart from being gaming-ready, the MSI Z370-A PRO is also optimized for cryptocurrency mining. The motherboard has several PCI-e expansion slots and optimized power circuitry design to guarantee rock-solid performance for long mining sessions with multiple graphics cards.

For the cost of the gadget, you shouldn’t expect exceptional overclocking performance from the MSI Z370-A PRO. However, the built-in overclocking tools still allow you to push your i5-8600K processor well past its stock frequency and enjoy the best performance under the most extreme conditions.

Buy it now: here

2. ASUS ROG Strix Z370-E

The ASUS ROG Strix Z370-E is often seen as a budget-oriented version of the ASUS ROG Maximus X Hero. Whereas the ASUS ROG Maximus X Hero is geared toward those who don’t mind the diminishing returns in terms of cost versus features, the ASUS ROG Strix Z370-E delivers a rock-solid foundation with a handful of hand-picked extra features.

What has made the cut is the ASUS Aura Sync RGB lighting system, 802.11ac Wi-Fi with MU-MIMO for up to 867 Mbps data transfer speeds, Intel Gigabit Ethernet, 8-channel HD audio, ASUS 5-Way Optimization, and front panel USB 3.1.

Where the ASUS ROG Strix Z370-E lags behind the ASUS ROG Maximus X Hero are its overclocking capabilities. You might be able to overclock your i5-8600K processor to 5 GHz with the ASUS ROG Strix Z370-E, but the results are far from guaranteed, and you might end up with an unstable system. But if overclocking isn’t one of your top priorities, there’s really no reason not to go with the ASUS ROG Strix Z370-E and some quite a lot of money.

Buy it now: here

 

 

3. MSI Z390-A Pro 4

MSI’s Z390-A Pro comes in as third on our countdown, and just like the last, this one has the LGA 1151 socket that you to fit your processor, as well as any 8th or 9th Generation models out there. It shouldn’t have trouble with some Celeron ones either.

MSI has packed a lot of impressive technology inside of the motherboard. There are various proprietary technologies inside of it, and one of our favorites is something that they call Core Coost. This combines MSI’s premium circuit layout and digital power design to deliver perfect current to your processor. One of the other really nice things about this CPU is that it easily enhances audio performance. It actually uses something called Audio Boost, which is a chip that helps boost your audio performance. Just like the GIGABYTE, MSI has its own enhanced PCIe slots to provide you with better durability for the larger video cards out there.

Buy it now: here

4. ASUS ROG Maximus X Hero

The ASUS ROG Maximus X Hero is ready to become the foundation of a powerful gaming rig. It comes equipped with 802.11ac Wi-Fi with MU-MIMO for up to 867 Mbps data transfer speeds, AURA Sync RGB lighting, Intel Gigabit Ethernet, LANGuard, USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-A and Type-C connectors, SupremeFX and Sonic Studio III audio technology, and other features that you won’t find on lesser motherboards.

The highlight of the ASUS ROG Maximus X Hero is something called ASUS 5-Way Optimization. This intelligent technology allows you to optimize all aspects of your system with one click, providing you with multiple customizable overclocking and cooling profiles that are specifically tailored for your rig.

If you love to tinker with your computer, you better set aside a few days when the ASUS ROG Maximus X Hero arrives at your doorstep to fully explore all of its settings. The motherboard gives you a ridiculous number of options to play with, and its graphical user interface makes it easy to understand what each option does. Of course, you can also use ASUS 5-Way Optimization and let the motherboard pick the best settings for you.

Buy it now: here

 

 

5. GIGABYTE Z390 UD

Ins second position, we’re looking at GIGABYTE’s Z390 UD. If you’re looking for something that is reliable and will provide you some high performance for your PC build, this one will be right up your alley. Using the LGA 1151 socket, it works with the i5-8600k. This socket is one of the best yet and actually works with both 8th and 9th Generation Intel Core processors.

The GIGABYTE Z390 UD is one of our favorites because of all of the extra goodies that they attach to the motherboard, such as PCIe Ultra Durable Armor material. You can easily break PCIe slots with large and heavy video cards; however, Ultra Double Armor makes the PCIe slots a whole lot more durable, allowing you to put heavier and larger video cards in here, and without worrying about breaking or reducing the durability of those PCIe slots.

GIGABYTE’s motherboards are especially helpful for things like overclocking. They have solid plated ATX 24pin & ATX 12V 8pin + 4pin power connectors, giving your CPU a most consistent and reliable flow of power. It has Smart Fan 5 tech to keep your CPU cool as well continually.

Buy it now: here

 

 

6. MSI MAG Z390 Tomahawk

Coming up as our number one contender, we have the MSI MAG Z390 Tomahawk motherboard. MSI has some excellent PC history, and This one will work with most 8th Generation and 9th Generation Intel Core processors, including the Intel Core i5-8600k CPU.

Sure, the i5-8600k isn’t the most powerful Intel Core processor out there, but it’s affordable for many, and the MAG Z390 Tomahawk motherboard will bring out the most efficiency. The motherboard knows how to use your chip most efficiently, and gives you plenty of overclocking capabilities for it in the system BIOS as well.

Intel’s own Turbo Boost technology supports overclocking, but that does mean you’ll be limited to what the CPU can max out as, though some adjustments can give you free reign over your overclocking capabilities, and the Tomahawk will help support that. The motherboard itself was built for long-lasting performance; however, MSI doesn’t seem to have many proprietary technologies developed in that keep you safe from overheating and such, which puts more responsibility on you, the user, to watch how far you can take things. That might discourage you from going outside of the walls of Turbo Boost.

MSI’s Z390 Tomahawk supports the latest generation in memory — DDR4 RAM. There’s support for up to a whole 32GB of memory in four slots. There are two “Turbo” M.2 slots, and this one does come with a pre-installed IO shield.

Buy it now: here

 

7. ASRock Z370 Extreme4

The ASRock Z370 Extreme4 is a moderately priced gaming motherboard that delivers rock-solid performance and all the essential features you might need. The motherboard uses an optimized trace design to unlock the hidden performance of DDR4 memory modules and provide a significant overall performance boost.

Thanks to Purity Sound 4, which is a combination of several hardware, audio software solutions, the ASRock Z370 Extreme4 can deliver the crispest sound effects even without a dedicated sound card. Modern graphics cards, especially factory-overclocked models, are large and heavy, which is why the ASRock Z370 Extreme4 features two reinforced PCI-e Steel Slots.

To make the motherboard as affordable as it is, ASRock had to leave out certain extra features that are commonly found on top-of-the-line motherboards. One additional feature ASRock decided to include is the ASRock RGB LED lighting system, which can be customized from the ASRock RGB LED utility and extended with LED strips.

Buy it now: here

 

 

8. GIGABYTE Designare Z390

Up next, we are taking a look at the GIGABYTE Designare. If you’re running a processor that works with the LGA 1151 socket type — like the i5-8600k — you’ll love the performance and durability that this offers.

If you’re looking at making a modern and sleek PC setup, the Designare Z390 is one of the best that money can buy. Thanks to some beautiful design work, this will help make any transparent or glass computer case stand out.

It’s a versatile board, actually working with most 8th and 9th Generation Intel processors out there. You get plenty of support for memory, with support for DDR4 memory and four DIMM slots to deck out.

Heat dissipation is really good on this board, thanks to what GIGABYTE calls an advanced thermal design. This assists heat dissipation in keeping your board cool, which is especially crucial during overclocking CPUs and video cards.

One of the unique aspects of this board is the support for USB-C — GIGABYTE actually includes it in its IO this time around.

Buy it now: here

 

 

9. ASUS TUF-Z390 Pro

Want long lasting durability out of your motherboard? Don’t want to plan on buying a new one in a couple of years? Then you’ll definitely want to see what the ASUS TUF-Z390 Pro has to offer. ASUS actually recommends this one for gaming purposes, which is good because this motherboard will last you a long time, even under heavy loads. That’s because of it being a “TUF.” The motherboard is built with military grade protection, which gives this motherboard the long-lasting durability that many are after.

As you might imagine, this Z390-based motherboard is another one that sits on the LGA 1151 socket, and as such, works with the majority of the 8th and 9th Generation Intel Core processors out there today. That said, the i5-8600k will have no problem functioning with this setup.

This motherboard supports overclocking through Intel Turbo Boost, and there are several different proprietary technologies inside to help you with overclocking. One of those is Gamer’s Guardian with Safe Slot, and another one called Fan Xpert 4.

Both of these provide hardware-level safety features, but the Fan Xpert 4, kicks in to help keep components ]\

cool during overclocking, preserving hardware for long-term use. That makes this motherboard one of the most ideal options, giving you long lasting durability and hardware preservation in almost every area!

One of our favorite highlights of the ASUS TUF-Z390 actually has an integrated audio chip, which brings you premium audio capabilities without having to take up precious room with a sound card. Hook up your stereo system to the audio port on the motherboard’s IO, and you’ll get crisp, clear sound clarity!

Buy it now: here

 

10. ASUS WS Z390 Pro

We really like what ASUS is offering in the WS Z390 Pro, as well. This one uses the LGA 1151 socket, which means that it can operate with any 9th and 8th Generation Intel Core processors. This is a really nice benefit for those that plan on keeping the board a long time but will want to upgrade processors in the future.

ASUS has built his board with what it calls 5-Way Optimization. Designed for overclocking your processor, this is also able to automatically tune fan speeds to ensure the best balance between cooling and acoustics. So if you’re trying to keep a near noiseless system in place, 5-Way Optimization helps you reduce noise.

As most manufacturers should, this board was designed with cooling in mind, so overall the board operates at cooler temperatures, helping extend its lifespan for even longer.

Buy it now: here

11. GIGABYTE Z370 AORUS Gaming 7

The GIGABYTE Z370 AORUS Gaming 7 is an attractive gaming motherboard that makes no compromises. Designed for enthusiasts who want the best performance, it features triple PCIe Gen3 x4 M.2 slots, AORUS RGB Fusion lighting system, Smart Fan 5 technology with 9 temperature sensors, onboard USB Type-C header for USB 3.1 Gen2, and AORUS AMP-UP Audio.

The GIGABYTE Z370 AORUS Gaming 7 incorporates a server-class CPU power design to provide exceptional stability even under heavy loads. The extra stability comes in handy during overclocking, which is made very easy thanks to Turbo B-Clock technology, which offers a much more exceptional overclocking range than most other motherboards.

The GIGABYTE Z370 AORUS Gaming 7 comes with a refreshed BIOS with a brand-new graphical user interface. The BIOS has been reinvented to give users a better experience while setting up their new system, and we can say that GIGABYTE did an excellent job.

Buy it now: here

 

Best Motherboards for i5-8600K Verdict

As you can see, there are a ton of excellent motherboards for the i5-8600k processor. Any one of these will be able to leverage the CPU, but your options from MSI and ASUS are easily some of the best motherboards on here.

Do you have a best motherboards for i5-8600K? Sound off in the comments section below!