11 Best Motherboards for i9-9900K in 2024

Intel has unleashed its 9^th generation of Core i processors, introducing eight-core CPUs with stable clock speeds of up to 5 GHz to the mainstream. The most powerful CPU from Intel’s new line-up is the i9-9900K, which not only supports hyperthreading but also has enormous overclocking potential. The new processor is designed to work with a new chipset, called Z390, so many gamers and power users alike will need one of these best motherboard for i9 9900k.

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At A Glance: Best Motherboards for i9-9900K

• MSI Meg Z390 GODLIKE LGA1151 (Intel 8th and 9th Gen)
  Our Top Pick
• ASUS ROG Maximus XI Hero
• GIGABYTE Z390 UD

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If you’re among them, this article is for you. We’ve surveyed the market and selected the best motherboards for i9 9900K that are available. While the Z390 shares many similarities with its predecessor, the Z370, there are also some notable differences, such as support for the latest Wi-Fi technology, Bluetooth 5.0, and directly integrated USB 3.1.

Choosing a good motherboard for your i9-9900K provides you with a solid foundation for overclocking, allowing you to squeeze out every last ounce of performance.

1. ASUS ROG Maximus XI Hero

Best Overall Motherboard for i9-9900k

In terms of value for money, the ASUS ROG Maximus XI Hero is hard to beat. This high-end motherboard isn’t nearly as expensive as the MSI Meg Z390 GODLIKE, yet it packs substantial power, smart cooling, and faster memory support under a stealthy skin.

This Maximus XI Z390 motherboard has been designed with overclocking in mind. It features a dedicated on-board clock generator that supplies dynamic reference clocks to the CPU cores and major subdomains, allowing you to make very small adjustments so you can reach the performance ceiling of your i9-9900K processor without compromising the stability of your system.

Even if you know nothing at all about overclocking, you can still improve your system performance without spending any money thanks to AI overclocking. You simply click on a button, and the motherboard figures everything out for you.

The ASUS ROG Maximus XI Hero is packed with connectivity options, features Intel Gigabit Ethernet, LANGaurd, dual M.2, USB 3.1 Gen 2, and Wi-Fi with MU-MI-MO 802.11. It also comes with a gaming-ready integrated sound card, giving you extra value for your money for the best motherboard for i9 9900K.

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2. MSI Meg Z390 GODLIKE

Best Premium Motherboard for i9-9900k

We’re not sure whether the name of this motherboard refers to its astronomical price tag or its extreme overclocking potential, but there’s no doubt that the MSI Meg Z390 GODLIKE is, by far, the best Z390 motherboard for i9-9900K you can buy. By pairing the two together, you can go well beyond the maximum stock clock speed of 5 GHz and achieve excellent performance when playing games and using demanding applications.

The MSI Meg Z390 GODLIKE is equipped with expertly engineered heatsinks that channel heat away from critical components and provide you with uncompromising stability. You can bring the motherboard to life using MSI’s Mystic Light Infinity RGB lighting system, which lets you personalize your PC with 16.8 million colors and 29 effects with the Mystic Light App.

Unlike any other motherboard you’ve ever seen, the MSI Meg Z390 GODLIKE features a built-in OLED display that can show the status of your motherboard for your Intel core i9 9900K chip, such as debug codes, play GIF animations, and more. The basics are taken care of as well, including EMI-shielded dual HD audio processors and Killer Wireless-AC 1550 Wi-Fi.

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3. GIGABYTE Z390 UD

Best Budget Motherboard for i9-9900k

Sure, GIGABYTE’s Z390 UD is no memorable name here, but this is a motherboard that stays memorable because of its performance. Using the LGA1151 socket, this one supports 8th and 9th Generation Intel Core processors, as well as some different Celeron CPUs. It, of course, has dual-channel DDR4 memory as well.
This one has PCIe Ultra Durable Armor, allowing you to put heavier and larger video cards in here, and without worry about breaking the slots over time.
GIGABYTE’s Z390 motherboards feature solid plated ATX 24pin & ATX 12V 8pin + 4pin power connectors, which offer your processor a more stable power supply, which is especially important for when you’re overclocking. And with Smart Fan 5 feature, your PC can maintain its performance while staying cool thanks to a number of thermal sensors around the motherboard.
It has support for RGB light strips as well, allowing you to customize your board and match it with the current ambient lighting of your hardware. The GIGABYTE Z390 UD has everything you would ever need for a top gaming setup.

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4. ASRock Z390 Phantom Gaming-ITX/ac

Just because you want to enjoy the power of the Intel Core i9-9900K CPU doesn’t mean you have to get an ATX motherboard. Just like its name suggests, the ASRock Z390 Phantom Gaming-ITX/ac is a Mini ITX motherboard with the Z390 chipset, allowing you to build a compact desktop computer with all the performance you need to play the latest games and use even the most demanding software applications.

The motherboard has a 7.1 integrated sound card with support for Creative Sound Blaster Cinema 5, a state-of-the-art audio-processing technology designed to bring the same audio experience found in live performances, films, and recording studios to the PC. Thanks to the presence of the Intel 2T2R Dual Band 802.11ac Wi-Fi chipset, you can enjoy wireless speeds of up to 1.73 Gbps and support for Bluetooth 5.0.

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5. GIGABYTE Z390 AORUS Ultra

The GIGABYTE Z390 AORUS Ultra is another motherboard for Intel’s i9-9900K processor that offers excellent value and is packed with cutting-edge features. GIGABYTE optimized the thermal design of the motherboard to provide the ultimate cooling performance for overclocking enthusiasts, gamers, and power users.

Using a 12+1 phases digital CPU power design, which includes both digital PWM Controller and DrMOS, the GIGABYTE Z390 AORUS Ultra achieves excellent power efficiency and allows you to enjoy your i9-9900K processor to its full potential.

You can forget about buying a dedicated sound card thanks to the new high-end audio codec from Realtek, ALC1220-VB Immersive Gaming ViBes, which can automatically detect the impedance of your headphones and prevent issues such as low volume and audio distortion. The GIGABYTE Z390 AORUS Ultra motherboard supports 802.11ac Wave 2 function, providing you with speeds of up to 1.73 Gbps.

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6. MSI Z390-A Pro

MSI’s very own Z390-A Pro comes up next on our countdown, featuring — you guessed it — the LGA1151 socket. That means this board supports both 8th and 9th generation Intel Core processors, including the i9-9900k. This one supports dual-channel memory with DDR4, giving you four slots for memory sticks.
This one has something called Core Boost technology, which combines MSI’s premium circuit layout and digital power design to deliver perfect current to your processor. It has its own Audio Boost feature, which is a chip that helps boost your audio performance. Additionally, there’s what MSI is calling PCI Express Steel Armor slots here, which are solder points on the motherboard that have a stronger hold — perfect for some of the larger and heavier video cards out there.
This board will look nice with any gaming setup, especially those where the computer cases are open or transparent. The board is blacked out, so you can make it look very nice with some ambient lighting. Dark reds would look particularly cool here.

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7. GIGABYTE Designare Z390

Next up, we’re looking at the GIGABYTE Designare. This is a really sleek looking board that will make any open-faced computer setup look sweet. This one, like many of the others, uses the LGA 1151 socket type, so it works with 8th Generation and 9th Generation processors alike.
It comes with dual-channel, non-ECC unbuffered DDR4 DIMM slots for your RAM cards. It also has an advanced thermal design with a direct touch heat pipe, which works to improve heat dissipation on the board.
This is one of the few boards that is running USB-C ports as well. Overall, this is a great board for multiple aspects — gaming, video editing, visuals, and so much more.

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8. ASUS WS Z390 Pro

One of the best motherboards that money can buy for the i9-9900k processor is the WS Z390 Pro from ASUS. It was designed for the 9th Gen Intel Core processors, but will work just as fine with 8th Generation models, too.
It comes with something that they’re calling 5-Way Optimization, which features Auto-Tuning and FanXpert 4 technology that is able to deliver automatic overclocking profiles for maximum performance.
It also has an integrated high-definition audio chip, which is designed to give to excellent stock audio quality. That means you don’t need an extra audio card, leaving room for upgrading other aspects of your system. It comes with RGB lighting as well, so you can really trick out your setup.
ASUS designed this board from the ground up with cooling in mind, so overall the board operates at cooler temperatures, helping extend its lifespan for even longer.

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9. MSI MAG Z390 Tomahawk

The MSI MAG Z390 Tomahawk is one of the best that you can buy for the i9-9900k. It has plenty of features, and is quite versatile in the amount of Intel processors that are supported. As you might expect, this motherboard, of course, supports the i9-9900K, i7-9700K, and i5-9600K from the 9th Generation Intel Core series. On top of that, you’ll have no problem using processors from the 8th Generation Intel Core series as well, all thanks to the LGA 1151 socket. There are a number of other Intel-based CPUs that work with the motherboard, but the i9-9900k might find the most use out of it.
MSI’s Tomahawk comes with dual-channel DDR4 memory slots, a couple of fast M.2 slots, and then plenty of support for overclocking. You have a pretty populated IO as well, providing you with plenty of USB 3.1 ports, ports for audio, display technology, and more.

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10. ASUS TUF-Z390 Pro

Of course, if you’re largely into gaming, then you definitely want something that you can rely on, especially when playing some of the higher-end games with tougher hardware requirements. That said, the TUF-Z390 Pro is made for just that. Made with military-grade protection, the Z390 Pro has a lot of long-lasting components that will keep this motherboard in service for years to come. It’ll work with most processors from both the 9th and 8th Generation Intel Core series, but you might get the most performance out of the i9-9900k with this one.
You can use this one with overclocking technology as well, as the ASUS TUF-Z390 Pro is fully capable of handling Intel’s Turbo Boost technology. There’s actually some proprietary technology from ASUS built-in to help — Gamer’s Guardian with Safe Slot and Fan Xpert 4. Both of these technologies sit at the hardware-level, keeping your components safe — as well as the board itself — when overclocking gets out of hand. When your board gets too hot, the Fan Xpert4 technology brings extra cooling capabilities to keep components at normal temperatures.
An added bonus is the high definition immersive audio recreation, which eliminates the needs for a dedicated sound card.

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11. ASRock Z390 Taichi Ultimate

If you don’t intend to do much overclocking of your i9-9900K processor, it makes no sense to purchase a high-end motherboard. The ASRock Z390 Taichi Ultimate is easily our favorite budget Z390 motherboard available.
While it certainly doesn’t look as flashy as the MSI Meg Z390 GODLIKE, it provides a strong foundation for your computer and pleasantly surprises with several features we wouldn’t expect to see at this price point. To start with, all PCIe connectors feature stainless steel shielding to provide the extra strength required to support heavy graphics cards. All of the motherboard power connectors boast a solid pin design, offering stable power supply while CPU overloading.
Thanks to their cooling technology, you can ensure that your gaming PC can maintain its performance while staying cool. It gives you detailed information about flow rate and temperatures inside your case, making it easy to see which components are at the highest risk of overheating.

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Verdict

As you can see, there are a lot of excellent motherboards for the i9-9900k on this list. Any one of these will work with the processor; however, the Tomahawk by MSI is probably one of the best that you can buy today.

What’s your favorite motherboard for the i9-9900k? Sound off in the comments section below.