The 8 Best Budget Pcie 4.0 Motherboards

Whether you’re looking for a motherboard for an Intel or AMD PC build, you don’t have to spend more on the latest PCIe 4.0 standard.

Here are the best budget PCIe 4.0 motherboards available today.

Q: Should I Get a PCIe 4.0 Motherboard?

You should get a PCIe 4.0 motherboard if you want to upgrade to the new NVME SSDs and GPUs. PCIe 4.0 has double the bandwidth of PCIe 3.0, meaning faster speeds and more lanes. Compared to PCIe 3.0, PCIe 4.0 enables faster storage, gaming, and content creation.

Onboard, you get three PCIe slots for your GPU, with one supporting PCIe 5.0 speed. It’s also loaded with two M.2 PCIe 4.0 slots and two standard PCIe 3.0 slots for NVMe SSDs. It’s a good board for gaming and editing rigs, and a BIOS flashback button at the back lets you update the BIOS without installing a processor, ideal for overclockers.

A lot is going for the motherboard on the rear too, including eight USB ports with one 20Gbps USB-C port, DisplayPort 1.4, HDMI 2.1, and a 2.5Gb Ethernet jack. With most Intel processors featuring integrated graphics, you can use DisplayPort or HDMI to troubleshoot your GPU or connect an external monitor to run lightweight graphics tasks and games without a dedicated graphics card.

The TUF Gaming X570-Plus is an excellent mid-range board for gamers and content creators. It has a capable 14-Phase Power Delivery system that maintains good temperatures under load and a robust cooling solution, including an M.2 heatsink and an active chipset heatsink. Four DIMM slots support up to 128GB of total memory capacity, and six SATA ports let you add more storage to your rig.

However, ASUS did cut corners to keep the price down. The board has Wi-Fi 5, Gigabit Ethernet, and seven USB (three at 10Gbps) ports. There’s no WI-Fi 6, 2.5G Ethernet, 20Gbps USB ports, BIOS flash functions, and the I/O shield isn’t pre-installed. If those things don’t matter, then you’re going to get excellent PCIe 4.0 performance for a lot less.

The board comes in a Mini-ITX form factor, ideal for compact builds. There is one full-length expansion slot that supports PCIe Gen 4 speeds on 11th Gen Intel processors. However, this motherboard does not have M.2 PCIe 4.0 slots. You only get one M.2 PCIe 3.0 slot and four SATA ports for additional storage capacity.

The rear I/O is well thought out, with six USB ports (two supporting 5Gbps), audio connectors, 2.5GbE port, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth antenna ports, and two video outputs that let you use the PC without a dedicated graphics card. Overall, this is a good inexpensive motherboard for a basic office or casual PC.

It has a mixture of PCIe 3.0 and 4.0 slots, including one M.2 Gen 4 slot for faster boot times and storage speeds. Like most ATX boards, you get four DDR4 RAM slots with 128GB maximum capacity and four additional SATA ports. Asus went for a more refined and professional look with silver heatsinks and black accents.

There is no RGB lighting, but it has multiple RGB headers for your RGB components. The only downside is you’ll have to live without Wi-Fi, but you get a great selection of I/O at the back, including 2.5Gb Ethernet, six USB ports with one supporting 20Gbps speeds, HDMI, DisplayPort, Optical Audio, and five HD Audio jacks.

The B550M AORUS PRO-P works with both Ryzen 5000 and 3000 series processors. Using a Ryzen CPU with integrated graphics (APU) unlocks the DisplayPort and HDMI ports at the back, allowing you to connect multiple monitors. The 12-phase VRM solution is good enough even for a stable Ryzen 9 experience, and there’s a comprehensive cooling solution with an enlarged VRM heatsink and an M.2 heatsink.

This motherboard offers two PCIe x16 expansion slots, one supporting Gen 4 speeds, and an additional PCIe 3.0 x1 slot. There isn’t much to complain about with the B550M AORUS PRO-P apart from the lack of Wi-Fi. It is a fantastic value among PCIe 4.0 motherboards, offering some of the best features for a powerful AMD build.

The motherboard packs four DIMMs with support for up to 128GB of memory and a full-length PCIe 4.0 expansion slot for your GPU. It supports the latest and fastest PCIe 4.0 NVMe drives with an included heatsink to reduce throttling. The rear I/O isn’t impressive, but it’s good to see a 10Gbps USB-C port and a couple more USB-A ports.

The dual HDMI ports and DisplayPort are also welcome additions if you’re yet to secure a GPU. However, there is no Wi-Fi, and you’ll have to settle for Gigabit Ethernet speeds. If these are not deal breakers for your build, the Prime B560M-A is an excellent consideration for an affordable Intel-powered rig.

When on an ITX build, every port is precious, and the ROG Strix B550-I Gaming nails it with four 10Gbps USB ports at the rear I/O and another 10Gbps USB-C port through the internal header for an easy-to-reach, high-speed port. But there is more. Asus overloaded this motherboard with premium features, including 2.5Gb Ethernet, Wi-Fi 6, and dual M.2 ports. One of the M.2 slots supports Gen4 speeds, and there’s a full-length PCIe 4.0 slot.

The only downside is the modest 8+2 VRM power stages. Still, it allows for good stock CPU performance and offers strong overclocking capacity. The active VRM heatsink and M.2 heatsink combine to keep your PC running reliably under full load and stress. Onboard you also get troubleshooting LEDs, and BIOS FlashBack functions for hard-core overclockers and enthusiasts.

The motherboard has an 11-phase VRM design, which is good enough even for the 12600K. It’s designed to run cool too, with a large VRM heatsink, a chipset heatsink, and several headers for fans and liquid cooling. However, it lacks an M.2 heatsink, so you’ll need to use NVMe drives with built-in heatsinks.

In terms of connectivity, the Prime Z690M-Plus D4 offers eight USB ports, including one 20Gbps USB-C port, three M.2 PCIe 4.0 slots for faster NVMe drives, and DisplayPort and HDMI video outputs. You can add even faster Thunderbolt 4 ports by using a Thunderbolt 4 PCIe card.

Overall, the Prime Z690M-Plus D4 is a good value among Z690 motherboards, providing gamers with an excellent budget alternative as the prices of Z690 motherboards go through the roof.

Q: Are There Any PCIe 4.0 GPUs?

NVIDIA’s GeForce 30 Series and AMD’s Radeon RX 6000 and 5000 Series Graphics Cards are the only GPUs that support PCI Express 4.0.

Q: Can You Put a PCIe 3.0 Card in a 4.0 Slot?

PCIe 4.0 is backward compatible, meaning you can put a PCIe 3.0 card in a 4.0 slot, but it will perform at Gen3 speeds. The same applies to NVMe SSDs. You can put a PCIe 3.0 SSD in a 4.0 slot, but it will top at 3.0 speeds.

Q: What Motherboards Support PCIe 4.0?

AMD’s X570, B550, and TRX40 motherboards were the first motherboards to support PCIe 4.0 natively. AMD X570 is the company’s flagship platform offering the best PCIe 4.0 performance in the market while B550 is the entry-level route to PCIe 4.0 on the AMD platform.

On the other side, there is Intel Z590, B560, and H510, which cover the high-end, mid-range, and entry-level Intel motherboards with PCIe 4.0. While all three come with an LGA 1200 socket, compatible with both 11th and 10th Gen Intel processors, only 11th Gen chips support PCIe 4.0.

Q: What Processors Support PCIe 4.0?

Intel’s 11th Gen Intel Core and AMD’s Ryzen 5000 and 3000 Series are the processors that support PCIe 4.0.