The motherboard market is so bad that flagship boards are selling at entry-level prices — save up to 57% of premium motherboard designs while RAM prices surge

Jun 23, 2026 - 01:08

0 1

The motherboard market is so bad that flagship boards are selling at entry-level prices — save up to 57% of premium motherboard designs while RAM prices surge

It looks like motherboard vendors are hurting badly. As Prime Day gets underway, we're seeing some price discounts on motherboards that are frankly hard to believe. Take the flagship ASRock Z890 Taichi as an example, which is normally $460, but you can get it for a massive 56% off, bringing the price down to $200. When you see a discount that big (its previous low was $300), you know something is afoot.

That something is the price of RAM and SSDs. With prices high on those components, enthusiasts aren't building new PCs, and buy extension, not buying motherboards. Motherboard sales have apparently dropped by as much as 37%, and vendors are massively cutting prices to get those numbers up.

Although the existential dread of PC component pricing right now is omnipresent, let the lose of motherboard vendors be your gain. It's extremely unlikely that we'll see motherboards this cheap again once RAM prices stabilize, so now is the best time to buy if you want to upgrade.

We're picking out some of the most impressive discounts here, but make sure to keep our list of the best motherboard deals handy during Prime Day if you want to check out all of the discounts.

Save $260 on the ASRock Z890 Taichi at a new all-time low price

We're very familiar with the ASRock Z890 Taichi, as it's the motherboard we use for testing LGA 1851 CPUs. Carrying ASRock's Taichi brand, it's a flagship design with all the bells and whistles, and at a list price of $460, those bells and whistles make sense. Right now, however, you can get it for just $200.

The board is high-end across the board. It supports memory speeds up to 9600 MT/s, and it comes with a 20+1+2+1+1 VRM design, giving you plenty of power stages to push your CPU overclocks hard.

Internally, you're spoiled for connectivity options. There are a total of six M.2 slots, one of which supports PCIe Gen5 x4 (the others support PCIe Gen4 x4). The top PCIe slot also supports PCIe Gen5 x16, and the board comes with an internal USB-C header.

Around the rear, you'll find dual Thunderbolt 4 ports, four USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports, another four USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports, two USB 2.0 ports, and dual LAN with connections for 2.5Gb and 5Gb. You simply won't find this level of support on a motherboard for $200, or even $300, for that matter.

Get 40% off the Asus ROG Strix B650E-I makes SFF affordable

You'll pay a hefty premium on any premium mini ITX motherboard; take it from a recovering SFF addict. This current deal on the Asus ROG Strix B650E-I, which I personally used for the last few years with a Ryzen 7 7800X3D, makes mini-ITX seem far more reasonable. The board is 40% off, bringing its $300 list price down to $180.

That matches the board's previous all-time low, which it hasn't been to in nearly a year. Despite such limited room, this board has a solid amount of connectivity. It features two M.2 slots, one at PCIe Gen5 and the other at Gen4, along with two SATA connections. There's a single PCIe 5.0 x16 slot that supports PCIe bifurcation through the BIOS, as well. There's even internal headers for USB 3.2 Gen 1 and Gen 2, so you get full front panel connectivity.

Around the back, you get a total of eight USB ports: two USB 2.0, four USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A, one USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C, and a USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 Type-C. The board also comes with Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2, so you don't need to muck around with add-in cards. Although the 600-series chipsets debuted with Ryzen 7000 CPUs, this board also supports newer Ryzen 9000 CPUs via a BIOS update.

Flashback to LGA 1700 with the MSI Z790 Gaming Plus Wi-Fi at an all-time low price

MSI's Gaming Plus range doesn't go overboard like a Taichi, but they're reliable boards that we've cycled in and out of the Tom's Hardware test bench several times over the years. The MSI Z790 Gaming Plus Wi-Fi here doesn't have a shocking sticker discount (it's 27% off), but it's down to its lowest price ever, giving you Intel's flagship chipset from the previous generation for just $130.

This is a midrange motherboard that you can buy for an entry-level price. It sports a total of four M.2 slots, one of which supports PCIe Gen5, along with four PCIe expansion slots (the top x16 slot supports Gen5, as well). Networking is excellent, as well, with the board coming with 2.5Gb LAN, Wi-Fi 6E, and Bluetooth 5.3.

Through the back panel, you get audio hookups for the Realtek ALC897 7.1 audio chip, along with three USB 2.0 ports, two USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports, a single USB 3.2 Gen 2 port, and a single USB 3.2 Gen2x2 Type-C connection. The board features internal headers for USB 3.0 and 3.2 Gen 2, as well.