Best Motherboards for the Intel Core i7-13700K

Introduction

Intel’s Core i7 13700K is an excellent CPU that thrives in multi-core applications and programs. But if you’re looking to pick up this titan of a CPU which motherboard should you look to pair up with the 13700K? With a plethora of options on the market this can be a difficult decision, which is why we’re looking to alleviate this stress by finding the best motherboard for the Intel Core i7-13700K To do this, our written and benchmarking team have collaborated to test and analyse a significant number of motherboards from our inventory, so see which options are best suited to pair up with the Core i7-13700K.

The MAG B760 Tomahawk WiFi DDR4 board from MSI is our first choice to pair up with the Core i7-13700K. Admittedly, this B760 motherboard is more of a budget friendly option, but despite being a cheaper motherboard, its still an excellent component to house our 13700K.

Equipped with onboard WiFi 6E, PCI-E 5.0 ready for any next-gen GPUs, and three Gen4 M.2 slots, this board is more than enough for most consumers building a mid-range 13700K system. While Z790 is more preferable for an overclockable CPU like the 13700K, those that don’t need all of the extra bells and whistles can pick up a B760 board, that hold themselves up pretty well in comparison

Which leads me on to the main strength of this particular B760 option, the price point. Consumers can expect to spend around $170 or so for this motherboard, which can’t be said for the majority of Z790 options. Unfortunately, the biggest downside is the lack of CPU overclocking support. This is restricted to the Z790 chipset alone, so if you were planning on pushing your 13700K a little bit further, the MSI B760 Tomahawk doesn’t support this.

NZXT’s N7 Z790 motherboard is a lesser known option in the PC components space, but an equally competitive option, and well worth considering. Because this is a Z790 motherboard, all of the features get an upgrade in comparison to B760 options, with PCI-E Gen4 and Gen5 connectivity appearing more. You’ll also notice that the rear IO on the N7 Z790 is very bountiful, with the majority of the ports being USB 3.2 options.

And of course, you’ll be able to overclock the Core i7-13700K to reasonable levels with this board offering a 16+1+2 VRM power phase design. The main thing I love about NZXT motherboards is the aesthetic.

MSI’s MPG Z790 Carbon WiFi is the strongest option for the Core i7-13700K sporting an excellent set of features geared towards the top-end side of the market. VRM power phases on this board are particularly strong, with the Z790 Carbon WiFi offering up a 19+1+1 power phase design. This is one of the most notable features of the Z790 Carbon WiFi, making it a perfect overclockable option for the 13700K. The main thing that we love about this board is the feature set. The Z790 Carbon WiFi is easily one of the strongest options to pair up with the 13700K, and will be a go-to option for the majority of consumers building a top-end system.

Consumers can leverage Gen5 SSDs and graphics cards slots, alongside a vast number of USB 3 ports, capable of providing insanely fast transfer speeds. As you can probably expect, these top-end features do come with a rather high price point behind them. The Carbon WiFi is one of the more expensive top-end Z790 motherboards, sitting around $350 to $400.

The ASUS Prime Z790-A WiFi DDR5 is a great board that we’ve taken a look at in a full review for the release of 13th-Gen CPUs. This board features plenty of great features including high speed DDR5 memory overclocking up to 7200MHz. The Prime Z790-A also has onboard WiFi 6E, along with 2.5 Gigabit LAN perfect for file transfers over network, or some good ol’ fashioned lag-less gaming.

The biggest strength of the Prime Z790-A WiFi is its rather reasonable price point versus the rest of the market.

This board sits at $250 or so dependent on the vendor you’ve picked it up from. And despite being a cheaper option, the Z790-A Prime is a multifaceted option geared towards both workstations and gaming, which is great to see. The biggest weakness of the Prime Z790-A is the rather tacky aesthetic.

CPU Compatibility

CPU compatibility is a wider concern when picking out a motherboard, but consumers don’t need to be worried when it comes to the Core i7-13700K. This CPU is compatible with all 12th and 13th-Gen options, providing you with a number of options to choose from.

After analysing and testing each motherboard in our roundup, we’ve determined that the best motherboard for the Core i7-13700K is the MPG Z790 Carbon WiFi from MSI. This board is the best option due to its value-proposition in the high-end market. The Z790 Carbon WiFi is extremely feature-rich, providing consumers with more than enough connectivity, expansion slots, and VRM power phases for overclocking.