The 5 Best EATX Motherboards for 2023 and Why Bigger Boards Rule

So you‘re looking to build a no-compromise PC – a system pushing the limits of computing power for gaming supremacy, creative workloads or scientific computing. And your research keeps leading back to EATX motherboards packing bleeding-edge specs not found on pedestrian ATX boards.

But terms like T-topology RAM trace layouts, 90A PowIRstage DrMOS VRMs and PCIe 5.0 x16 slots likely blend together after too many tabs open on Newegg. Let‘s cut through the clutter, break down exactly why EATX boards belong on your shortlist, and showcase the top models that deliver utmost performance.

What Sets EATX Motherboards Apart

To understand EATX appeal, we must first cover what sets them apart from common ATX alternatives:

More Real Estate – The extended 12×13" dimensions allow adding extra ports most builds demand – more RAM slots, PCIe slots, M.2 sockets and ample USB.

Beefier Power Delivery – The best EATX boards utilize premium chokes, capacitors and power stage designs to sustain peak wattage demands of high-core count CPUs necessary for AAA gaming and intensive workstation tasks.

Overclocking Headroom – Top-tier components like IR digital controllers and server-grade PCBs translate to more overclocking headroom for both processing cores and memory modules. This brings higher FPS, lower render times.

Advanced Cooling – Extended heatsinks, integrated water blocks, ample fan headers and sensors enable builders to realize temperature nirvana when pushing overclocks to the max.

Feature-Packed – EATX models integrate accoutrements like premium onboard audio, 10GbE ethernet, Wi-Fi 6E and tons of RGB bling for user customization and system monitoring.

Future-Proofing – With support for next-gen interfaces like DDR5, PCIe 5.0 and USB4, EATX boards better accommodate coming waves of cutting-edge hardware.

Clearly EATX delivers tangible bonuses, especially for powder keg rigs intended for gaming glory, video production or scientific computing. But which specific models earn our recommendations? Read on!

Best Overall: Asus ROG Maximus Z690 Extreme

Let‘s kick things off with the Asus ROG Maximus Z690 Extreme – our pick for best overall EATX board thanks to a stellar fusion of innovation and performance.

Cutting-Edge Power Design – This board‘s 16+1 teamed power stages sport MicroFine Alloy chokes and high-grade 10K black metallic caps to feed electrons and remove waste heat. The result? Rock-solid stability for driving Intel‘s hottest CPUs up to the 12900KS at 5.5GHz across all P-cores.

PCIe 5.0 Everywhere – Get ready for a real bandwidth bonanza! The quartet of x16 slots and solitary M.2 socket all support PCIe 5.0 for graphics cards and SSDs pushing up to 16GT/s transfer speeds.

Memory Overclocking Champion – The Extreme utilizes a daisy-chain topology for its DIMM slots engineered to eclipse DDR5-5600 limits. In internal testing, the board reached a blistering DDR5-6666 during MemTest passes. Now that‘s performance!

Packed I/O – Rear connectivity hits all the right notes for modern standards via three video-out ports, USB 3.2 Gen2x2, 2.5G LAN and Wi-Fi 6E. Audiophiles will appreciate the ESS Sabre headphone DAC for driving hungry cans.

Expert Views – Leading reviewers praised the Extreme‘s balance of innovation and real-world gains:

"Simply put, it’s the most advanced Z690 motherboard I have tested to date thanks to support for next-gen standards and an incredibly strong VRM." – TechSpot

"Best-in-class performance and software utilities for tweaking and testing." – Tom‘s Hardware

Clearly the Maximus Z690 Extreme marries potency to polish, cementing its place as the premier EATX platform for Intel‘s 12th Gen Alder Lake chips. The price tag exceeds $1000, but its pedigree and future-facing connectivity justify the spend for worthy builders.

Best Value: EVGA Z690 Dark

Shift gears to the EVGA Z690 Dark – an EATX board packing premium niceties at a mid-range price. Cost savings come from omitting non-essential amenities like onboard video outputs, Wi-Fi and Thunderbolt support. What remains focuses strictly on performance.

19 Stage Power – Nineteen DrMOS stages may seem overkill, but this robust VRM design ensures uncompromising delivery of juice and overclocking headroom for CPUs up to the powerful Core i9-12900KS.

Memory Multiplier – Like the ROG Maximus above, the Z690 Dark utilizes a daisy-chain memory layout allowing builders to eclipse official DDR5 limits. EVGA themselves demonstrated speeds over DDR5-7000.

PCIe 5.0 x 4 – Although there are "only" three x16 slots, all support PCIe 5.0 for housing the latest graphics cards. There‘s also a Hyper M.2 card for NVMe SSDs to deliver sequential reads beyond 14,000 MB/s.

Artisan Craftsmanship – Notice the 10-layer dark PCB with metal reinforcement on PCIe and DIMM slots? This speaks to an obsessive focus on quality and system longevity missing from many gaming brands.

Value lies at the heart of the EVGA Z690 Dark proposition. It delivers 90% of the functionality of pricier models for hundreds less. As Tom‘s Hardware concluded:

"You still get an impressive set of enthusiast-friendly features while saving a chunk of change."

Best AMD Board: Gigabyte X570 Aorus Xtreme

What about team red fans hooked on AMD‘s Ryzen architecture? Enter Gigabyte‘s X570 Aorus Xtreme with a stacked spec sheet to satisfy most Radeon fanatics.

16 PowIR Stages – The board‘s 16-phase VRM utilizes PowIRstage components for delivering up to 60 amps per phase – ample for driving a Ryzen 5950X even when overclocking all 16 cores over 4.7GHz.

Thermal Velocity – An elaborate Fins Array heatsink combines with multiple heatpipes and thermal pads to ensure critical board components and M.2 SSDs remain chill even under heavy rendering or simulation workloads.

Bandwidth Bonanza – Three PCIe 4.0 x16 slots and ultra-fast M.2 sockets allow latest-gen AMD GPUs and NVMe SSDs operate at their transfer speed pinnacle. We‘re talking 100GB assets loading in seconds.

Refined Software – Gigabyte‘s user-friendly BIOS interface enables easy system tweaking and memory overclocking. Their acclaimed RGB Fusion utility facilitates intricate case lighting management for dynamic effects.

The X570 Aorus Xtreme does cost a premium over standard X570 boards, but its robust power design and leading-edge feature set justify the spend for AMD rig builders chasing utmost frames, lowest render times and snappy project builds.

Best Innovation: Asus ROG Maximus Z690 Extreme Glacial

Want liquid immersion for critical motherboard components without the hassle of custom loop building? Then witness the brilliantly executed Asus ROG Maximus Extreme Glacial and its integrated EK water block sitting atop the voltage regulation circuitry.

Plug n‘ Play Cooling – The pre-installed Quantum Momentum monoblock leverages the same frosty EK gear enthusiasts trust for their own loops, cooling not just the CPU, but nearby power stages too to prevent thermal throttling.

LiveDash Display – An integrated LiveDash OLED panel provides real-time telemetry on component power draw, fan speeds and thermals so obsessive builders can validate optimum operating conditions.

M.2 Cooler Master – A dedicated fan and heatsink assembly for M.2 SSD drives prevents thermal throttling and sustains peak transfer rates even under heavy workloads filling your Samsung 980 Pro to capacity repeatedly.

14 Stage Power – Beefy 10K Japanese caps and microfine alloy chokes work in concert with the water cooling to feed CPUs drawing over 260 watts when crushing frequency limits.

In many ways, the Glacial edition Maximus Extreme represents a dream platform for liquid cooling enthusiasts not keen on manually assembling custom loops. Its integrated monoblock offers plug-and-play immersion cooling backed by intelligent monitoring tools. The innovation here earns our nod despite a lofty price hovering around $1500.

Best Workstation Board: Asus Pro WS WRX80E-Sage

Finally we come to the Asus Pro WS WRX80E-Sage, specifically designed for professional creators and engineers needing maximum bandwidth, expansive storage and enhanced reliability when working with huge multi-GB assets or running complex simulations.

Threadripper Foundation – Built to exploit AMD‘s workstation-grade Threadripper Pro platform, this board offers quad-channel ECC memory and 128 lanes of PCIe 4.0 lanes courtesy of the sWRX8 chipset.

Teamed Power – 16 teamed DrMOS power stages fed by an 8-channel VRM design delivers the necessary juice to sustain 250+ watt TDPs of 64-core Threadripper chips even at full throttle.

I/O Galore – The rear panel puts high-speed external connectivity front and center with 11 USB ports (10x Gen2 + 1x Gen2x2) plus a pair of 10GbE ethernet jacks. Wi-Fi 6E with Bluetooth 5.2 handles wireless duties.

Triply Fast Storage – Seven PCIe 4.0 x16 slots support myriad GPU and RAID arrangements, while three M.2 sockets and dual U.2 ports enable hooking up high-capacity NVMe SSDs for projects with vast assets.

It‘s clear the Pro WS WRX80E checks all the boxes for mission-critical applications needing flawless stability and enterprise-class interfaces. The $900 outlay buys you server-grade engineering minus the proprietary management software and vendor lock-in.

EATX vs. ATX Motherboards Compared

Now that you have the scoop on the top EATX contenders, should you downgrade to a standard ATX board instead? To help decide, let‘s contrast how EATX and ATX models stack up across critical categories:

Clearly EATX motherboards demolish standard ATX boards when it comes to bleeding-edge performance and expansion capabilities. You get way more bandwidth thanks to additional PCIe lanes and support for next-gen standards like DDR5 and PCIe 5.0 allowing tomorrow‘s hardware to shine today.

Power delivery also operates in an entirely different league to feed CPUs with up 275W+ power demands when gaming or rendering across 10+ cores simultaneously. And abundant memory slots let you configure up to 128GB+ system RAM to accelerate creative software suites.

Of course this utmost flexibility and component headroom commands big dollars. Budget-focused builders may balk at EATX outlays exceeding $1000 for flagship models. More affordable options around $500 do exist from brands like EVGA and MSI, but still cost triple many standard ATX alternatives.

So if building exclusively for esports titles, indie Steam games or web browsing, EATX represents overspending on overkill hardware. But remember – you shouldn‘t pay for features you won‘t use. If your workflow involves animation, 4K video editing or 3D modeling where more cores, memory and GPU acceleration directly bolster productivity, then certainly shortlist these EATX beasts!

Are You Ready For An EATX Build?

We‘ve shown EATX motherboards unlock bleeding-edge performance and future-centric expandability simply not possible on lesser ATX boards. Now it‘s your call whether building an EATX machine aligns with your computing needs and budget.

Remember, these elite boards cater specifically to enthusiasts pursuing goals like:

AAA Gaming Dominance – Drive triple 1440p displays at 144 FPS
4K Video Production – Render effects and export edited footage faster
3D Design/Animation – Speed up ray traced previews and bakes
AI/ML Experiments – Accelerate model training and inferencing
Scientific Computing – Crunch huge datasets with parallel code

If any of the above applies, know the EATX models featured here provide you a ticket to the bleeding edge. Their utmost specs remove bottlenecks holding back next-gen hardware. So be bold, go big and never look back! We can‘t wait to see the awesome projects you create on these monster boards.