Intel comes with different generation processors, but recently they launched their 12th generation processor. Their 12th-generation processor provides optimal performance under various extraordinary features. For the intel i3-12100F, there’s no need to worry about the motherboard choice and selection because we will guide you on the best motherboard for intel i3-12100F with the authentic verdict, features, pros, and cons.
When there are different options available, then it’s easy for you to make one choice between all. ASUS, MSI, GIGABYTE & others feature quality motherboards with different features. So, picking one from these is not difficult because you have various options. But if you are still confused about this, don’t worry, don’t skip out reading, and you will make a better purchase.
Without a compatible and best-performance motherboard, your processor will not benefit you in the long run. So, the motherboard is an essential component for any processor’s performance. For example, if your processor is powerful, but the motherboard is incompatible and provides poor performance, your PC is in danger of bad performance. So, it’s better to pick the right motherboard with quality features. Now, how you can choose the compatible and quality level motherboard, don’t worry. We are here to guide you on easily making the best purchasing decision. It would be best if you considered the following essential factors before going to purchase:
Budget:
As usual, the first factor you need to consider is the budget. Budget will clear you about your desired motherboard that you can easily buy for Intel i3-12100F. But again, we advise you to remember that don’t choose the low-quality motherboard only if its price is low. Instead, you want to select a motherboard with quality features in the budget-friendly option. Also, we have added all those motherboards that offer better value for the money, so it’s best that you can choose any one among these.
Form Factor:
Motherboards come in different form factors or sizes, and the most common are ATX, mini & micro ATX. ATX motherboard is larger in size, and the mini ATX is smaller in size. The basic purpose of the form factor is to keep the motherboard cool through the form factor space. ATX motherboards keep the motherboard cool by dissipating the heat effectively because of having a much larger space than the motherboards with a mini ATX form factor. But for this, your PC casing is also essential. You can go for the ATX factor only if your PC only has medium size casing because the board form factor depends on the PC casing.
VRM Capacity:
The voltage regulator module regulates the voltage capacity for each component. It regulates the overall voltage capacity of each component and ensures that the voltage levels do not exceed and are represented within the ability. The motherboard only performs well if the voltage capacity is at the required level, not too low or too high. If the standard voltage capacity exceeds, any internal component may get damaged. You must choose a motherboard with a robust VRM capacity to keep things balanced.
Thermal Efficiency:
Your motherboard’s thermals are more powerful and better for overall performance. Excessive overheating puts your motherboard performance at risk, so you shouldn’t skip this factor when going for the motherboard. You want to go for a motherboard with PCB layers because these help better heat dissipation. If you prefer the ATX motherboards to the mini ATX, it will also help overcome the heating issues. Moreover, heatsinks are also a good mechanism to stay away the heating issues.
Connectivity Support:
Finally, the last thing you should check is the connectivity support of a motherboard. The motherboard comes with different ports and ports, like expansion slots, storage slots, and expansion ports. You check whether your chosen motherboard has the required USB ports, expansion, and storage slots. USB ports help to connect USB connectivity; expansion slots represent the PCI-E slots, and the storage slots come with M2 and SATA ports.
Best Motherboards For Intel i3-12100F:
When you want a better performance from your PC, it’s not enough to put all the money into the processor; a good quality motherboard is also essential. We enlisted the top 5 motherboards with the best compatible and quality features for your processor performance. Following are the five best motherboards for Intel i3-12100F:
- Best Motherboards for Intel i3-12100F: MSI MAG B660 Tomahawk WiFi DDR4
- Another Choice: MSI PRO Z690-A WiFi DDR4
- ASUS Prime H610M-E D4
- MSI MAG B660M Mortar WiFi DDR4
- ASUS Prime H670-PLUS D4
Let’s get started;
1. MSI MAG B660 Tomahawk WiFi DDR4
With MSI, we can start our motherboard list because MSI is the name of trust, quality, and better performance features. This motherboard is the no. 1 suitable option for the i3-12100F processor, and it provides a unique black aesthetic design and ATX support. This motherboard has a better VRM capacity as it has a robust VRM design with a capacity of 12+1+1 VRM. The rail power system of this motherboard provides stabilized power to different processors, even larger capacity processors. With this motherboard, there are fewer chances of facing power shortage issues because of the robust VRM.
This motherboard is connected with 8 pin connector and has 6-layer PCB features that help for better thermal conductivity through less heating issues. This motherboard supports an overall storage capacity of 128GB with a memory clocking speed of 4800 MHz. Moreover, this motherboard supports the four DIMM slots comprising each 32 GB. One main thing we liked about this motherboard is that it has better connectivity & storage support. If we talk about storage needs, this motherboard supports 3 M2 slots, which is enough to fulfill the storage needs. It also has 6 SATA ports (3.0) if you want more storage.
You can plug the GPU into the PCIe 4.0 through the 4.0 x16 PCIE slot. For better connectivity support, you can get the eight USB slots (3.0) Gen 1, 2 (type A & C) ports. This motherboard supports wired and wireless connectivity options as it has Bluetooth 5.2 and Wifi 6 support. It also has 2.5 Gbps LAN support if you want fast wired support.
2. MSI PRO Z690-A WiFi DDR4
Another MSI motherboard on the list of the best motherboards for the i3-12100F processor is the MSI Pro Z690-A. It’s an ATX motherboard combining white and black with a PCIE 5.0 slot on the top. This motherboard features a 14+1+1 digital phase VRM design with processor power phases, and it’s the best in terms of memory overclocking & other such performance. One thing to note down is that the core i3-12100F processor cannot be overclocked because it has a locked chip.
This motherboard supports efficient cooling capacity as it has 6 layer PCB design, PWM heatsinks, and a thermal pad, and all of these will help your motherboard for better heat dissipation and let them cool. One prominent feature of this motherboard is that this motherboard’s M2 slots also have heatsinks to overcome heating issues. Now, let’s talk about this motherboard’s storage capacity as this motherboard comprise 4 DIMM slots with a storage capacity of 128 GB at the memory clocking speed of up to 5600 MHz. It’s not enough as this motherboard supports the other storage capacity. This motherboard has six SATA ports (3.0), M2 Gen 4 slots (3), and M2 Gen 3 slots (1).
These slots and ports are enough to manage SSD & HDD storage. Moreover, this motherboard has three PCIe x16 slots for better GPU performance and storage capacity. This motherboard also has a vast USB setup with nine different USB 3.2 Gen ports. In terms of connectivity, this motherboard is the best because it also offers wireless and wired connectivity support, i.e., Wifi 6 and Bluetooth v5.2 support for wireless and 2.5 Gbps support for wired connection.
3. ASUS Prime H610M-E D4
The third number, the most demanding motherboard for the Intel i3-12100F processor, is the ASUS Prime H610M-E D4. The form factor of this motherboard is a micro ATX motherboard with a combination of white and black strides and PCB layers. It’s just a simple design, heavily recommended for people who are tight on a budget. This motherboard supports the premium grade VRM as it has a DIGI plus VRM design for efficient power and stability.
There’s no chance to overclock this motherboard because it’s the H610 chipset motherboard, and the i3-12100F processor doesn’t support this. But don’t worry, this motherboard withholds a maximum capacity of up to 64 GB of DDR module with a maximum memory clocking speed of 3200 MHz, so it’s the best range for memory speed. On the other hand, it has 2 M2 generation slots and 4 SATA ports to accommodate storage needs. Furthermore, this motherboard has 2 PCIE slots, i.e., a 4.0 x16 slot for the GPU and the other is 3.0 x1 for wireless connectivity.
Now if we talk about this motherboard’s USB connectivity support, it has four USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports & six USB ports (2.0). Without Gen 2, you cannot enjoy the same Gen 2 speed, but it’s okay to go with the Gen 1 speed. This motherboard supports only wired connectivity support and not any wireless and Bluetooth connectivity support.
4. MSI MAG B660M Mortar WiFi DDR4
Another MSI motherboard adds to the list because of top-tier performance, features, and better compatibility with the i3 12100F processor. For black and white PC builds, this motherboard is the best in providing a unique look because it has silver and white tint VRMs on the black PCB layer. This motherboard features a 12+1+1 VRM design with a digital processor power system. For better cooling support, this motherboard’s 6-layer PCB comprises copper layers (thickened) that don’t create too many heating issues. These will help to dissipate the heat to a greater extent.
This motherboard supports a maximum of 128 GB with a memory clocking speed of up to 4800 MHz. The basic purpose of memory overclocking is to run the memory speed at faster levels to enjoy solid performance. This motherboard has M2 Gen 4 slots (2), six SATA ports, and two PCIe x16 slots for better storage expansion needs. This motherboard has both wired and wireless connectivity support. If you want wired connectivity, you have 2.5 Gbps LAN support; if you wish for wireless connection, you have Wifi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2v connectivity option.
5. ASUS Prime H670-PLUS D4
Our last pick for the Intel i3-12100F processor is the ASUS Prime H670-Plus D4. We added other ASUS to the list because we experienced that most of the ASUS motherboards are best compatible with the Intel i3-12100F processor. Like the other ASUS motherboards, this motherboard supports DIGI & VRM design with eight power stages. With such VRM capacity, you will not face processor power issues. For better heat dissipation, this motherboard gains power from the solid 8-pin pro cool connectors that are best for the overall heat dissipation.
Due to excessive usage, your motherboard sometimes faces more heating issues, so in this way, this motherboard has added VRM heatsinks & thermal pads to keep the motherboard cool. By doing so, the motherboard’s different component’s temperature can be minimized. This motherboard’s maximum storage capacity is 128 GB with a memory speed of around 5100 MHz. There are three PCIe x16 slots in this motherboard; two are PCIe 3.0 x1 for networking and sound cards.
There are various M2 generation 3 and 4 slots with four additional SATA ports. In this motherboard, there’s only a wired connection in the form of 2.5 Gbps LAN support, whereas there’s no wireless connection like Wifi & Bluetooth support. If you want wireless access with this motherboard, you must buy a separate M2 card.
Final Words!
Motherboard selection for any processor is not easy, and it’s not difficult, too. The only thing is an extensive and in-depth search regarding better compatibility, pricing, quality, and value. So, we made your work more accessible through this article. We highlighted the five best motherboards for Intel i3-12100F, along with features, pros, and cons. Moreover, we added only those motherboards that are best compatible after proper testing. So, there’s no need to worry about compatibility. You need to purchase any of the motherboards from our top picks.
Thanks for Reading!
