How to Choose the Best Motherboard for Your i5 12th Generation Processor

If you’re planning to build your first PC with the new i5 12th generation processor, then you’ll want to get your hands on one of the best motherboards available in order to make sure that everything goes smoothly. Even if you don’t plan on overclocking, there are still plenty of other features that will come in handy as well. That’s why we’ve put together this guide on how to choose the best motherboard for your i5 12th generation processor. Follow these steps and you’ll be well on your way to a successful build!

Step 1 - Understand how your PC works

PCs are made up of various parts that need to work together in order for them to run. To choose a motherboard, you'll first need a general understanding of how PCs work. You should know what a processor is and how it works with other parts like RAM, hard drives, graphics cards and so on. Read our guide: How Do Computers Work? A Step-by-Step Guide For Beginners so you have some basic knowledge of how a PC functions. If you're ready to dive deeper into hardware components, we've also got guides on CPUs, video cards, memory types and everything else!

Step 2 - Consider your upgrade path

While you’re buying a motherboard, make sure it can accommodate your CPU in a year or two. You don’t want to buy an expensive motherboard that won’t be able to take advantage of faster CPUs when they become available. Consider one with at least two PCIe 3.0 slots so you can upgrade from dual-channel DDR4 memory up to quad-channel memory in future if needed. Also check how many SATA III ports it has (you should get at least six), and whether it offers USB 3.1 Gen 2 ports and/or USB Type-C connectors (which are great for connecting super fast flash drives).

Step 3 - Decide on your required features

First, you should decide what type of motherboard you need. (Check out our motherboard buying guide here.) If you're building a new computer from scratch, go ahead and choose your processor first, as it’s not possible to buy a motherboard without first choosing your CPU. If you have an existing computer that uses an Intel Core i5, go ahead and stick with that brand; otherwise, read on.

Step 4 - Decide what you need now, and what you can put off buying until later

This step is, in my opinion, one of THE most important steps in planning your PC build. Simply put, you need to consider what exactly you need from your PC and only buy parts that satisfy those needs. You should also decide what parts can wait until later. The biggest tip I can give you here is: If you don't absolutely need it, DON'T BUY IT! Some parts are more optional than others, so how much of a need they are will depend on how much money you want to spend right now vs down the road when more components fail/die. Here's a quick list I've come up with that seems pretty solid as far as deciding what components are must-haves and which ones aren't quite as necessary

Step 5 - Find out which features are worth spending extra money on, and which ones you can save on.

Depending on your needs, you might want different components. Graphics cards aren’t necessary if you aren’t planning on gaming. Processors will speed up your computer without making a huge difference in performance if you don’t plan on running programs that are CPU-intensive. The same is true for RAM, hard drives, and other parts. If you aren’t sure which features are worth spending extra money on, consult a friend or coworker who has more experience with computers than you do; they can help set realistic expectations and steer you towards components that will fit your needs instead of breaking your bank account.

Step 6 - Use this table of all our recommended motherboards for the i5 12th generation processor

Check out our motherboard review videos on Youtube and see which boards we recommend! Links are also listed down below.