Shopping for gaming motherboard with inbuilt WiFi and Bluetooth? Perhaps you’re not a gamer and just want a motherboard upgrade. We want to help you buy the best WiFi and Bluetooth motherboard in the market.
A motherboard is one of the most important components of any computer system. In more ways than one, it’s the motherboard that determines how far you can push your PC. According to Alan Bradley of the PC Gamer “if a CPU is the brain and the GPU is the heart, then the best motherboard is the central nervous system of your PC”.
With regards to the facts mentioned, people are usually tempted to go overboard their budget while shopping for a motherboard. You don’t need to do that.
A fairly priced motherboard can pack all the firepower you need. Which includes inbuilt WiFi and Bluetooth. These types of boards are best for gaming and many smart functionalities to ensure you enjoy your PC.
That said, here are the Best WiFi and Bluetooth Motherboards we found.
Best WiFi and Bluetooth Motherboards
Preview
Product name
Specs
ASUS ROG Maximus XI Hero
- Form factor: ATX
- WiFi/Bluetooth:Intel 9560 802.11ac 2x2 (1.7GBps) / Bluetooth 5 Combo
ASUS ROG Strix B450-I
- Form factor:Mini-ITX
- WiFi/Bluetooth:Intel Dual-Band wireless 2.4/5GHz 802.11/ Bluetooth v4.2, 4.0LE
GIGABYTE X470 AORUS Gaming 5
- Form factor: ATX
- WiFi/Bluetooth:Intel 802.11ac Wave 2 WiFi (up to 1.73Gbps)/ Bluetooth 5
MSI MEG Z390 GODLIKE
- Form factor:E-ATX
- WiFi/Bluetooth:Killer Wireless-AC 1550 WiFi
ASRock Fatal1ty Z170 ITX/AC
- Form factor: Mini-ITX
- WiFi/Bluetooth:IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 4.0/3.0
Let’s dive a little deeper!
ASUS ROG Maximus XI Hero – Best WiFi and Bluetooth Motherboard for Gamers
The ASUS ROG Maximus XI Hero is among the best Z390 motherboards around. This board features everything you’ve been yearning for and a little extra for those with high demand.
A beauty from the Republic of Gamers (ROG) the Maximus XI Hero comes with eight-core Coffee Lake-S processor which is compatible with 9th generation Intel Core processors
It’s been proven this board overclocks better than its competitors [with a T-Topology layout]. Beyond the design and processing power, it carries a Gigabit Ethernet jack which can house two M2 SSDs. It features four USB 3.1 Gen2 ports and two USB 2.0 ports which you can use to connect your mouse and keyboard. There are 3 x PCIe 3.0×16 slots and an 8-pin power connector. Add that to the four DIMM slots which come handy for dual-channel memory.
This board features WiFi with speeds hitting 1.73GBps. With this motherboard, you get six SATA 6 GBps storage ports.
From what we saw, this board is heavy due to the heatsinks attached on the chipset. And we’d have liked to see a vertical GPU mounting adapter cable.
We can’t finish without mentioning the sleek (shiny black) aesthetics of this board. The ASUS ROG Maximus XI Hero is a proper gaming motherboard with WiFi and Bluetooth.
- Great audio quality
- FanXpert 4 facilities for dynamic system cooling
- Easy to install
- Compatible with 9th generation Intel Core processors
- Great overclocking
- Lots of impressive features (see product description)
- Pricey
- The M.2 screws could be a little tighter
- The VRM runs hotter than expected
Bottom line
Placed side by side against most WiFi and Bluetooth boards [even from Gigabyte], the Maximus XI Hero easily wins out. Although it depends on what you’re really looking for in a motherboard. The M.2 screws with this model may give you a little hassle -. This problem is ignoble though. What’s not is the pricing. This board’s price isn’t competitive.
ASUS ROG Strix B450-I – Best Mini ITX Motherboard with WiFi and Bluetooth
We turn to ASUS and the Republic of Gamers for the best Mini ITX Motherboard with WiFi and Bluetooth – our pick is the Asus ROG Strix B450-I Motherboard.
The capabilities of this quality board don’t get as much credit as it should. It even boasts better performance than MSI MPG Z390 Edge, which, by the way, is a full ATX motherboard.
Whether you want a WiFi/Bluetooth motherboard or just any other board, one thing you should look out for is whether it can be overclocked and how much. The ROG Strix B450-I is great for overclocking – which is nice for such a small board.
What’s inside? The ROG Strix B450-I features dual M.2 sockets and 12 USB ports [three of which are USB Gen2]. You’ll find those hidden M.2 slots under the removable heatsink. This also covers the audio solution. There are two other M.2 slots at the back of the PCB.
This hardware piece is powered by AMD Ryzen AM4 2nd generation processors. Among its robust features, it has 802.11ac WiFi, Bluetooth v4.2, up to 32GB of DDR4 and Gigabit LAN – overclocking this can give you speeds of up to 3600MHz.
Beyond the 1x PCI-Express 3.0 x 16 expansion slot, it features 4x SATA 6G ports.
What about the ROG Strix B450-I design? This pint-sized board sports a pretty simple design and a remarkably cool layout. Although we didn’t like the positioning of two of the SATA 6GBps port.
- Nice for overclocking
- Powerful VRM
- Superb audio quality
- Double M2 slots
- Competitive price
- High connectivity speeds due to built-in dual NVMe
- Great for building portable gaming rigs
- It consumes a lot of power
Bottom line
Despite being a small-sized mini-ITX motherboard, this board packs a powerful punch. It’s definitely worth your while if you want a budget gaming board with WiFi and Bluetooth.
GIGABYTE X470 AORUS Gaming 5 – Best Gigabyte motherboard with WiFi and Bluetooth
If you’ve built a gaming rig before, you must’ve heard of X470 motherboards. They’re an industry leader in the motherboards business. Gigabyte’s X470 Aorus Gaming 5 is arguably Gigabyte’s best motherboard with WiFi and Bluetooth. It also comes at a fair price point – this model comes at under $200.
With Multi-light zone packed with RGB LEDs for the PCI-Express and of course the audio. This board supports AMD Ryzen 1st and 2nd Generation, processors. It has two M.2 slots secured with a thermal guard. Plus Dual Channel Non-ECC unbuffered DDR4, 4DIMMs.
One thing that catches the eye is the simple and smooth implementation of Gigabyte UEFI, showing all important features.
A single pin auxiliary connector connects the 8+3 phase power delivery system. This is alright for overclocking, and it proved to be during testing. This motherboard comes with WIMA audio capacitor which provided an excellent audio solution.
For the I/O we can see two USB Gen 2 ports of Type-A and Type C. these ports offer transfer speeds of up to 10Gbps. There’s a HDMI port and six SATA ports and two M.2
- Superb layout
- Great audio performance
- Goof for overclocking
- Inclusion of Thermal guards
- Good price
- Not the fastest motherboard
Bottom line
The GIGABYTE X470 AORUS Gaming 5 Motherboard is a great option for system overclockers. It offers nearly everything you need an ATX motherboard . With Gigabyte’s aggressive pricing, this is one board you should seriously consider buying.
MSI MEG Z390 GODLIKE – Best E-ATX Motherboard with WiFi
Features and more features – that’s what you can expect to get from the best E-ATX motherboards in the market. And that’s exactly what you get with the MSI MEG Z390 GODLIKE. This board was created to smash all overclocking records. But all that power comes at a high price. This monster will set you back almost $600. Nevertheless, we think it’s worth its weight in gold.
Let’s look inside.
This machine supports Intel 9th i9-9900K, i7-9700K and 8th Generation Intel Core processors. It comes with Killer Wireless-AC 1550 WiFi. The board has four RGB headers, two extra cards – one each for M.2 Expander and Streaming Boost Capture.
This board flaunts an intimidating dual HD audio codec, four RGB headers and a 16-phase power delivery. Unlike others, it has three M.2 slots (each of which has its own heatsink) and three SATA ports. Under the hood, it has four steel braced memory slots which house 128GB of DDR4.
This massive board still manages to spot an impressive shiny dark design. At the bottom of the board, there are dedicated buttons which control the PCI slot.
The performance of this motherboard compared to others mentioned showed it’s by far the best board any serious gamer can lay his hands on.
- Astonishing speeds
- Superb for overclocking
- Crazy RGB lighting
- Mind-blowing features
- Quite expensive
- Too big for the average gamer
- No Bluetooth
- Massive storage features
Bottom line
If you’re looking to build a powerful gaming PC; and you have the budget to do just that, you must look towards the MSI MEG Godlike. The features on it are unmatched in the market today.
The MEG Godlike is doesn’t have Bluetooth, but it sure features one of the most powerful WiFi cards available. This isn’t your regular motherboard.
ASRock Fatal1ty Z170 ITX/AC – Best mid-range Motherboard with WiFi and Bluetooth
The ASRock Fatal1ty Z170 is another interesting motherboard in the market. Beyond being a superb mini-ITX board, this unit is equipped with WiFi and Bluetooth compatibility. Based on the performance and features of this motherboard, we can say the price is considered fair.
For a small-sized board, ASRock had to get this board’s layout right and they did. This unit is packed with a handful of impressive hi-end features making it great for overclocking and gaming.
Here’s a look at those features: this product has 1x PCI -Express 3.0 x16 slot, 6x SATA3 ports and HD Audio Codec with built-in amplifier. For memory, it supports DDR4 up to 4000MHz. There’s a wireless 2T2R AC/BT4 controller, a USB 3.1 and you get a full-speed M.2 slot on the back.
It supports 6th– 8th generation Intel Core processors. And there’s Intel Gigabit LAN to give you a truly high-performance board. The Fatal1ty Z170 also comes with a revised ASRock BIOS for improved overclocking.
We saw some cool innovative features with this ASROCK board. For one, it has Dual-Stack MOSFET (DSM) – with this feature, the silicon die are can be increased when two dies are stacked into one MOSFET which reduces the Rds(on). This helps the CPU Vcore get more efficient power supply and reduces power consumption. There’s also a High-Density Glass Fabric PCB that helps reduce electrical short-circuit caused by excess humidity.
- Superfast wireless connectivity and Bluetooth
- Great for overclocking
- Great performance with gaming
- 2 connector under the hood
- Analog audio connectors
- Can’t overclock the memory
Bottom line
For a mini-ITX board, the ASRock Fatal1ty Z170 gives you plenty to chew on in terms of performance and overclocking. Gamers and everyday PC will find few or no complaints with this unit. And it comes at a fairly reasonable price…
How to buy the Best WiFi and Bluetooth Motherboards
As you already know, not all motherboards offer WiFi and Bluetooth. Although the feature isn’t the most important in a motherboard but you need it for some reasons we’ll explain later. So if you’re truly set on buying a WiFi/Bluetooth motherboard; here are a few things you must consider.
Form Factor
All motherboards don’t come in the same size or form factor. So you have to decide what you want in your PC. About the variety of Form Factors, there are Mini-ITX, ATX, E-ATX and even Micro-ATX form factors. You can read up about form factors. What they refer to is the size, dimension, type and position of a motherboard.
Importantly, your motherboard must be compatible with your PC.
SATA Ports
You should also look out for how many SATA ports your new motherboard has. This is the feature that allows you to connect to other SSDs and storage devices. Most boards will offer you at least 6 SATA ports while others could offer 8 or more SATA ports. The more the merrier.
RAM Size
You should check and confirm the RAM speed of your proposed motherboard. There’s always a minimum and maximum limit that lets you know what you’re getting. All the boards we reviewed boast speeds of up to 4000 MHz. But there are others which could be slower. Whichever it is, the minimum you should go for is 2133 MHz.
Also, make sure you confirm your motherboard’s DDR4 is the same as your RAM.
Why you need a WiFi and Bluetooth Motherboard
There’s an age-long debate on whether it’s necessary to buy a motherboard with built-in WiFi and Bluetooth or getting a WiFi card separately. Although it depends on your choice, you’re better off buying a board with WiFi. And of course, Bluetooth.
A motherboard with WiFi and Bluetooth saves you the cost of buying a WiFi card or attaching a USB Bluetooth dongle. They’re a real lifesaver if you ever find yourself in a house or office that doesn’t use Ethernet.
Nowadays, built-in WiFi in mobos doesn’t even come with a cumbersome antenna for stronger signal quality. And they don’t need external adapters.
Final Words
If you have a motherboard that boasts just impressive Gigabit LAN speeds for network connectivity, you won’t know what you’re missing out on until you lay your hands on a WiFi and Bluetooth motherboard. These motherboards are a must-have for every gamer.
We’ve reviewed various form-factors of WiFi/Bluetooth motherboards. Did you make a choice yet? Or are you using one already? We’ll like to know in the comments section.
