Building your own Hackintosh from scratch will require you a fitting motherboard. In this article, we will show you which the best options are, going through a variety of the top-rated mobos. All of them are compatible, so you only need to choose, and for that, you can check them compared and ranked accordingly.
We understand some readers are in a hurry. In that case, the two best motherboards for Hackintosh in 2023 are the ROG Maximus XIII Hero and the Asus ROG Strix Z490-E Gaming.
Best Hackintosh Motherboards: Quick Comparison
BEST RATED  |
ROG Maximus XIII Hero
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RUNNER UP  |
Asus ROG Strix Z490-E Gaming MOBO
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AORUS Z490 Pro AX Motherboard
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ASRock X570 Steel Legend
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ASUS Prime Z590M-PLUS
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Top Rated MOBOs Compatible With Hackintosh 2023: Reviews
1. ROG Maximus XIII Hero Motherboard
Winner
Previous generations of the ROG Maximus were already popular with Hackintosh users, and this model presents even greater possibilities.
To start, the main connection slots are reinforced with steel protections: DIMM slots for RAM memories, the EPS application connectors for the CPU, as well as the two main PCIe 4.0 x16 slots.
To improve the accessibility of the right side area, the most problematic ports such as SATA and USB 3.1 have been placed with an orientation of 90º with respect to the motherboard.
The first and most important for “K” series CPUs will be this motherboard’s VRM, which consists of 17 power phases, 14 for CPUs, 2 for SoC, and 1 extra.
They are powered by no less than two 8-pin EPS headers. These have ProCool II technology, with solid pins and steel protection in the header to improve temperature control in the current passage.
The Asus ROG Maximus XIII Hero occupies the same price range as the ACE from MSI. They are clearly rival boards, but in terms of connectivity, this Asus is a bit above.
Pros
- Great design
- BIOS has many features and is easy to navigate
- Amazing cost-benefit
Cons
- Absence of 5Gbps or 10Gbps Ethernet controller
2. Asus ROG Strix Z490-E Gaming
Best ASUS Motherboard For Hackintosh
You will find 6 PCIe slots supporting Nvidia and AMD multi-GPUs, dual M.2 PCIe x4 slot as well as Wi-Fi 6 and 2.5G Ethernet network connectivity.
It also includes up to 10 USB ports on its rear panel, and an impressive 14 + 2 phase power VRM for powerful Intel Comet Lake-S processors.
On the upper surface, Asus has installed a huge system of passive heatsinks for the powerful VRM. It consists of two fairly wide but short aluminum blocks with a large number of indentations to form fins. This double block is joined by a nickel-plated copper heat pipe to improve heat dissipation.
This system extends towards the lower area of the socket since extra power phases have been added for the PCIe and M.2 slots and thus isolate them from the main CPU + SoC VRM.
And that’s not all, because at the junction of both main blocks we can place the small axial fan that is included in the bundle.
For this, a 3D support has been installed in the joint, which is certainly a curious location, since these fans are usually placed under the EMI shield.
The left area features an EMI shield made of aluminum and an AURA Sync lighting component under it.
At the bottom, you find the M.2 and PCIe slots, plus a large passive heatsink for the AURA Sync illuminated chipset.
This is extended to the two M.2 slots by means of aluminum plates, both independent and easy to remove. They include silicone thermal pads to cool the SSDs that you will install.
Pros
- Excellent cooling capabilities
- Intuitive BIOS
- Fairly priced
Cons
- It is a bit troublesome to access the first M2 slot
3. AORUS Z490 Pro AX MOBO
Best Gaming Motherboard For Hackintosh
In the upper area of the device, you find a thick double heat sink that is responsible for cooling the entire VRM area, located on the MOSFETS with the help of a silicone thermal pad.
It features a copper heat pipe for the union of both (Direct-Touch Heatpipe II).
Plus, a large aluminum EMI shield of decent thickness and finish has also been used, with an RGB Fusion 2.0 lighting strip in the central area.
Another aluminum protector has been added, acting as a small heatsink for the sound and network chip (they are directly soldered on the board).
The central part of the plate is occupied by a passive cooling aluminum block with the AORUS falcon screen-printed but without lighting.
The board’s cooling system includes a total of 8 4-pin headers for fans, two of them supporting pumps, as well as sensors along with the main elements. All of this can be managed with Smart Fan 5, including the STOP fan system.
As for VRM, it counts with 12 + 1 real power phases with DrMOS components.
The power stage is made up of two CPU-type headers, one with 4 + 4 pins and the other with 4 pins, both with solid contacts to improve power delivery.
With them, you can feed the 13 phases, with three-state MOSFETS SIC651A from the manufacturer Vishay.
With this count of phases, you will have more than enough to install the most powerful processors of newer generations.
Pros
- Many ports
- Four M.2 sockets
- Delivers amazing audio
Cons
- Wi-Fi lacks 6E
4. ASRock X570 Steel Legend
Best Budget Hackintosh Build Motherboard
8 of these phases will be destined to the Vcore.
For the control of these phases, a PWM DrMOS chip has been used, allowing smart management of the voltages and intensity in the supply as well as modification through the BIOS.
And the truth is that it does a phenomenal job on this ASRock model.
Like all ASRocks, it supports 2nd and 3rd Gen AMD Ryzen, and 2nd Gen Ryzen APUs with integrated Radeon Vega graphics only. The board is certified to use all Ryzen 3000 CPUs, even the powerful 3900X and 3950X.
It has 20 PCIe lanes natively compatible with the PCIe 4.0 bus that doubles the upload and download speed of PCIe 3.0.
On this model, ASRock has used an active cooling system in the form of an aluminum heatsink without fins and with a turbine-type fan that you cannot control from software or BIOS.
Even though most Hackintoshs are based on Intel CPUs, many people also have success using a Ryzen processor. Thus, we think this motherboard is a good option if you are going down that path and want to save money.
Pros
- Supports all AMD Ryzen 3rd and 2nd Gen processors
- Incredible performance
- Good cost-benefit
Cons
- No Nvidia SLI support
5. ASUS Prime Z590-M Plus Mobo
Top Micro ATX Motherboard For Hackintosh
The Z590-M has the traditional 6Gb/s SATA ports (five of them).
The first 4 are close while the last is further away from the rest on the motherboard surface.
The Prime Z590M-Plus supports PCI-E 4.0 standard.
Unfortunately and unlike AMD, on this platform, this new connection is only found in the first PCI-E port on the board.
Because USB ports are becoming increasingly important, you will find a series of internal ports (2 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 and 2 x USB 2.0) in addition to the rear ones.
Regarding the VRM, in the Prime Z590M-Plus is a total of 8 + 1 power phases managed by the ASUS Digi + EPU which ensures optimal power consumption in all situations.
Unfortunately, overclocking with this board is somewhat difficult and something that is undoubtedly the fault of the bios. However, by means of the included software, it is possible to overclock the processor and the memories.
Pros
- Great price
- Quality build
- PCIe 4.0 support
Cons
- Not great for overclocking
Hackintosh Motherboard Compatibility FAQ
What Is The Best Motherboard For Hackintosh?
- ROG Maximus XIII Hero
- Asus ROG Strix Z490-E Gaming
- Aorus Z490 Pro AX
- ASRock X570 Steel Legend
- ASUS Prime Z590-M Plus
Who Invented Hackintosh?
The first Hackintosh was made by Brazilians. A company from São Paulo, Unitron, knowing that it was difficult to get Macs for Brazil, created the Mac 512, an almost exact copy of the Macintosh 512K, also known as the Fat Mac. However, the model never went into the sale and the company shut its businesses in 1988.
Final Words About The Best Motherboard For Hackintosh
The first thing you need to build your Hackintosh is to choose the best compatible mobo. Right now, the top-rated one is the ROG Maximus XIII Hero, with the Asus ROG Strix Z490-E Gaming ranked right behind. Another motherboard we compared which delivers enough power for your system is the Aorus Z490 Pro AX.
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