Best Motherboard For Storage Server in 2021 – Reviews

If you’re building a NAS or storage server, choosing the right or the best motherboard is the first step. Network-attached storage can end up being much cheaper as well as more powerful as compared to a pre-built NAS station.

So, the beauty of network-attached storage or storage server is that you can choose the number of storage drives and the CPU or processor and RAM, among other things, for your setup.

Whether if you want to build a storage server or NAS for your home or an office, then there are a few things that most DIY experts take into consideration which we’ll review. In short, we’ll look into the best motherboard for storage server and also into some tips.

So, in the current situation, I recommend MSI MAG B550 TOMAHAWK Motherboard. It has an impressive performance and it’s quite compact yet powerful. This motherboard has a PCI-E graphics card interface, Windows 10 platform, 4 memory slots, and an AMD AM4 CPU socket as well. Overall, It also supports dual-channel memory and an onboard dual 2.5G LAN plus Gigabyte LAN.

Also, read our guide about Best Motherboard For RTX 3090

Best Motherboard For Storage Server In 2021 Reviews

So, if you are a new buyer on the motherboard market and finding the best motherboard for a storage server at a reasonable price, then you are landing in the right place.

In this guide, we have reviewed some of the best quality motherboards for storage servers, including their full info, features, and specifications as well.  Also, this guide will help you to pick the right or best one.

ASRock Rack Motherboard

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If you’re looking for the best motherboard for NAS or storage server at a reasonable price, then this ASRock Rack Motherboard is an ideal choice for you because this motherboard fulfills all your requirements that you may need usually.

While the one downside of this motherboard is that it’s from a lesser-known brand name, but this ASRock motherboard offers exactly what a DIY NAS builder looks for. Although this best motherboard has a mini-ITX form factor, it also provides a whopping 8 SATA 3 ports, which is quite good and exceptional.

Moreover, this best motherboard for storage server has an amazing or so0lid performance as it is equipped with a quality of materials that makes this motherboard comp[act yet powerful and the amazing thing about this motherboard is that it comes with plenty of set features, which is good for a new buyer.

However, it comes with 8 SATA 3 ports. Note that it’s the highest amount of SATA 3 ports that can be found on mini-ITX motherboards. Furthermore, this best-quality ASRock motherboard has an Intel LGA 1151 CPU or processor socket with support for an Integrated Intel XeonE3-1200 V5 or V6 processor as well.

Overall, this motherboard has a maximum storage capacity of up to 32GB with a memory speed of up to 2133MHz, which is exceptional. This motherboard also supports both ECC and non-ECC unbuffered DDR4 memory.

All in one, if you’re looking for the highest number of SATA ports at a reasonable price on a mini-ITX build, then this motherboard is an ideal choice for you.

Asus Prime B450-A-II Motherboard

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Next, we have a very affordable micro-ATX motherboard for an AMD build. Unlike the motherboards listed above, this Asus prime motherboard doesn’t have 8 SATA ports. However, the amazing thing about this motherboard is that it does cost significantly less.

Although this Asus excellent motherboard offers a total of 6 SATA ports and the best fact is that this’s on the higher range of SATA ports found in a motherboard with such a very low price as it isn’t uncommon to find four or just two SATA ports in most cases.

In reality, six SATA ports at this price range turn out to give you a better overall performance as compared to others motherboards.

In addition, this best motherboard for storage server has an amazing performance as it is equipped with a 1ste generation, 2^nd generation, and 3^rd generation AMD Ryzen 5000 series processor to maximize connectivity and speed with dual or Quad M.2 slots as well.

It supports dual-channel DDR4 memory, and it has maximum storage or memory capacity of up to 128GB with a very fast memory speed of up to 4400MHz, which is highly durable.

Moreover, this best Asus Prime motherboard for storage server comes with optimized cooling including VRM heatsink and PCH heatsink with an extensive surface, and thermal pads help transfer heat from indicator and phase to the heatsink well.

Overall, the amazing thing about this motherboard from Asus also has flexible fan controls for ultimate cooling and quietness with an Asus exclusive fan Xper 2+, which delivers a dynamic cooling system. This motherboard also comes with dedicated audio PCB layers and premium Japanese audio capacitors, and an audio shielding as well.

Gigabyte A520I AC Motherboard

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The mini-ITX form factor is generally the golden factor of choice for NAS or storage server motherboards. Since they’re compact yet powerful and they are also fit in small chassisfo0r convenient network storage.

Generally, Mini-ITX form factor motherboards tend to be very expensive and they seem to charge a premium for their compact design. Given the fact that they’re very small and they’re also a bit restricted in the number of features that they offer.

For instance, mini-ITX form factor motherboards, including this  Gigabyte A520I AC Motherboard, offer only a single PCIe x16 slot. Furthermore, this best motherboard for NAS has an amazing performance as it is equipped with dual-channel non-ECC unbuffered DDR4 memory with a fast memory speed.

However, this durable motherboard also offers 4 SATA ports, and the best thing about this motherboard is that it has a built-in WIFI card. SO, you can build a wireless Network Storage with this, which is a good thing.

Moreover, this best motherboard for storage server has a Windows 10 OS operating system and maximum storage or memory capacity of up to 1GB and two memory slots. Overall, it has two HDMI ports a graphics PCI-E interface.

This Gigabyte motherboard supports 3^rd generation AMD Ryzen processors to maximize connectivity. It also comes with an optimized VRM heatsink and 2 DIMMs sockets as well. This motherboard also has a direct 6 phases digital PWM design with 5A DrMOS.

ASRock X570 Pro Motherboard

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If you are looking for an affordable and ATX motherboard for a storage server, then this ASRock X570 Pro Motherboard is an ideal choice for you. Because this motherboard has a robust performance and it has a compact design as well.

This ATX motherboard comes with durable and premium-quality set features, which is good for a new buyer, and the amazing thing about this ASRock motherboard is that it is made up of fine quality materials that make this motherboard portable for use.

Although, this durable ASRock motherboard also has 8 SATA ports, which is the highest number of ports in ATX motherboards. This’s quite the significant number of building a well-decent-sized NAS.

Additionally, this best motherboard for storage server has an amazing performance as it is equipped with dual M.2 slots for NVMe solid-state disks (SSDs). However, this best motherboard also features an X570 chipset and a dual-channel DDR4 memory t6oo.

With this X570 chipset, both the processor and the chipset PCIe lanes conform to PCIe 4.0 slots. Moreover, this motherboard supports AMD Ryzen 2000 series and 3000 series processors to maximize connectivity and speed with 2 M.2 slots.

Being a large ATX motherboard, this motherboard also offers more PCIe expansion slots, and it provides one PCIe 16 slots, PCIe x 16 x 4 slots, and 2 PCIe x 1 slots. Overall, You can have a decent NAS build with the expansion capability that this motherboard offers.

In short, this best motherboard also has two USB 3.2 Generation 2 USB ports Type A or Type C, as well as 10 USB 3.2. It has a maximum storage capacity or RAM of up to 64GB with a memory speed of 2400MHz.

Gigabyte C246-WU4 Motherboard

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This’s the quiet server-grade motherboard in this list with a larger ATX form factor. However, this’s still quite reasonable in terms of price if you compare it with ASRock that we have reviewed above. This’s a NAS or server-grade motherboard, given the sheer amount of SATA that it has.

The only downside of this motherboard is that you will need a bigger or larger chassis and a larger or wide area for your NAS storage. Additionally, this motherboard has a whopping 10 SATA ports, so you can add ten hard drives to this to make an ultimate NAS for yourself.

In addition, this best performance motherboard for NAS has an amazing or solid performance as it is equipped with an older Intel LGA 1151 CPU socket, so you’ll need to look up either Intel 8^th generation or Intel 9^th generation processors.

You can also pair this motherboard with Intel Xeon E processors if you’re serious about expanding your motherboard with fewer SATA PCIe cards to add even more hard drives to your storage server.

Furthermore, this best-quality ASRock motherboard for storage server supports dual-channel non-ECC and ECC-unbuffered DDR4 memory and 4 DIMMs sockets. Overall, it has maximum RAM storage of up to 128GB with a memory speed of up to 2666MHz.

It also comes with four memory slots and a dual Integrated Intel server GbE LAN which supports Intel vPro technology as well. The amazing thing about this motherboard is that it has a larger storage capacity, including 10 SATA 3 ports.

MSI MAG B550 TOMAHAWK Motherboard

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As we all know that, MSI is a well-known motherboard manufacturing company that delivers durable, reliable, compact, portable, lightweight, high-quality, build-quality, and top-quality motherboards at reasonable prices for consumers. Finding the best motherboard is very difficult to find on the motherboard market.

So, if you are a new buyer and finding or looking for the best motherboard for NAS or storage server at a reasonable price, then this MSI MAG B550 TOMAHAWK Motherboard is an ideal choice for you.

Generally, MSI is also known for its top-gaming motherboard. Hence this motherboard is also specifically designed for gaming. It has an impressive performance, and it’s quite compact yet powerful.

Additionally, this MSI motherboard under $200 has an amazing performance. It is equipped with maximum storage or memory capacity of up to 128GB and maximum RAM storage of up to 128GB with a fast or quick memory speed of up to 4866MHz, which increases your gaming experience.

This motherboard has a PCI-E graphics card interface, Windows 10 platform, four memory slots, and an AMD AM4 CPU socket. Moreover, this best performance MSI motherboard for storage server supports AMD Ryzen 3^rd generation processors or future AMD Ryzen processors with BIOS updates.

Overall, It also supports dual-channel memory and an onboard dual 2.5G LAN plus Gigabyte LAN. The amazing thing about this motherboard is that it comes with Mystic light, including RGB LED lighting and extendable pin headers. It comes with 29 effects and 16.8 million different colors.

Asus ROG Strix B550-F Gaming Motherboard

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If you are finding or looking for the best gaming motherboard and the best motherboard for a storage server at a reasonable price, then this Asus ROG Strix B550-F Gaming Motherboard is an ideal choice for you.

This motherboard from Asus is highly recommended on market because of its fine quality materials and top-quality set features. Additionally, this Asus motherboard is also specifically designed for gaming. It has an ATX form factor, and it supports AMD Ryzen 3^rd generation processors to maximize connectivity and speed with M.2 slot.

Moreover, this best Asus gaming motherboard for storage server has an amazing or robust performance. It is equipped with a maximum memory or RAM storage of up to 128GB with a very fast memory speed of up to 4400MHz.

It has a Windows 10 platform, and it has a more rapid or quicker memory, including four memory slots. This motherboard supports dual channel DDR4 memory with an Asus Optimum, enabling higher memory frequencies & lower latencies.

Additionally, this best motherboard for storage server has blazing data transmission speeds, including dual M.2 slots, including the latest PCIe 4.0, which provide maximum storage flexibility and quickest data speeds as well.

Overall, the amazing thing about this Asus motherboard is that it has high-performance networking including an onboard WIFI 6 and 2.5G Gigabit LAN as well. It has an optimized thermal solution, customizable fanless VRM, and chipset heatsink too.

Gigabyte X399 AORUS Pro Motherboard

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This Gigabyte X399 AORUS Pro Motherboard is an ideal choice for those people who are looking for an ATX motherboard and the best NAS motherboard at an affordable price. This motherboard from Gigabyte has an ATX form factor, and the fantastic thing about this motherboard is that you can easily fit this motherboard inside any case.

Although, this durable Gigabyte motherboard supports 1^st generation 2^nd generation and 3^rd generation AMD Ryzen processors to maximize connectivity and speed with dual M.2 slots.

Moreover, this best quality NAS motherboard from Gigabyte has a fantastic performance as it is equipped with the most efficient overclocking speed as compared to other motherboards on market. But, this motherboard is very efficient at running threadripper CPUs or processors and thanks to the use of FOXCONN 4094 pins TR4 socket.

In addition, this best Gigabyte motherboard for storage server has maximum storage or memory capacity of up to 128GB with a breakneck memory speed of up to 3600MHz, which is quite good. Overall, this motherboard from Gigabyte also supports dual-channel non-ECC and ECC unbuffered DDR4 memory and 8 DIMMs sockets too.

It also has a short front and rear USB 3.1 Type-C, and it also supports Windows 10 OS operating system. Another fantastic thing about this motherboard is that it comes with 4-way graphics support with dual armor and ultra-durable design as well.

Gigabyte TRX40 DESIGNER Motherboard

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As we all know that, Gigabyte is a well-known motherboard manufacturing company that delivers high-quality, build-quality, compact yet powerful, portable, lightweight, and top-quality motherboards at reasonable prices for consumers. So, choosing the correct motherboard is very difficult to find on the market.

If you are a new buyer and seeing for the best motherboard for a storage server, then this Gigabyte TRX40 DESIGNER Motherboard is an ideal choice for you. This Gigabyte motherboard comes with plenty of set features, and the fantastic thing about this motherboard is that it’s highly recommended.

In addition, this best-class Gigabyte motherboard for storage server has a fantastic or solid performance. It is equipped with a maximum storage or RAM capacity of up to 1000TB with a breakneck memory speed of up to 4400MHz, which enhances your experience.

This motherboard has a Windows 10 platform, and the fantastic thing is that it comes with eight memory slots. This motherboard also comes with triple thermal protection with fin arrays and is equipped with dual; Integrated Intel Gigabyte LAN with cFosSpeedto shorter response time.

Moreover, this Gigabyte motherboard for storage server has a dual number of USB ports. It supports 3^rd generation AMD Ryzen processors to maximize connectivity and speed with quad or twin M.2 slots.

Overall, this motherboard also supports dual-channel both ECC and non-ECC unbuffered DDR4 memory and 8 DIMMs sockets as well. This build-quality motherboard from Gigabyte also has a 16+3 phase Infineon Digital VRM solution with 70A power stages.

Things to consider before buying the best motherboard for storage server

We told you we’d make your life much easier and we’ve also put together an in-depth buying guide if you’re looking to build your motherboard for a storage server.

Here are some factors that you’d consider before buying the best motherboard for a storage server.

Form factor:

The first thing that you may need to look for in a motherboard for a storage server is the form factor. This’s because mainly NAS  or storage servers are built while trying to save space. Mostly the cases you’ll use will not be too big either.

One of the reasons is that you don’t need a big case. It isn’t like that you’ll be needing to add graphics cards and a liquid cooling system as well. Additionally, Most people go for a Mini-ITX form factor. This mini-ITX form factor tends to be expensive as the manufacturers need to add a lot more things in a more proper place, but these offer the best size to several ports ratio.

CPU socket:

Another essential thing to look out for would be the type of CPU or processor socket that your hardware can support. This’s important as if your motherboard doesn’t support the kind of processor socket that your CPU has and you’d need to end up replacing one of the two.

Processors:

One of the reasons why NAS or storage servers system is so cheap is that they don’t require plenty of computational power. This means that you don’t have to focus your time and spend money on which processor or CPU to buy or how powerful it needs to be.

RAM:

As far as the RAM storage for your system, you don’t have to spend plenty of money. These network Attached systems are not power and CPU or processor hungry, so they would not need much RAM storage.

Moreover, still, we’d recommend you go for somewhere around 8GBs of RAM storage. But, 4GBs RAM storage is minimum, but that is not a long-term solution.

Nowadays, products come with compatibility for up to 16GBs of RAM storage minimum, so even if you don’t go for a device that we’ve mentioned, you would not need to worry if your mobo would be able to handle the extra RAM storage or not.

Conclusion:

We think that MSI MAG B550 TOMAHAWK Motherboard. MSI is also known for its top-gaming motherboard, hence this motherboard is also specifically designed for gaming. It has an impressive performance and it’s quite compact yet powerful.

This motherboard has a PCI-E graphics card interface, Windows 10 platform, 4 memory slots, and an AMD AM4 CPU socket as well. Overall, It also supports dual-channel memory and an onboard dual 2.5G LAN plus Gigabyte LAN.

Second, we have got the ASRock X570 Pro Motherboard. , this durable ASRock motherboard also has 8 SATA ports, which is the highest number of ports in ATX motherboards. This’s quite the significant number of building a well-decent-sized NAS. this motherboard supports AMD Ryzen 2000 series and 3000 series processors to maximize connectivity and speed with 2 M.2 slots.

Last but not least, we have the Asus Prime B450-A-II Motherboard. . It supports dual-channel DDR4 memory and it has maximum storage or memory capacity of up to 128GB with a very fast memory speed of up to 4400MHz, which is highly durable.

The amazing thing about this motherboard from Asus also has flexible fan controls for ultimate cooling and quietness with an Asus exclusive fan Xper 2+, which delivers a dynamic cooling system. This motherboard also comes with dedicated audio PCB layers and premium Japanese audio capacitors and audio shielding as well.

Frequently Asked Questions:

What type or kind of motherboards do servers use?

ATX is one of the most common server motherboards form factor at 12-inches in width and 9.6-inches in depth as well, but you will often see E-ATX server motherboards. As E-ATX motherboards are designed specifically for rackmount servers that contain more components than the smaller ATX motherboards or form factor can.