I don't know a lot about Intel anymore, but the i5-14400f has a LGA 1700 socket.

So it seems like you'd want to choose between a Z790, H770, and B760 as those are the newest chipsets.

Generally Z790 > H770 > B760 but there really isn't THAT much difference between them. Some will have more USB ports or more SATA or better WiFi or whatever. Considering you don't seem to be overclocking I don't think the Z790 would be worth it for you.

Really you're best off finding a few options (cheap but not SUPER cheap) and then looking at reviews to see if any of them have serious issues. Motherboards are pretty complicated and getting caught up in the finer details will drive you nuts, especially if you're a noob.

PCPartPicker Part List: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/H9w7Xy

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 5600 3.5 GHz 6-Core Processor ($134.94 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock B550M Pro4 Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($74.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $209.93
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2025-12-06 00:13 EST-0500

CPU: Intel Core i5-14600KF 3.5 GHz 14-Core Processor ($229.00 @ Newegg Canada)
Motherboard: MSI PRO B760-P WIFI DDR4 ATX LGA1700 Motherboard ($194.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Total: $423.99

Generated by PCPartPicker 2025-12-06 00:28 EST-0500

you want DDR4 or DDR5 ? i posted with DDR4 because it s cheaper

I used to set a price point of 70-80 bucks for a main board, now you can't find one that is under 150.....

If your goal is just to run an i5-14400F with an RTX 5060 and keep the budget as low as possible, try an H610 DDR4 board that officially supports 14th gen. It can handle more than one SSD, has 2 RAM slots, and doesn’t offer many USB ports, but if you don’t need those extras, this is the cheapest option as far as I know. The price is around that range, but the cost still ends up being above 150.

Other than that, B760 is the safest option, it's more expensive but has more features

with intel, id avoid the f cpus, just to help with troubleshooting if you ever need the igpu
and its also useful for hardware video encoding for streaming, remote play or whatever

12700k holds its own yet, and is not flawed like the 13-14th gen i series
or the u 265k is a good choice yet for an intel non flawed cpu from the factory
but ddr5 prices kinda kills that, unless you are ok with spending more on ram than the cpu

just make sure the board has heatsinks on top and rear sides around the cpu socket
then its guaranteed good enough to power the cpu without the board vrm throttling at load

for ram, ddr4 3200+ cl16-, or ddr5 6000+ cl30-

intel 12700k build
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/prYtcx


or amd, pretty much the same rules apply
5800x is cheaper than the 12700k and good for gaming
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/Wytqxg
about $200 less than the intel build for similar gaming performance


the intel ultra and am5 cpus only support ddr5, which jacks up their build prices by around $200
am4 only support ddr4, and intel 12-14th gen can use ddr4 or ddr5 depending on the board

either one will be limited by the 5060 in games

引用自 ArielNugie：

If your goal is just to run an i5-14400F with an RTX 5060 and keep the budget as low as possible, try an H610 DDR4 board that officially supports 14th gen. It can handle more than one SSD, has 2 RAM slots, and doesn’t offer many USB ports, but if you don’t need those extras, this is the cheapest option as far as I know. The price is around that range, but the cost still ends up being above 150.

Other than that, B760 is the safest option, it's more expensive but has more features

intel h chipset boards are for office builds, nothing more
just trash, very few have vrm cooling, and all have weak vrm config, that cant put more than ~12w to the cpu cores

14400f specs
https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/products/sku/236777/intel-core-i5-processor-14400f-20m-cache-up-to-4-70-ghz/specifications.html

Processor Base Power = 65 W
Maximum Turbo Power = 148 W

anything beyond an i3 or pentium g is too much for h boards

引用自 _I_：

引用自 ArielNugie：

If your goal is just to run an i5-14400F with an RTX 5060 and keep the budget as low as possible, try an H610 DDR4 board that officially supports 14th gen. It can handle more than one SSD, has 2 RAM slots, and doesn’t offer many USB ports, but if you don’t need those extras, this is the cheapest option as far as I know. The price is around that range, but the cost still ends up being above 150.

Other than that, B760 is the safest option, it's more expensive but has more features

intel h chipset boards are for office builds, nothing more
just trash, very few have vrm cooling, and all have weak vrm config, that cant put more than ~12w to the cpu cores

14400f specs
https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/products/sku/236777/intel-core-i5-processor-14400f-20m-cache-up-to-4-70-ghz/specifications.html

Processor Base Power = 65 W
Maximum Turbo Power = 148 W

anything beyond an i3 or pentium g is too much for h boards

just curious, if we have Mobo which doesnt have robust VRM, and we have let say Beast CPU, lets theoretical : B550F gaming , using 58003d , or even more, what is gonna happen? throttle? BSOD? or worse

引用自 ˢᵈˣ FatCat：

引用自 _I_：

intel h chipset boards are for office builds, nothing more
just trash, very few have vrm cooling, and all have weak vrm config, that cant put more than ~12w to the cpu cores

14400f specs
https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/products/sku/236777/intel-core-i5-processor-14400f-20m-cache-up-to-4-70-ghz/specifications.html

anything beyond an i3 or pentium g is too much for h boards

just curious, if we have Mobo which doesnt have robust VRM, and we have let say Beast CPU, lets theoretical : B550F gaming , using 58003d , or even more, what is gonna happen? throttle? BSOD? or worse

Things that can happen: thermal throttling to keep the VRM from getting too hot, voltage drops which means less performance, unstable voltage can cause BSOD, the system might suddenly shut down to protect itself, and if the VRM keeps getting too hot for a long time, it can get damaged.

引用自 _I_：

引用自 ArielNugie：

If your goal is just to run an i5-14400F with an RTX 5060 and keep the budget as low as possible, try an H610 DDR4 board that officially supports 14th gen. It can handle more than one SSD, has 2 RAM slots, and doesn’t offer many USB ports, but if you don’t need those extras, this is the cheapest option as far as I know. The price is around that range, but the cost still ends up being above 150.

Other than that, B760 is the safest option, it's more expensive but has more features

intel h chipset boards are for office builds, nothing more
just trash, very few have vrm cooling, and all have weak vrm config, that cant put more than ~12w to the cpu cores

14400f specs
https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/products/sku/236777/intel-core-i5-processor-14400f-20m-cache-up-to-4-70-ghz/specifications.html

Processor Base Power = 65 W
Maximum Turbo Power = 148 W

anything beyond an i3 or pentium g is too much for h boards

H series has its own issue, but the OP is asking for the cheapest mobo he can get. I personally recommend a B series like B760 or B660, or like Z690 or Z790

when the vrms overheat, it will force the cpu to throttle
can cause crashes or errors with incorrect mobo chipset drivers that dont tell programs how its throttling, as its not directed by the cpu thermal throttling

they can take a bit of time to overheat, so it may boost to max turbo clocks, but then fall way below stock clocks to allow them cool, then back to boost and repeat

some amd and intel b boards also have very weak vrm
ones with heatsinks on top and rear of the cpu socket should be good enough for higher end cpus

its nice that intel actually rates the base clock tdp and max turbo tdp, most cpus its double
with amd, just assume twice the stock tdp for max boost

amd says 5800x = 105w, but ppt limit of 142, its probably going to peak a bit higher than that


to estimate a boards limit, count vrm phases, or choke coils (bricks around the socket)
most go to cpu cores, with 1-2 to igpu, and 1-2 to memory controller (imc)
always an even number to cores, 4-6-8-10-12-14++

or the mfg may say, 8+1+1 or something like that, a few boards combine imc and igpu
and even for cpus without igpu, the board still has a phase dedicated for it, doesnt use much power, the pieces are still on the cpu, just disabled

if it has heatsinks, assume around 25w per phase
or 20w without heatink

引用自 _I_：

when the vrms overheat, it will force the cpu to throttle
can cause crashes or errors with incorrect mobo chipset drivers that dont tell programs how its throttling, as its not directed by the cpu thermal throttling

they can take a bit of time to overheat, so it may boost to max turbo clocks, but then fall way below stock clocks to allow them cool, then back to boost and repeat

some amd and intel b boards also have very weak vrm
ones with heatsinks on top and rear of the cpu socket should be good enough for higher end cpus

its nice that intel actually rates the base clock tdp and max turbo tdp, most cpus its double
with amd, just assume twice the stock tdp for max boost

amd says 5800x = 105w, but ppt limit of 142, its probably going to peak a bit higher than that


to estimate a boards limit, count vrm phases, or choke coils (bricks around the socket)
most go to cpu cores, with 1-2 to igpu, and 1-2 to memory controller (imc)
always an even number to cores, 4-6-8-10-12-14++

or the mfg may say, 8+1+1 or something like that, a few boards combine imc and igpu
and even for cpus without igpu, the board still has a phase dedicated for it, doesnt use much power, the pieces are still on the cpu, just disabled

if it has heatsinks, assume around 25w per phase
or 20w without heatink

so if i want to upgrade to r9 5950x , with b550-f Strix gaming II, good or bad? its phase 12+2 something

https://rog.asus.com/motherboards/rog-strix/rog-strix-b550-f-gaming-wifi-ii-model/
12+2 with heatinks
capable of ~300w to cores

will be fine with any am4 cpu

The "cheapest option" right now, with memory prices spking, might be to find a bundle deal of RAM/Mobo, regardless of whether the mobo is 'cheap' on it's own or not. I've seen several mentions of Newegg & others having mobo+RAM bundles that are effectively "buy this RAM at current silly price, get the mobo free". But these deals are likely quite time-limited.