To enjoy your AMD Ryzen 5 3600 processor, you're going to need to install it onto a supported AM4 motherboard. You can use motherboards with older chipsets, but not all of them are compatible with Ryzen 3000 series CPUs. We rounded up a few recommended motherboards that'll work just fine.
Best X470
Staff pick
ASUS ROG Strix X470-F
ASUS makes great motherboards with amazing UEFI BIOS experiences. They're incredibly easy to overclock, and depending on how well you do with silicon lottery, you can extract far more performance out of the CPU without issue. There's also RGB lighting, which is scientifically proven to improve frames-per-second figures.
Premium X570
ASUS ROG Strix X570-E
If you want all the bells and whistles that X570 has to offer with the Ryzen 5 3600, as well as support for PCIe 4.0 and an actively cooled chipset, this motherboard has everything you need. I'm talking onboard Gigabit LAN with Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax), Gen 4 M.2 slots capable of unidirectional transfer speeds up to 64 GB/s, and plenty of RGB lighting options to boot.
Budget B450
ASRock B450M Steel Legend
While this ASRock motherboard may not house a fancy X470 or X570 chipset, the B450 is still a great platform to build a PC. With support for Ryzen 3000 series CPUs (on an updated BIOS), you'll enjoy a budget-friendly performance with a reliable PCB.
Entry X570
ASUS Prime X570-P
There technically aren't any budget-friendly X570 motherboards, but this ASUS board is one that would suit someone who wants the latest chipset features on a more basic platform. It's got a lot going for it too with metal heatsinks for the VRMs and other high-quality components.
Enthusiast Build
ASUS ROG X570 Crosshair VIII Formula
You probably don't need this motherboard or anything like it, but it would be awesome if you bought one. It's an insane motherboard, rocking a heatsink block allowing you to hook up your custom water-cooling loop to the motherboard and cool it directly. There's also 5 Gigabit LAN, onboard Wi-Fi 6 (802. 11Ax), and active cooling for the chipset.
Choosing the best X470 or X570 motherboard
These motherboards will work wonders with the Ryzen 5 3600, performing well in games or applications. If you want to enjoy the best of what X470 has to offer (and you don't need PCIe 4.0), the ASUS Strix X470-F is still an excellent choice for most consumers, even providing room for stable overclocking.
X570 is the current flagship consumer-grade chipset from AMD for Ryzen 3000 series processors. There are numerous options available already, but our recommendation goes to the ASUS Prime X570-P., rocking PCIe 4.0 support, high-quality components, and a great BIOS.