no, bare minimum branded mobo which your components will fit and connections required (USB3, SATA3 etc) is all that's required. I got the cheapest Asrock Z77 and run a mild o/c of 4.4GHz on an I5 24/7, fast 2400 memory, 2 SSDs, 2 HDDs and use to run 7950 crossfire. Solid as a rock.