Need help with motherboard?

Hi, I have joined this forum in the hope that someone can help me out.

I am building a gaming PC for my son on this Christmas. I have decided to go for Intel's i9 10900k and RTX 3060Ti.

However, its the motherboard where I am totally blank. There are so many Z490 motherboards in the market.

https://www.tomshardware.com/features/z490-flagship-motherbaord-roundup
https://www.pcgamer.com/best-intel-z490-motherboards/
https://ovrclock.com/best-motherboard-for-i9-10900k/

All of these articles talk a lot about the VRMs and being a total noob, I am totally unsure as to what exactly is the VRM and how it factors in to overall gaming performance.

I'd really appreciate if someone from the moderators or experts can please help me out.

 

Also, if there is anyone who can help me with the kind of power supply these components may require, I'd be really gratified.

 

In short VRM is basically the circuitry that sends voltage & amperage too the processor while keeping that as stable as possible, which is crucial for overclocking if you know what that is.

If not overclocking is basically tuning the processor,ram or graphics card too a higher speed then they come from the factory (at least when it comes too graphics cards & the processor most commonly.)
At the cost of extra heat & power draw of course much like tuning a car there is a build up of heat with that extra power.

But it also gives extra performance going from say 3.7 ghz too 4.8 ghz if you have a need for it with a top of the line graphics card or if you are running an older processor that is a few years old with a current mid range graphics card that is being held back by the processor as it can't feed enough data too the graphics card.

But I'd say it's not too important here as you are buying a RTX 3060 TI, which is most likely going too hold back the processor a bit, so it's not too important for now other then getting a good processor cooler from the start as it isn't included with the 10900k processor i believe.
The processor as long as it has good cooling it can actually do some of that tuning by itself too a certain degree Intel turbo boost as it's called, though it's rather temporary more then a more permanent tune upwards for a seconds too few minutes at a time usually.

When it comes too the power supply i would aim for a 650w one at minimum up too 1000w for future proofing if he will save up for any faster graphics card in like 3 - 4 years perhaps and will be using the computer for a few years I'd imagine.
With modular cables it's easier too manage during installation and for a cleaner look doing cable management in the computer case (bit more for looks then cooling these days though imo.)
And i would go for a powersupply with a 5 year warranty or longer at minimum as well.

When it comes too bronze, silver,gold & so on with the power supply ratings it's simply how efficient it is converting and stepping down the voltages without wasting too much energy or heat doing so.

Also this isn't exactly a computer forum but a rather small community with a few game servers that hangs out in discord more then on the website heh.
Though i do mess about with computer hardware from time too time & have had internships as well as done computer building & repair privately.

Overclockers.co.uk, tomshardware that you linked articles from both have pretty great forums where you can get additional help and opinions on parts, as well as sort out a parts list on the best performance for the budget i bet as well with a bit of info from them.

https://forums.tomshardware.com/

https://www.techpowerup.com/forums/

And there is also Reddit in subreddits like r/pcmasterrace or r/buildapc that can help with the same things if you provide a budget, just write where you are buying the parts or country, and if you need it assembled or just the parts and they'll sort out a bunch of it.

https://www.reddit.com/r/pcmasterrace/

https://www.reddit.com/r/buildapc/

There are ofc lots of other communities/subreddits for anything on Reddit, Be it anything surrounding pets,food,travel,cars,technology,space,lego, stories from example people encountering unreasonable customers in hotels,grocery stores etc...
stories from people working within the police,firefighters and more.

I myself am only a member on Reddit here myself and a Swedish computer forum called sweclockers.

 

Thank you so much for such a detailed answer on this. It really helps and I am thankful for your help here.

I have thoroughly read your answer here, read the subreddits and have decided to go MSI's MEG Z490 Unify with a Corsair AX850 as the power supply. It was a hard bargain but I think I like your idea of future proofing the build.

Thanks again!