Does Thunderbolt3 matter much for gaming/3D graphic PC? - between micro-ATX z270 and ATX

Lililashka

Prominent
Jul 7, 2017
8
0
510
Hi all,

I'm thinking about getting ASRock Z270M Extreme4 Mainboard (micro-ATX) which has Thunderbolt3 instead of MSI PC MATE Z270.

Would ASRock (micro-ATX) fit with my Intel Corei7-7700k and Samsung 850 Evo 2.5(SSD)? And will it worth it?

Or should I just get MSI PC MATE Z270 without thunderbolt3 instead?

Your opinions would be much appreciated. Thanks so much guys!
 
Solution
First, to determine compatibility enter your components in PCPartPicker, it is very good at identifying them. Components listed are pretty extensive.
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/

The presence of the Thunderbolt 3 connection to me is not a large consideration unless you transfer large data sets from the computer to external storage. An example of this would be if you were doing 4K video animation editing and would have something like a 12TB NAS storage system. A USB 3.0 port will do most people just fine.

I personally like ATX boards because thermal dissipation is better as the components are not so crowded but again that is not the be all to end all. In fact the power phase are much more important in this regard.

The Z270M...

imsqam

Distinguished
Mar 25, 2011
26
0
18,610
First, to determine compatibility enter your components in PCPartPicker, it is very good at identifying them. Components listed are pretty extensive.
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/

The presence of the Thunderbolt 3 connection to me is not a large consideration unless you transfer large data sets from the computer to external storage. An example of this would be if you were doing 4K video animation editing and would have something like a 12TB NAS storage system. A USB 3.0 port will do most people just fine.

I personally like ATX boards because thermal dissipation is better as the components are not so crowded but again that is not the be all to end all. In fact the power phase are much more important in this regard.

The Z270M Extreme 4 is a very capable board, well reviewed, it would be my choice although it is more expensive. Here is a side by side comparison although I am not so sure it is accurate.
https://us.hardware.info/comparisontable/products/379900-378880


https://us.hardware.info/comparisontable/products/379900-378880
 
Solution

Fastcharlie

Prominent
Jul 10, 2017
1
0
510
I think that budget is very important here it that is not an issue then I would go for the thunderbolt3. I believe that it has much more potential for expansion and I could see a lot of manufactures moving to that as a standard in the near future.

Hope this helps :)