Which board is better for a small build?

The A520I AC. It is Mini ITX at 17 cm x 17 cm and has Wi-Fi built in, so it fits small cases the ATX Z270 cannot.

Can I use my old Intel CPU in the A520I AC?

No. The A520I AC is Socket AM4 for AMD Ryzen. The GA-Z270-HD3 is the LGA1151 board for Intel Core i3/i5/i7.

Is the A520I AC worth the extra $26.84?

Only if you are building AM4. At $119.99 at Eye-In Technologies as of November 7, 2026, it buys a newer socket, Wi-Fi and a smaller footprint. For an existing Intel system, the $93.15 Z270 at Newegg is the cheaper path.

Which has more memory room?

The GA-Z270-HD3, with four DIMM slots against two on the A520I AC. Both cap at 64 GB of DDR4.

Does either board support two graphics cards?

Only the GA-Z270-HD3, and only in Crossfire. The A520I AC has a single PCIe 3.0 x16 slot.

The A520I AC, with dual-band 802.11ac and Bluetooth 4.2. The GA-Z270-HD3 relies on its Ethernet port.

Gigabyte GA-Z270-HD3 vs Gigabyte A520I AC Mini ITX Motherboard

These two boards do not fit the same build. The GA-Z270-HD3 is an ATX LGA1151 board for older Intel Core i3/i5/i7 chips, with four RAM slots and room for a second graphics card via Crossfire. The A520I AC is a Mini ITX AM4 board for Ryzen 5000 and 3rd Gen Ryzen, with built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. At the latest prices, the Gigabyte Z270 is $93.15 at Newegg as of November 7, 2026, and the Gigabyte A520I AC is $119.99 at Eye-In Technologies as of November 7, 2026.

Today the Gigabyte GA-Z270-HD3 costs $26.84 less at its best price.

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