AMD’s first Thunderbolt certified motherboard is ASRock’s X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX/TB3

ASRock has announced that they have become the first AMD motherboard manufacturer to receive an official Thunderbolt Host certification from Intel, who have validated the Thunderbolt 3 support on the company’s X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX/TB3 motherboard. This is a first for an AMD motherboard. 

Before now, all AMD motherboards with Thunderbolt 3 support were uncertified, making ASRock a trendsetter within the world of AMD mainboards. Only time will tell of ASRock will be the first of many AMD motherboard providers to offer certified Thunderbolt 3 support. 

Unlike most AM4 motherboards, ASRock has created its X570 Phantom Gaming with Intel LGA 115X CPU coolers in mind, utilising these mounts to fit more components onto its motherboard and adopt VRM configuration which is uncommon for AM4 Mini-ITX motherboards. With ASRock’s X570 Phantom Gaming ITX/TB3, the company has taken a novel approach to solve some of the shortcomings of the Mini-ITX form factor. To save space, ASRock has abandoned AMD’s AM4 mounting hardware to utilise Intel LGA 115X-style mounting holes. This means that ASRock’s X570 Phantom Gaming ITX/TB3 will not support AMD’s Stock cooling solutions, or any AM4 cooler for that matter. Only CPU coolers with LGA 115X mounts are supported, with ASRock providing a limited Cooler compatibility list on their website. Yes, this motherboard supports Intel’s stock cooler designs…     

Intel’s Thunderbolt technology is usable on this motherboard using a Thunderbolt 3 certified USB Type-C connection on this motherboard’s rear I/O. This motherboard also supports a single PCIe 4.0 x4 M.2 slot, which is located at the rear of the motherboard, as well as a full-length PCIe 4.0 x16 slot.