Are all the PCI-E slots really necessary?

[TaxxiDriver]

I was comparing GA-AB350M-D3H(m-atx) and GA-AB350-Gaming(atx) motherboards in the Gigabyte site, and the only difference was the number of PCI-E slots other than the obvious size difference. My question is; are all those slots really necessary?

 

I do think using the system as a tool for learning about servers and stuff after it retires, but I doubt if I'll ever need those extra PCI-E slots even in that case. So I'm thinking of going for an m-atx board and save about $10 dollars. Is it a good choice for me?

[A Silver]

As long as you don't plan on getting lots of expansion cards, GPU's or PCIe SSD's you shouldn't really need the extra slots

[ARikozuM]

If it's for a server, you can buy NIC's, SATA/RAID cards, GPU's, et cetera, for more functionality.

 

Do more slots make a server better? Depends on your needs. If you're like me, you'll have a server for VM's and another for NAS with a third for Steam VM's.