An AMD Threadripper X399 Motherboard Overview: A Quick Look at Seven Products
by Ian Cutress & Joe Shields on September 15, 2017 9:00 AM ESTCovering the X399 Spectrum
We've seen details on seven boards which, on the surface, can seem similar as far as feature sets go. Owners that just want a Threadripper system to get up and go will get the necessities out of any motherboard listed here. The differences lay in the details: in networking, PCIe layout, RGB, overclocking features, enthusiast level gaming or compute, the want/need for 10 Gigabit ethernet, or storage options like fast M.2 and U.2. Even the type and number of USB ports can all factor into a buying decision.
It is also hard to forget about looks. All motherboards have some form of RGB LEDs scattered around their black PCBs. Some incorporate less than others, with the cheaper boards from ASRock and ASUS only applying them on the chipset heatsink, while others like the Gigabyte X399 AORUS Gaming 7 are loaded to the brim. Only one board, the ASUS X399 Prime, doesn't have wireless or Bluetooth capability. The MSI board sets itself apart from the rest by including bundled sets of vanity plates for the chipset heatsink, I/O and Audio covers, giving owners a bit more flexibility over the boards base appearance. That said, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. It is up to the buyer to figure out which looks best in their system vision. Assuming you care about aesthetics, that is.
PCIe differences come down to the number of slots for the GPUs, and if a user requires tri-slot spacing. For users looking at PCIe co-processors other than GPUs, then there isn't an ideal 7-slot motherboard on the market so far. But plug in a request, see if a manufacturer bites.
What happens when you mix several motherboards together in MSPaint
With Threadripper CPUs TDP set at 180W, an efficient VRM solution will be needed for cool operation, as well as for overclocking: many of the boards are using International Rectifier parts (MSI, GIGABYTE, ASRock) with the phase count ranging from eight to thirteen depending on the board. Keeping the VRMs cool is also a point to be considered, and the boards do this different. ASUS has two heatsinks connected via a heat-pipe, and include a fan for active cooling. The ASRock Professional Gaming, Taichi, and Gigabyte Aorus Gaming 7 also use two heat sinks but are passive (no fans). The MSI has a single VRM heatsink, but has doubled the standard height.
The table below shows several of the specifications differences between the released motherboards. The bold values are the top specifications for the category.
| X399 Motherboard Feature Comparison | |||||||
| ASRock | ASUS | Gigabyte | MSI X399 Gaming Pro Carbon AC |
||||
| X399 Taichi | X399 Pro Gaming | Prime X399-A | ROG Zenith | X399 Gaming 7 | |||
| Listed DRAM Freq. | 3600+ | 3600+ | 3200 | 3600 | 3600+ | 3600+ | |
| # PCIe x16 Slots | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | |
| SATA Ports | 8 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 8 | |
| M.2 / U.2 | 3 / 1 | 3 / 1 | 2 / 1 | 3 / 1 | 3 / 0 | 3 / 0 | |
| USB 3.1 (10 Gbps) | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | |
| USB 3.0 (5 Gbps) | 8 | 8 | 12 | 12 | 10 | 6 | |
| USB 2.0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 0 | |
| 10 Gigabit Ethernet | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| 1 Gigabit Ethernet | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 802.11ac | Y | Y | N | Y | Y | Y | |
| 802.11ad | N | N | N | Y | N | N | |
| Form Factor | ATX | ATX | E-ATX | E-ATX | ATX | ATX | |
| MSRP | $350 | $450 | $350 | $550 | $390 | $380 | |
| Current Price (9/11) |
Amazon | - | - | $350 | $520 | $390 | $350 |
| Newegg | $340 | $440 | $350 | $550 | $390 | - | |
The table is clearly not the final discussion - each user has different requirements out of their system and motherboard. Some enthusiasts may want to overclock their boards more than others, or have a need for 10 gigabit Ethernet capabilities or the latest wireless networking options, or require an ATX form factor in their current chassis. Perhaps all of those, or none. We're likely to see further products hit the shelves in the coming months and quarters, especially as AMD has confirmed that this socket will stay for at least one more generation of products.
Pricing on the boards range from $340 (ASRock Taichi), up to $550 for the ASUS' flagship Zenith Extreme so there is quite a range already. All boards detailed here are available, with ASUS saying the Strix arriving later.
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HStewart - Friday, September 15, 2017 - link
You got to give some credit to AMD clever marketing teams by naming this x399 when Intel has x299 and then calling this the "The Most Advanced Desktop Motherboard in the World"But in reality there is no Thunderbolt 3.0 support and most likely be updated next year or later with PCIe 4.0 support.
Does it support DDR4-4600?
AMD sure likes to play numbers game and not just chipset name - but with number cores - just remember it mostly marketing - yes it still 16 cores - but 16 cores by one manufacturer does not mean 16 cores from completion.
sartwell - Friday, September 15, 2017 - link
Where is the high speed RAM? You cannot get it anywhere.HowardJones - Friday, September 15, 2017 - link
If you're considering the ROG Zenith be aware that it's having tons of problems overclocking CPU and memory. Theres a huge thread on overclock dot net that is filled with people having problems with the bios. There WAS an Asus rep who was trying to help, but he's pretty much disappeared in the last few weeks.tamalero - Sunday, September 17, 2017 - link
Seems like your average typical Asus mainboard.Asus has really huge troubles in their software segment. I still remember they needed like 50 patches to get their high end routers stable. And yet they couldnt get all what they promised in a working condition and even disabled some stuff in later firmwares.
Same with bioses.
I still remember a time where you had to enable the "floppy" connector in a motherboard (even if you had no drive) if you wanted the bios to actually apply the overclocking settings.
mapesdhs - Tuesday, September 19, 2017 - link
A note for those with older ASUS ROG and other ASUS X79 boards, etc.: there's a thread on the ASUS ROG forum site where a guy has provided modded BIOS files to support booting from NVMe devices, aswell as rolling in all the updates to the latest microcode, Intel RAID, etc. Very handy indeed, and he takes requests for other ASUS boards. SSDs like the 950 Pro have their own boot ROM, but a BIOS with boot support is perfect for the 960 EVO/Pro and other models which don't have their own boot ROM.I just bought two R4Es (one basically new), a 4930K, a 16GB/2400 DDR3 kit and a 120mm AIO for a total of 320 UKP. Who needs new stuff? :D My next new build will be TR or EPYC though I'm sure.
satai - Saturday, September 16, 2017 - link
Are any details on X399 AORUS Gaming 7 power delivery solution?The rumor was, that the used only 8 phase, but 8s this true for the final design?
danjw - Saturday, September 16, 2017 - link
The Asus Zenith Extreme claims to support 4-way SLI, but I thought Nvidia didn't support 4x slots for SLI? Am I wrong? Or is this a false claim?DanNeely - Saturday, September 16, 2017 - link
Cynically I'm going to guess that if you use several generation old cards that did support 4 way SLI you could combine all 4 together for an act of supreme WTFery.danjw - Saturday, September 16, 2017 - link
I looked at the manual for the Zenith Extreme. It claims the two that the block diagram of the board in this review indicates are 4x are 8x, with the lowest one on the board being 8x as long as you don't have a U.2 drive connected to the U.2 port. So, it is unclear which is correct the block diagram or the manual.danjw - Sunday, September 17, 2017 - link
Apparently, the block diagram wasn't clear. That last slot is 8x/4x depending on if you have a U.2 drive connected.