The AMD TRX40 Motherboard Overview: 12 New Motherboards Analyzed
by Gavin Bonshor on November 28, 2019 9:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
- AMD
- MSI
- Gigabyte
- ASRock
- Asus
- TRX40
- Threadripper 3000
- Castle Peak
MSI Creator TRX40
To complement the release of AMD's Ryzen 7 nm Threadripper 3000, MSI has released three models. The first of the three and undoubtedly its flagship is the MSI Creator TRX40. Designed for and marketed towards content creators, the Creator TRX40 three integrated PCIe 4.0 x4 M.2 slots, with a further four PCIe 4.0 x4 slots available via the included M.2 Xpander-Aero Gen4 add-on card in the accessories bundle. Other primary features include 10 GbE, a 16-phase power delivery for the CPU, and 20 Gbps USB 3.2 on the rear panel.
The biggest aspect of the design is the use of a two-tone grey and black theme throughout, including the rear panel cover, the heatsinks, and the PCB itself. The rear panel cover has integrated RGB LED lighting which can be customized with MSI's Mystic Light RGB software, while the design implementations look interesting with the M.2. On the E-ATX PCB is three PCIe 4.0 x4 M.2 slots with each slot covered by an integrated heatsink; one of the slots is vertically mounted alongside the right-hand side memory slots. In the accessories bundle is an MSI M.2 Xpander-Aero Gen4 add-on card which allows users to install up to four PCIe 4.0 x4 M.2 drives into a full-length PCIe 4.0 x16 slot. There are also six SATA ports which support RAID 0, 1, and 10 arrays. Touching on the PCIe support, the MSI Creator TRX40 has four full-length PCIe 4.0 slots which operate at x16/x8/x16+x8.
At present, MSI hasn't unveiled the memory compatibility, as the official specifications state that it supports up to DDR4-3200; we do know this model will support up to 256 GB over its eight slots. MSI's specifications state that up to DDR4-4666 is supported with 1DPC 1R memory, and up to DDR4-3866 with 1DPC 2R memory. For the first time, MSI is using the true 16-phase Infineon XDPE132G5C PWM controller with 16 Infineon TDA21472 70 A power stages for the CPU. Providing power to the CPU is a pair of 8-pin 12 V ATX CPU power inputs which are located in the top right-hand corner of the board.
A total of nine 4-pin headers are located around the edge of the board with one dedicated to a CPU fan, one for a water pump, four for chassis fans, and a further three extend fan connectors. Underneath the actively cooled TRX40 chipset heatsink is a small overclockers toolkit with a two-digit debugger, a power button, and a reset switch.
On the rear panel of the MSI Creator TRX40 is three USB 3.1 G2 Type-A, five USB 3.1 G1 Type-A, and one USB 3.2 G2 20 G Type-C port; the 20 Gbps Type-C port is controlled by an ASMedia ASM3242 USB controller. Looking at the networking and MSI has included an Intel AX200 Wi-Fi 6 wireless interface with BT 5.0 support, as well as an Aquantia AQC107 10 GbE controller. The rear panel also includes an additional port powered by an Intel I211-AT Ethernet controller. At the left-hand side is a Flash CMOS button and Clear CMOS button, while the right-hand side has five 3.5 mm audio jacks and S/PDIF optical output powered by a Realtek ALC1220 HD audio codec. The microphone 3.5 mm input and front panel audio are controlled by the new Realtek ALC4050H audio codec.
The MSI Creator TRX40 is geared up for content creators and MSI has heavily focused on that in the marketing. One element to content creation is storage and with up to seven PCIe 4.0 x4 M.2 drives supported out of the box due to the Xpander-Aero Gen4 M.2 add-in card in the buddle, it adds credence to this. The USB 3.2 G2 20 Gbps Type-C port is the next best thing to Thunderbolt 3, although it's only half the total throughput of TB3 overall, is still a nice touch. Another thing to note is both ASRock and MSI have a TRX40 Creator model in its line up; it's not good for users and creates confusion. The Creator TRX40 is MSI's current flagship for the Threadripper 3000 launch and has an MSRP of $700.
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Smell This - Thursday, November 28, 2019 - link
Still just a bit bummed .... that 1st/2nd Gen TRs have been left hangin'
As we roll into 2020, we gotta love where AMD is going BUT, here's hoping that Dr Su does not make the same mistakes on HEDTs that Chipzillah has been notorious in making in the past. With DDR5 on the horiZen, could sTRX4 be yet another *2 and Done* in the next 18 months?
I'm all for $800 mobos -- just as long as they don't become $50 moo-boards in January, 2021.
Spunjji - Friday, November 29, 2019 - link
Based on prior experience of AMD processors, it seems more likely that they'd have to offer new boards for DDR5 support but allow the new processors to run in older boards with DDR4.eek2121 - Friday, November 29, 2019 - link
Chances are that the TRX* series of boards will end in 2021 (or 2022 at the latest), when DDR5 is expected to roll out along with possibly Zen 5 (if 2022). That being said, I have an X399 board and a 1950X. I don't see a need to upgrade yet. I may eventually pick up a 2950X next year, but I'm hanging onto this platform. It games pretty much all current games at 4k, with the majority at maximum or high details (even on a 1080ti), and it's excellent for the development and content creation workloads that i do. Don't let the listed benchmarks fool you, the 1950X is capable of much more. Running Linux brings a rather large performance increase due to better thread scheduling among other things. I have no problems running GTA V or any other games that I play, at full 4k and maximum details.Llawehtdliub - Saturday, November 30, 2019 - link
At 30fpsscineram - Wednesday, December 4, 2019 - link
300.masmosmeaso - Thursday, November 28, 2019 - link
question,is the amount of phases important when it comes to performance or having more devices on the motherboard ? if so how many is overkill for these motherboards ?
Hul8 - Thursday, November 28, 2019 - link
Those power delivery components are only for the CPU package, and take all their power input from the auxiliary CPU power connectors (usually 8-pin, 8+4 or 8+8-pin these days).The rest of the motherboard get their power thru the 24-pin.
eek2121 - Friday, November 29, 2019 - link
More phases typically means better performance (thermals, quality of power, power limits) from the CPU, unless the vendor cheaps out on VRMs. I'd stay away from any board offering only a single 8-pin, as that can be a sign they are using lower quality VRMs, fewer phases, etc. Contrary to popular belief, phase doublers don't really hurt anything. A few in the youtube community have tested this, both with a CPU and also with a CPU 'emulator' that plugs into the socket and measures power output.Hul8 - Tuesday, December 10, 2019 - link
The question was about "devices on the motherboard", which I assume means things other than the CPU. That's why I pointed out that the phases are irrelevant to the question.Dragonstongue - Thursday, November 28, 2019 - link
just to say suchjust "cause" the box label as 280w TDP, this does not automatically mean it USES 280w (I am sure Intel or NVDA likely many many others) will lambast the crud out of AMD for this, without giving the "full story"
eg. Intel will say "our product X only is TDP of Y vs this massive 280w number, choose us, save the world" then when the user actually uses said "product X" they find out either A is much much slower than all review sites list it is and/or B, it shoots ACTUAL power use through the roof therefore not matching the "claims" of said product X TDP being "better" than TR gen 3 280w "listed" TDP
Intel, NVDA have far more proven themselves on "fibbing" their numbers to make the sales than AMD has "overall" over the many years I have been involved with (consumer or otherwise) in computing
............
Thanks for the review overall, at least it seems the various "partners" are not being overly foolish in terms of pricing and feature set, MSI IMO even "better" than some of the others (such as ASUS)
I truly hope these turn out to be the "cat's meow" for those whom can afford and use them, it helps AMD, helps their partners, the long run, helps us all
(^.^)