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
Power Delivery Specifications & Comparison
One of the most discussed aspects on motherboards is the power delivery, with users generally favouring those with good specifications and efficient designs. The AMD X570 chipset heralded some appreciated improvements to its desktop range, but with AMD's 7 nm architecture stretching to the HEDT side of things , these improvements are expected of the higher-specification TRX40 models. The TRX40 chipset is similar in design to that of X570 with 'spare' PCIe 4.0 lanes designed to allow manufacturers to implement its own unique mixture of specifications through extra USB 3.1 G2 connectivity, and more PCIe 4.0 M.2.
Please note that this information is self-reported, so until we can review any given TRX40 board, we're operating on the honor system, trusting vendors to supply honest and upfront information. As we review the hardware we will be checking, and we will be keeping this page up-to-date as more information becomes available.
Note: We reached out to ASUS about its PWM controller, and they stated that it doesn't have a part number and is made exclusively for them. As we find out more information on this, we will update the table below.
| TRX40 CPU Power Delivery Comparison | |||||
| Motherboard | Controller | H-Side | L-Side | Chokes | Doubler |
| ASRock TRX40 Creator | ISL69247 (8+0) |
ISL99390 (8) |
8 | - | |
| ASRock TRX40 Taichi | ISL69247 (8+0) |
ISL99390 (16) |
8 | ??? (8) |
|
| ASUS ROG Zenith II Extreme | Undisclosed (16+0) |
TDA21472 (16) |
? | - | |
| ASUS ROG Strix TRX40-E | Undisclosed (?+?) |
TDA21472 (16) |
? | - | |
| ASUS Prime TRX40-Pro | Undisclosed (?+?) |
TDA21462 (16) |
? | - | |
| GIGABYTE TRX40 Aorus Xtreme | XDPE132G5C (16+0) |
TDA21472 (16) |
? | - | |
| GIGABYTE TRX40 Aorus Master | XDPE132G5C (16+0) |
TDA21472 (16) |
? | - | |
| GIGABYTE TRX40 Aorus Pro WIFI | XDPE132G5C (12+2) |
TDA21472 (12) |
? | - | |
| GIGABYTE TRX Designare | XDPE132G5C (16+0) |
TDA21472 (16) |
? | - | |
| MSI Creator TRX40 | XDPE132G5C (16+0) |
TDA21472 (16) |
? | - | |
| MSI TRX40 Pro 10G | ISL69247 (6+0) |
ISL9939 (12) |
? | ISL6617A (6) |
|
| MSI TRX40 Pro WIFI | ISL69247 (6+0) |
ISL9939 (12) |
? | ISL6617A (6) |
|
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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
(^.^)