AMD X399 Threadripper board roundup: ASUS, ASRock, MSI, Gigabyte

When Ryzen Threadripper hits the shelves on 10 August, AMD intends to have a full complement of X399 motherboards and SocketTR4-ready coolers on hand for consumers to choose from.

It worked with ASUS, ASRock, MSI, and Gigabyte to make this possible, so you’ll have nearly 10 high-end motherboards to choose from on launch day.

Here’s a look at what’s been announced so far. We've included local prices where available, and will continue to update as we find out more. And if you'd like a closer look at what AMD's got waiting for you in that gargantuan Threadripper packaging, you can check out our photo gallery here. 

ASUS

ASUS has announced three new AMD X399 motherboards for the upcoming Ryzen Threadripper processors. The trio of E-ATX boards fall into three distinct categories, each targeted at a different type of user:

• ASUS ROG Zenith Extreme (S$969)
• ASUS ROG Strix X399-E Gaming
• ASUS Prime X399-A (US$350)

The star of the line-up is the ROG Zenith Extreme, which is aimed squarely at enthusiasts looking to build a ultra-high-end PC.

This means extensive support for a custom liquid cooling loop, a LiveDash OLED screen for displaying custom logos, animated GIFs, and system information like temperature, and 10G networking via the bundled ROG Aerion 10G LAN card.

You’ll find an assortment of pump and flow headers, and compatible CPU monoblocks enable you to more easily monitor coolant temperatures, flow, and detect leaks from even a single cable. One benefit of such a setup is that it leaves separate flow, temperature, and pump headers available for a dedicated graphics loop.

And even though all of ASUS’ X399 motherboards will have four PCIe 3.0 x16 slots linked directly to the 64 PCIe 3.0 lanes from the CPU, 60 of which are made available to the GPUs, only the ROG Zenith Extreme is designed to properly accommodate a 4-way multi-GPU configuration.

Unlike the ROG Strix X399-E Gaming and Prime X399-A, all its slots are spaced for double-slot coolers, so you can go all out if you wish to. In that scenario, you can take advantage of the bundled ROG VGA Holder, which ASUS says can help with GPU sag.

The ROG Zenith Extreme will also take up to three M.2 drives, two of which are designed to plug into a separate DIMM.2 slot on a dedicated add-in card. ASUS first introduced this feature on the Maximus IX Apex, and it says it’s updated the design for better airflow, additional temperature sensors, and mounts for two 50mm fans.

The Wi-Fi implementation is quite forward-looking as well, and it’s actually divided into a 1x1 antenna for 802.11ad connections and a 2x2 array for 802.11ac Wi-Fi.

On the other hand, the ROG Strix X399-E Gaming looks to woo gamers who are more focused on the game at hand than overclocking.

It dispenses with some of the more extravagant features on the Zenith Extreme while retaining the multi-zone onboard lighting and headers for both standard and addressable RGB lighting strips.

It’ll take up to three double-slot graphics cards, or two 2.5-slot GPUs such as one of the custom NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Tis on the market now.

The latest version of ASUS’ SupremeFX audio has also been optimized for better recording quality, so gamers and streamers will be able to communicate clearly.

Finally, there’s the more serious Prime X399-A, which caters to those who want to take advantage of Threadripper’s prowess as a workstation CPU. There are no overly fancy heatsinks or dedicated headers for liquid cooling, but you still get headers for things like pumps and AIO coolers.

There are also two RGB headers that can accommodate up to four meters of additional lighting strips if you wish to spruce up your build.

This is a board that wants to serve multiple areas rather than excel in a particular one, so you also get support for up to 3-way GPU setups, four PCIe 3.0 x16 slots, two M.2 sockets, one U.2 connector, and a wide range of USB ports on the rear I/O.

ASRock

ASRock is readying two X399 motherboards for Threadripper – the ASRock Fatal1ty X399 Professional Gaming and the X399 Taichi.

As on previous chipsets, the Professional Gaming is a feature-packed flagship model, while the Taichi takes a more balanced approach.

The Professional Gaming board shares a lot in common with its Intel X299 counterpart, the Fatal1ty X299 Professional Gaming i9, including a dark metallic finish and extremely similar PCH heatsink and I/O cover designs. However, the X399 model features what looks to be a beefier VRM heatsink design, with two different sections linked by a single heat pipe.

The board is equipped with an 11-phase power design and comes with 60A power chokes, in addition to one 8-pin and one 4-pin power connector for the CPU. AMD told us that one 8-pin connector is sufficient for Threadripper, so this is a nice example of overprovisioning.

One unique feature is the positioning of the two CPU power connectors. They’re located at opposite ends of the board, and ASRock says this creates a wide trace for the CPU VRM, which enables better power delivery efficiency and lower temperatures.

In addition, there is a wide array of I/O and network connectivity options. You’ll find eight SATA 6Gbps ports, three M.2 sockets, and one U.2 connector. On top of that, there’s onboard Wi-Fi, dual Intel Gigabit LAN ports and a third Aquantia 10Gbps port if you actually happen to have a connection that goes that fast.

The X399 Taichi boasts the series’ signature cogwheel design on the PCB, and utilizes what looks to be the same 11-phase power design as on the Professional Gaming board.

There is a similarly wide complement of storage expansion options, including up to eight SATA 6Gbps ports, three M.2 sockets, and one U.2 connector.

There’s also the same 8+4-pin CPU power connectors, which are spaced out as on the flagship model.

One thing that’s missing is the 10Gbps Ethernet jack, but the board still features dual Intel LAN ports that support teaming and onboard 802.11ac Wi-Fi.

Finally, both boards have customizable RGB lighting around their PCH heatsinks, which can be supplemented by LED strips attached to the two onboard RGB headers.

The Taichi is considerably more affordable than the ASUS ROG Zenith Extreme at S$629. The Fatal1ty X399 Professional Gaming is more expensive at US$440, but there's still no news of whether it'll be available to buy here, or how much it will cost.

MSI

On MSI’s end, it formally unveiled just one motherboard, the X399 Gaming Pro Carbon AC. That said, AMD listed a certain X399 SLI Plus model in some of its supporting material for Threadripper, so it’s possible that a second board will be revealed soon.

The MSI X399 Gaming Pro Carbon AC is the latest member of MSI’s favorite carbon fiber-themed series of boards, and the design is nothing if not striking.

It also has the features to back its looks up, and you’ll find a 10+3-phase power design and dual 8-pin connectors that supply the board with more than enough power.

Storage options are aplenty, and you’ll find eight SATA 6Gbps ports and three M.2 sockets, the latter of which supports both PCIe and SATA drives. There’s no U.2 socket, and that’s actually a good thing.

MSI’s M.2 Shield feature makes a return here as well, and all three M.2 sockets come with a metal shielding that supposedly protects the tiny drives from heat throttling. However, reports of the first-generation implementation of it on MSI’s Z270 motherboards were less than stellar, and there were instances where temperatures rose instead.

That said, MSI refers to it as M.2 Shield v2 now, so it’s possible that it might have made some tweaks to mitigate these problems. This is also different from the M.2 Shield Frozr that debuted on the MSI’s X370 Gaming M7 and Intel X299 boards, where the metal shielding is integrated with the larger PCH heatsink.

Unlike most of the other X399 boards however, there is just a single LAN port, although you still get onboard 802.11ac Wi-Fi.

But all that aside, the board also supports MSI’s X-mounting system. We first saw this on MSI’s Intel X299 motherboards, where you can 3D-print accessories and covers to further customize its appearance. We’ve been seeing growing support from board makers for 3D-printed accessories and parts, so this is pretty much par for the course for high-end boards now.

The X399 Gaming Pro Carbon AC will retail for S$599, making it one of the more affordable boards you can get here.

Gigabyte

Like MSI, Gigabyte has made just one Threadripper motherboard. The X399 Aorus Gaming 7 is touting what it says are server-class power design and chokes that offer improved reliability and can handle higher current capacities.

The company also mentioned that it worked to reduce heat created by power loss and boost power delivery efficiency through a new design. In addition, it features a 14-phase power design and 8+4-pin power connectors, so it seems fairly well-provisioned in this area.

But despite the huge CPU socket, this is a standard ATX-sized motherboard.

RGB lights sit underneath both the PCH and VRM heatsinks, and line the PCIe sockets and RAM slots as well. What’s more, there is support for addressable LED strips, so you get a pretty wide range of customization options.

Threadripper offers up to 64 PCIe 3.0 lanes from the CPU, which is perfect for up to four-way multi-GPU setups. As a result, the X399 Aorus Gaming 7 features four PCIe 3.0 x16 slots and a fifth PCIe 2.0 that runs at x4 speeds. Like the rest of the competition, there is support for up to 4-way CrossFire and SLI.

Further tapping into the generous number of PCIe 3.0 lanes are the three M.2 sockets, all of which support both PCIe and SATA-type SSDs. On top of that, you’ll find eight SATA 6Gbps ports on board.

You’ll also find a wide range of ports on the rear I/O, including eight USB 3.0 ports, one USB 3.1 (Gen 2) Type-A port, and one USB 3.1 (Gen 2) Type-C port. The two USB 3.1 (Gen 2) connectors are actually provided natively through the chipset, so there isn’t a need for a third-party ASMedia controller.

That said, the board still uses an ASMedia controller to provide a third USB 3.1 (Gen 2) port through an internal header.

The X399 Aorus Gaming 7 will cost you US$390.

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