AMD had a very productive year in 2019, introducing a huge number of new products built on the Zen 2 microarchitecture. But the most impressive of the announcements, at least in the desktop segment, was in store for the end of the year. At the end of November, third-generation Ryzen Threadripper processors entered the market, capable of surprising any enthusiast with both the number of computing cores and the level of performance that they can offer. But it turned out to be especially pleasant that AMD did not break prices: the 32-core AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3970X and the 24-core Threadripper 3960X can be easily purchased by individual users involved in the creation and processing of digital content at a professional or even amateur level and requiring significant computing power.
However, in fairness, it must be recalled that the new third-generation Ryzen Threadripper is not the first CPU of its kind. Their predecessors also boasted both advanced multi-core capabilities and relatively low unit cost per core. But the AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3970X and Threadripper 3960X are still slightly different offerings. Unlike their predecessors, they received a much more user-friendly uniform UMA topology. In addition, along with the transfer of processors to the new Zen2 microarchitecture, AMD has upgraded its entire desktop HEDT platform, replacing the previous X399 chipset with a newer TRX40 system logic set. The key innovation in it is a significant increase in the bandwidth of the connection with the processor: for this purpose, the PCI Express 4.0 x8 bus is now used, and this opens up opportunities for building even more complex and feature-rich systems.
However, it was not without side effects: the introduction of a new set of logic led to a loss of compatibility between Ryzen Threadripper processors of past and current generations. The new 24- and 32-core CPUs require new motherboards built exclusively around the TRX40. And this significantly limits the options for assembling high-performance configurations. But to say that motherboard manufacturers have left enthusiasts in trouble would be unfair: by now, at least a dozen motherboards have already been announced ready to accept the Ryzen Threadripper 3970X or Threadripper 3960X. We will get acquainted with one of these boards offered by Gigabyte in this review.
AMD TRX40 chipset: what's new
One of the most important platform enhancements that AMD introduced at the same time as its processor manufacturing shift to 7nm technology was the widespread use of the PCI Express 4.0 bus with twice the bandwidth compared to the usual PCI Express 3.0. High-speed bus support first appeared in the X570 consumer ecosystem and Ryzen 3000 processors, and now it has come to higher-level products - in Ryzen Threadripper and the TRX40 chipset. At the same time, in the case of the HEDT platform, AMD additionally worked to ensure that the throughput of the connection between the processor and the chipset did not double, but even more - quadrupled (from 3,94 to 15,75 GB / s).
This is achieved by the fact that the connection between these system components is provided not by four, as before, but by eight PCI Express lines. As a result, TRX40-based motherboards offer really high-speed connections for storage media, which are tied not only directly to the processor, but also to the chipset. The connection between the logic set and the processor is no longer the bottleneck.
Since a large number of high-speed interfaces turned out to be concentrated in the TRX40, the production of these microcircuits is entrusted to GlobalFoundries, where 12-nm technology is used for this purpose. As a result, as in the case of the X570, the chipset managed to support 16 PCI Express 4.0 lanes, which can be used to connect additional devices. These lines, if necessary, can be switched to SATA mode to support older drives, but in total, systems based on the new Ryzen Threadripper can offer the user 72 PCI Express 4.0 lines - 56 processor and 16 chipset.
Another major improvement of the TRX40 compared to the X399 is the increase in the number of 10Gb/s USB 3.2 Gen2 ports. At the chipset level, eight of these ports are now offered, while the previous X399 had only two. In addition, the TRX40 has four USB 2.0 ports, which can be suitable for devices that do not require bandwidth. It is curious that AMD at the same time generally refused to add 5-Gb / s USB 3.2 Gen1 ports to its new chipset. The implementation of such ports on new motherboards for Ryzen Threadripper third generation is possible only through the use of additional controllers.
| TRX40 | X570 | X399 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Processors | Third Gen Ryzen Threadripper | Ryzen XNUMXnd and XNUMXrd Gen | Ryzen Threadripper first and second generation |
| Link with processor | PCIe x8 | PCIe x4 | PCIe x4 |
| PCI Express version | 4.0 | 4.0 | 3.0 |
| Number of external PCI Express lanes | 16 | 16 | 8 |
| USB 3.2 Gen2 ports | 8 | 8 | 2 |
| USB 3.2 Gen1 ports | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| USB 2.0 ports | 4 | 4 | 6 |
| SATA | 4 | 4 | 8 |
| TDP | 15 W | 11 W | 5 W |
After the release of the third generation Ryzen processors, we already know that AMD chipsets, which support the PCI Express 4.0 bus, receive unusually high heat dissipation. The TRX40 is no exception, and a TDP of 15 W is declared for it, which is even higher than the calculated heat dissipation of the Socket AM4 X570 chipset. This means that new motherboards for Ryzen Threadripper processors will always use active cooling of the chipset, without which it was quite possible to do without before.
As already mentioned, the introduction of a new set of logic affected the compatibility between HEDT systems of the past and new generations. Although the new AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3970X and Threadripper 3960X retain the old form factor and LGA design with 4096 pins, they are not compatible with their predecessors. Physically, the pin matrix has not changed, but the introduction of PCI Express 4.0 required a change in the assignment of some pins. As a result, the new Ryzen Threadripper cannot run X399 boards, and TRX40-based boards are not compatible with the first two generations of Ryzen Threadripper processors.
At the same time, AMD, for some unknown reason, did not change the size and configuration of the Socket SP3 (sTR4) socket itself and even kept the location of the βkeysβ on the socket frame. It turned out that mechanically processors of different generations are interchangeable, and incompatibility exists only at the logical and electrical levels. But AMD promises that installing a Ryzen Threadripper into a motherboard of the wrong generation should not lead to any unfortunate consequences. The system simply will not start, but neither the processor nor the board will fail.
Technical specifications
Among motherboard manufacturers, Gigabyte has prepared the richest range of offers for 40rd generation Ryzen Threadripper processors. While most of its competitors limited themselves to only one or two models, Gigabyte made four boards of different levels at once. We got the TRXXNUMX Aorus Master motherboard from the manufacturer for this review, and it's a mid-range variant.
Gigabyte's most sophisticated board, the TRX40 Aorus Xtreme, boasts two 10Gb network controllers, four M.2 slots with support for PCI Express 4.0 x4 drives, and a 16-channel CPU power scheme. The heroine of this review, the TRX40 Aorus Master is a simpler board, but it still retains many of the hallmarks of a heavyweight product. It is made in the E-ATX form factor, equipped with four PCI Express x16 slots and has an Aquantia 5-gigabit network controller and even a Wi-Fi 6 wireless network. But the most important thing is that, like the older model, it is equipped with a powerful power supply circuit with 16-phase design. We have to focus on this because the new processors have a simply βkillerβ thermal package at the level of 280 W, and in order to provide such a CPU with high-quality power, the power circuit on the motherboard must be designed very, very carefully and with a large margin of safety. .
| Gigabyte TRX40 Aorus Master | |
| Supported processors | AMD Ryzen Threadripper Gen 3 |
| Chipset | AMD TRX40 |
| Memory subsystem | 8 Γ DDR4, up to 256 GB, up to DDR4-4400, four channels |
| Expansion slots | 2 Γ PCI Express 3.0/4.0 x16 (x16 mode); 2 Γ PCI Express 3.0/4.0 x16 (x8 mode); 1 x PCI Express 4.0 x1 |
| Drive interfaces | 8 x SATA 6Gb/s 1 Γ M.2 (PCI-E 4.0/3.0 x4/SATA for 2242/2260/2280/22110 devices) 2 Γ M.2 (PCI-E 4.0/3.0 x4/SATA for 2242/2260/2280 format devices) |
| USB Ports | 5 Γ USB 3.2 Gen2 on the back; 1 Γ USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-C on the back; 1 Γ USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-C as an internal connector; 4 Γ USB 3.2 Gen1 as internal connectors; 6 Γ USB 2.0 as internal connectors |
| Network controllers | 1 Γ Intel WGI211AT (Ethernet 1 Gb/s); 1 Γ Aquantia AQtion AQC111C (Ethernet 5Gb/s); 1 Γ Intel Dual Band Wireless AX200NGW/CNVi (Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax (2,4/5 GHz) + Bluetooth 5.0) |
| Audio subsystem | 1 Γ Realtek ALC4050H + Realtek ALC1220-VB codec; 1 Γ Realtek ALC4050H codec + DAC ESS SABRE9218 |
| Interfaces on the rear panel | 1 x USB 3.2 Gen2 (Type-C); 5 Γ USB 3.2 Gen2 (Type-A); 2 x USB 2.0; 2 x RJ-45; 5 Γ minijack audio connectors; 1 Γ S/PDIF (optical, output); 2 Γ antenna connectors; ClearCMOS button; Q-Flash Plus button |
| Form Factor | E-ATX (305x269mm) |
| Price | $499 (recommended) |
The recommended cost of the Gigabyte TRX40 Aorus Master is set at $500, but boards for Ryzen Threadripper can't be cheap. Their complicated electrical design, their highly developed expansion options, and the fact that this whole platform has a certain touch of premium play a role here, as the recommended prices of the Ryzen Threadripper 3970X and Threadripper 3960X are $1400 and $2000. In addition, we must admit that compared to other boards for AMD's flagship processors, the TRX40 Aorus Master in question does not seem so expensive. Just to give you an example, the most budget 400rd Gen Ryzen Threadripper motherboards cost $850, with the upper price limit going all the way up to $XNUMX.
Packaging equipment
Despite the fact that we are talking about an expensive and feature-rich motherboard, the Gigabyte TRX40 Aorus Master comes in a relatively small box, the dimensions of which are not much different from the sizes of the boxes of motherboards in the middle price category.
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The information content of the packaging is at an acceptable level. The reverse side contains both a short list of characteristics and information about the main advantages of the board. These at Gigabyte included powerful processor power, thoughtful cooling of the power circuit, four PCI Express x16 slots with support for the fourth version of the protocol, a network controller with a bandwidth of 5 Gb / s, and wireless Wi-Fi 6.
The board comes with a fair number of different accessories:
- four SATA cables;
- one Wi-Fi antenna with a gain of 4 dBi;
- G-Connector module for easy connection of LEDs and case buttons;
- one cable for connecting addressable LED strips;
- one cable for connecting RGB LED strips;
- one sound pressure sensor;
- two Velcro straps for cables;
- two remote temperature sensors;
- screws and stands for mounting M.2 drives;
- a set of stickers to decorate the case.
At the same time, according to the package, it is clear that in the Gigabyte hierarchy, the motherboard in question is not among the flagship solutions. The most expensive boards from this manufacturer are usually supplied with a much more extensive list of additives.
Design and features
The Gigabyte TRX40 Aorus Master is the first motherboard for the new Ryzen Threadripper to hit our lab. Moreover, this happened even before we got the opportunity to get acquainted in detail with multi-core and five-chip processors based on the Zen 2 microarchitecture in action. Therefore, we had a special interest in the Gigabyte board. Firstly, it was very curious how the developers managed to fit on a standard piece of textolite all those numerous slots, controllers and connectors that a modern Ryzen Threadripper can serve together with a TRX40 system logic set. Secondly, there was a lot of interest in how the processor power circuit could look and how it should be cooled, capable of satisfying the needs of processors that consume under 300 W even in the nominal mode.
And I must say, Gigabyte TRX40 Aorus Master was able to give convincing answers to all such questions. But first of all, she very clearly showed that the creation of motherboards for Ryzen Threadripper requires serious engineering work, and as a result, the design of such motherboards turns out to be rather non-standard. For example, the Gigabyte board under consideration turned out to be made in an enlarged semi-E-ATX form factor (269 mm in width versus the usual 244 mm), but even despite this, a massive Socket sTR4 processor socket, eight DIMM slots and a power converter still occupied the entire its top half. At the same time, the dimensions of the power circuit turned out to be so significant that it occupied space along the entire upper edge of the board, and its cooling system at the same time grabbed a certain amount of space, including in the back of the board.
Nevertheless, dealing with the TRX40 Aorus Master turned out to be quite comfortable. Although the memory slots on this board are moved quite close to the processor socket, and on the sides are also sandwiched between the first PCIe x16 slot and the power circuit heatsink, there are no problems with assembling a system based on the Gigabyte TRX40 Aorus Master, at least if you use to cool the LSS processor, and not some gigantic air cooler. Moreover, all the main connectors and internal ports on this board are located along the right and bottom edges, and access to them is not difficult even in a fully assembled system.
Many will surely be pleased with the fact that the Gigabyte TRX40 Aorus Master almost completely dispenses with luminous design elements. The only RGB component provided by the design is a small and very modest "eye" in the rear panel casing, which does not violate the strict visual style chosen for the TRX40 Aorus Master at all. However, supporters of a riot of colors can easily make a system with this board shine with all the colors of the rainbow. After all, the designers provided four points on it at once for connecting external LED strips: two for addressable and two for conventional 5050 RGB LEDs.
To install expansion cards on the Gigabyte TRX40 Aorus Master, four PCIe x16 slots are offered at once. All of them are connected to the PCI Express processor lines, with 16 PCI Express 4.0 lines each for the first and third slots, and 8 lines for the second and fourth slots. But at the same time, you need to keep in mind that due to the relative position, you can install only three cards with two-slot cooling systems in them. Which, however, is more than enough, especially if you remember that Aorus-branded hardware is aimed primarily at gamers.
The remaining eight PCI Express 4.0 lines in the processor are given to two M.2 connectors, which are located under the first and third PCIe x16 slots. Under the system logic set on the Gigabyte TRX40 Aorus Master, there is another, third M.2 slot, but the TRX40 chip is responsible for its operation. The layout of all the M.2 slots is not very good in terms of cooling, but do not forget that there is not much free space on boards for Ryzen Threadripper. In addition, for drives on the TRX40 Aorus Master, radiators are provided, which are rather thick aluminum plates with a developed profile, so overheating should not threaten productive NVMe SSD models, even if they are located directly under the graphics accelerator.
And in general, Gigabyte approached the cooling of various components on the board in question very responsibly. For example, the chipset has a fairly large heatsink equipped with a 50mm centrifugal fan. Moreover, most often this fan is redundant: the chipset temperature rarely exceeds 50 degrees even with passive cooling, and the fan turns on only when this mark is exceeded.
But what's most impressive is how the power circuit is cooled. The heated power components on the RX40 Aorus Master are arranged in a single row along the top edge of the board, and they are all covered by a single heatsink with a heat pipe and thin aluminum stacked fins. Moreover, the heat pipe continues further, passing along the rear edge of the board down, where another similar radiator is strung on it in the area of ββ\uXNUMXb\uXNUMXbthe rear panel casing and a massive aluminum bar below it.
All this allows you to effectively deal with the high operating temperatures of the power stages, but for insurance, Gigabyte engineers also added a fan, which, according to the plan, should blow through the second of the radiators in the area of ββ\uXNUMXb\uXNUMXbthe rear panel shroud.
But it seems like it would be better if they didn't. The fact is that this fan has a diameter of 30 mm and a rotation speed of up to 10 thousand revolutions per minute. Even at the maximum speed that it reaches when the power circuit reaches a temperature of 100 degrees, its effectiveness can be questioned. But it creates a noise background even when the load is small, because the minimum rotation speed of this baby is 5 thousand revolutions per minute.
A quite natural question arises, does the Gigabyte TRX40 Aorus Master really need such a sophisticated VRM cooling system? And we can answer it in the affirmative. The board's power converter really heats up noticeably during operation. For example, when testing the TRX40 Aorus Master with a 24-core Ryzen Threadripper 3970X, with the Precision Boost Override enabled, the processor consumption could reach up to 320-380 W, at which the VRM temperature reached 80 degrees.
Where such heating comes from is not difficult to understand if you carefully look at how the power circuit is arranged. We have never seen such powerful power circuits in consumer motherboards, because in the Gigabyte TRX40 Aorus Master the converter is assembled according to a scheme with 19 independent channels.
Of these, 16 channels are allocated to the processor itself, and three more channels feed the processor SoC. And we are talking about completely honest phases: there are no doublers and no parallelization of elements in this circuit. The processor phases are controlled by an Infineon XDPE132G5C server-level PWM controller, with a 70-amp Infineon TDA21472 power stage installed in each channel.
As for the processor SoC, a separate International Rectifier IR35204 PWM controller with three phases is responsible for its power supply, which ultimately allows the TRX40 Aorus Master to supply peak currents up to 1330 A to the processor if necessary.
There is no doubt that the new Ryzen Threadripper is the most power hungry consumer processor, but very few motherboards have such advanced power plans, even when looking exclusively at the Socket sTR4 platform. In fact, only its older brothers Aorus Xtreme and Designare, as well as the MSI TRX40 Creator, can compete with the Gigabyte TRX40 Aorus Master in terms of electrical power.
In addition to the power supply scheme, the advantages of the Gigabyte TRX40 Aorus Master include good tools so that this board can be used for experiments. It is equipped with two BIOS chips, which can be switched between using a hardware switch. At the same time, one of the BIOS chips is installed in the "crib", which implies the possibility of its simple replacement. Moreover, in case of problems, the firmware can be updated completely autonomously: it does not require the system to start.
The developers did not stint and added a full-fledged POST code indicator to the board, as well as Power On and Reset hardware buttons, which adds comfort to using the TRX40 Aorus Master on an open bench. By the way, in such a scenario, it is also convenient that the bottom of the board is covered with an aluminum sheet with a βnanocarbonβ coating, which will not only increase the rigidity of the entire assembly, but also serve as an additional passive element of the cooling system.
Finally, enthusiasts will certainly appreciate the presence on the board of points for monitoring the main voltages using a multimeter.
How to please the user, Gigabyte engineers also found in the implementation of hardware monitoring. The board is equipped with six thermal sensors and allows you to connect two external sensors (included in the kit), and can also control two processor and six case fans with both three-pin and four-pin connections. But many boards can do this, but the TRX40 Aorus Master is also distinguished by the fact that it has a unique remote sound pressure sensor that allows you to measure and control not only temperatures, but also the noise level created by the operating system.
Another feature that may surprise potential users of the TRX40 Aorus Master is a very atypical integrated audio. The fact is that in addition to the Realtek ALC1220 codec, which is usual for expensive boards, two more Realtek ALC4050H chips are found in the sound scheme. The reason is that the TRX40 chipset does not have its own audio interface, so manufacturers have to look for some workarounds in boards for Ryzen Threadripper. For example, in the Gigabyte board under consideration, two integrated sound cards connected via the USB 2.0 interface, just represented by Realtek ALC4050H chips, are responsible for sound operation.
One card serves the analog ports on the rear panel - they require the Realtek ALC1220 codec to work, and the front panel outputs are provided by the second sound card, in which the ESS SABRE9218 DAC is directly involved, capable of pumping high-impedance headphones.
Network interfaces are also implemented in the TRX40 Aorus Master by not quite standard means. In addition to the usual gigabit Intel WGI211AT controller, another chip has been added to the board - AQtion AQC111C from Aquantia. This chip is capable of supporting wired networking over standard twisted pair at 5Gbps and 2,5Gbps, making the Gigabyte board compatible with next-generation network infrastructure. For those who prefer wireless connections, the TRX40 Aorus Master offers a pre-installed Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX200 module. This module is compliant with the IEEE 802.11ax standard and in 2T2R configuration is capable of 2,4 Gb/s data transfer rates. It also supports the Bluetooth 5 standard.
It would seem that all the numerous interface pins should have filled the rear panel of the Gigabyte TRX40 Aorus Master to capacity. But in fact, no, on the contrary, it turned out to be quite free. Gigabyte decided to sacrifice some of the USB ports, and as a result, there was even a place on the rear panel for an exhaust fan to blow through the VRM heatsink.
However, we do not want to say at all that there are too few USB ports left, because in total, seven USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-A, one USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-C and two USB 2.0 got to the rear panel. In addition, next to them are two RJ-45 network connectors (gigabit and five gigabit), two Wi-Fi antenna connectors, five analog audio jacks, an optical S / PDIF output and two buttons: for resetting BIOS settings and for standalone firmware updates. It is worth noting that the I/O Shield back panel is pre-installed on the board, which simplifies the assembly of the system in the case.
Source: 3dnews.ru