Threadripper & Ryzen only builds (3rd Gen starts on page 50)

[Michael Arch-Viz]

Ordered today  Aorus Master tomorrow will buy 3970x :) like that this board doesn't have a fan for vrm. also vrm temp looks really good and the price is really good 500$.
I hope in 2 weeks I will complete my build

[twoheads]

The base is bit lower than I expected, but I wouldn't worry about it too much. If the boost works just as well as it does on 3950X, it never even gets near the base. (from all tests I ran on 3950X which has 3.5 GHz base, it's always at 4 to 4.1 when rendering all-core, and 4.2-4.55 when up to 4 cores are utilized, so it covers almost all the workstations tasks. Even during rendering, it will still boost up single-core for Photoshop action for example, it works really nicely).

But otherwise looks like everyone here is on the same ship, 3970X is simply far too good. Let's hope the benchmarks will come sooner than 7th Feb.

GIGABYTE TRX40 AORUS XTREME is really worth extra money compared to ASUS ROG ZENITH II EXTREME?

Not sure if anyone can categorically tell. Aorus went extra mile to really go over the top with the build and features with price that follows (particularly the Intel dual-nic), but they both have fantastic VRM, heatsinks and shit ton of m.2 slots.

One thing I can tell, is that Asus 'looks' better than it actually is, while I really enjoy the ROG aesthetics (minus rgb) and just today received Rampage Omega for my multi-media/gaming PC where I'll slot the i9, there are so many complaints about the lack of working bios, various design faults,etc.. Did you guys know that almost half of those uber Dominus boards for Xeon 3175X were faulty and couldn't boot due to misplaced conductors? Asus lives on brand-name recognition, but quality control is not what it used to be.

For Zenith:
- E-ATX fits almost everywhere, in majority of cases, not just mid-towers, even some small towers!. It's just wider.
- Easier access and better cooling of m.2 drives due to Asus's proprietary "DIMM.2" addon card that slots next to memory. This is really nifty thing.
- Lot more popular, brands test their memory on it to make sure it work. So G.Skill has kits that were tested and guaranteed to work on Zenith II, but not on Aorus. This gives you a peace of mind when buying 1000+ Euro memory.
- If you only ever plan to add dual GPUs, the layout is sort of better.

For Aorus:
- If you ever planned on Quad-GPU rendering, then this is the board for it.
- Intel 10GBe is of much higher quality than Aquantia, both on hardware and driver level. It's not dramatic difference but if you want the best...also comes with two 10GBe nics so you can go 20GBe straight on.
- Passive cooled VRM. TRX40, just like X570 has already tiny and annoying chipset fan. No need to have more of them on board.
- Sturdier build. Both boards have backplate, but Aorus is full-cover and more heatsink connected, might even actually help with temperatures, not just aesthetics.
- General consensus on UEFI is that Gigabyte is really trying hard at the moment and might be the best player right now when it comes to care.

You can't go wrong with either. And if you don't need 10GBe, you don't even need to go with these. More affordable Aorus Master and Asus Strix are also good boards with same VRM.

My budget is getting tighter and tighter so every cent counts for me. I'm looking for good quality board with good VRM and affordable price, Aorus definitely is great but way too pricy at this point. If I had to choose between aorus and rog zenith i would pick rog only because it's lower price. Since I really don't need 10GBe I think I'll choose between Aorus Master and Asus Strix as you mentioned. I know it's stupid question but are you sure they are good enough for 3970? they are kinda cheap compared to aorus :)   

thanks man

Ordered today  Aorus Master tomorrow will buy 3970x :) like that this board doesn't have a fan for vrm. also vrm temp looks really good and the price is really good 500$.
I hope in 2 weeks I will complete my build

I think we are in the same boat :) What case did you choose if I may ask?

[Michael Arch-Viz]

unfortunately, in my country, I don't have too much choice of cases, but if I will not find any good deal I will buy from US Amazon.
I saw some testes on youtube and Silverstone seems one of the best cases.
You need to remember that Aorus is an E-ATX board.

[twoheads]

LOL I am absolutely not ...but in this one case (pun intended)

oh yes you are :) seriously don't be too modest Juraj

 I'm cutting my expenses drastically so I was wondering if there is any other well ventilated case but cheaper, or this one is considered as cheap? On the other hand I know ventilation is crucial with 3970 + air cooling  so maybe this particular case is way to go? Ambient temperature during winter is +- 24/25 C but in summer it goes really hi (around 28/29) sometimes 30.

[Michael Arch-Viz]

Thanks, Juraj!

this is what i ordered :)  only worry about ram if they will work good, anyway i have intel x299 board and i will put in this MB.

[Juraj]

Everything looks excellent. Even with two GPUs, you could potentially downscale to 1000W PSU.

Memory will work fine. 3000 CL16 is bit lower-bin compared to 3000/15 or 3200/16 but you found a really good price.

[Michael Arch-Viz]

Everything looks excellent. Even with two GPUs, you could potentially downscale to 1000W PSU.

Memory will work fine. 3000 CL16 is bit lower-bin compared to 3000/15 or 3200/16 but you found a really good price.

memory was on sale when I got it, now price for this ram is 371$ lol

[Juraj]

Yeah and I suggest people to get more ram than they think they might immediately need because memory and SSD might get more expensive this year again.

[danio1011]

My 3970x just posted :) all 64gb of g skill neo ram recognized, thank goodness.  Now I just need to get the m.2 chips in there, get my os on and start doing some testing.

The Aorus eXtreme trx40 is a thing of beauty.  Unfortunately even with my giant BeQuiet 900 pro case (officially xl-atx friendly) I don’t think I could do quad blowers.  The last pci slot lines up with the eighth case slot but I think I’d need a ninth.  The motherboard is adjustable up and down in this case but I’m in the top slot so I’d have to drill a new hole and probably run into other clearance issues anyway.  Oh well, quad was a distant possibility since I haven’t found a gpu renderer that treats me as well as corona.  Also the giant mobo blocks all cable routing grommets, heh.  I will post pics tomorrow.

[Juraj]

Also the giant mobo blocks all cable routing grommets

HAha, this has been case for almost very case on market :- ). I've been putting SSI-EEB server boards like Asus Z9/Z10 into Define cases and they totally obstruct everything, but "fits technically".

Post pics ! And congrat for getting running.

Meanwhile I am still trying to get Aorus, wrote to official Gigabyte distributor.

[danio1011]

Also the giant mobo blocks all cable routing grommets

HAha, this has been case for almost very case on market :- ). I've been putting SSI-EEB server boards like Asus Z9/Z10 into Define cases and they totally obstruct everything, but "fits technically".

Post pics ! And congrat for getting running.

Meanwhile I am still trying to get Aorus, wrote to official Gigabyte distributor.

Attempting to attach some pictures.  Cable management hasn't happened yet so apologies for the mess.  The m.2's go under that heatsink by the pci slots so I need to investigate how that comes off and connect the chassis wires.  After that I'm off and running.

For fans I'm thinking I'll use the option to mount to the top of the case, and also the bump out in the back (intake and filtered), and the top of the PSU shroud.  The bump out on the back and the PSU shroud mounts are cool options of the 900 R2.  I'm going to really try to keep the airflow going.  Not sure I"ll do a 'pull' fan on the CPU heatsink, I never really saw much difference.  Although I guess it could aid in exhausting air from the case in general.

[danio1011]

Thanks!  I enabled XMP and the ram seems fine at 3600.  I haven't found the PBO option yet in the gigabyte bios, is that still part of the TRX40 chipset?  If so it's worth enabling, I assume?  My understanding is that PBO kind of replaced overclocking when it comes to effectively bumping your speed.  You can still overclock but it sounds like it creates more heat  than it's worth?  My last experience was with a 1950x chip which I just manually overclocked.

Even without finding the PBO option but with ram at 3600 I ran the Corona benchmark and got 28 seconds (and submitted it online).  Seems pretty much what I would have guessed, I was hoping for 30 sec or under.  No system fans running yet so I left the case cover off to compensate, temps hit 71C and seemed to stabilize.  That's with one Noctua cpu fan as shown in my pics.  I'm sure temps will climb higher with a prolonged test or something more tortuous like denoising.  Obviously closing up the case is going to impact things too.

That's what I've got so far...

[Juraj]

U14S can barely cool the 3970X, you want to overclock it :- ) ? Yes, PBO is still part of all TRX40. You just set "offset" (for example +200)

To test overclock (and XMP profile) stability run Prime95 Small FFT option, and Memory (I think pretty large FFT but it's explicitly called memory optimized).

Is anyone else bothered by all that energy wasted in cheesy LED? Why is all that great tech coming with it? Super annoying.

We're currently at 'peak RGB' unfortunately, I presume even pro-gaming underwear comes with it. It can be thankfully turned off in uefi mostly.
It doesn't really draw much power, but it can make for example memory module needlessly slightly bit hotter and worse ventilated.

[Juraj]

So the rumour is Noctua NH-D"15" (or16?)-TR4 with upcoming A14/15x25 fans will be able to displace 400W of heat, but won't be released until Q4 2020.

[danio1011]

So the rumour is Noctua NH-D"15" (or16?)-TR4 with upcoming A14/15x25 fans will be able to displace 400W of heat, but won't be released until Q4 2020.

Ah, that’s so frustrating.  Oh well, I’d rather run stock speeds with the 14s than fool around with an AIO or go for a high end custom loop.  Just seems like diminishing returns for more and more effort/cost/risk...my opinion might change as time goes on.  So far it seems fine.  Prime always pushes my temps higher than corona but I’ll try it.