Asus rog strix trx40

In the list of Asus boards for the new Threadripper 3000, the Asus ROG Strix TRX40-E Gaming could not be missing. The best option in terms of balance between price and performance that we the manufacturer to assemble our enthusiastic gaming requipo. This board repeats the same 16-phase VRM as the ROG Zenith II, which is not to say the least and inherits its OLED screen, although smaller.

Of course it is not such an extreme configuration, since the number of PCIe x16 is reduced to 3, in order to allow the 3 M.2 slots not to have to share a bus with anyone else. Likewise, the presence of USB Gen2 wins integers with up to 8 of them, ideal for high-performance peripherals. Let's see in this review everything that the most Asus gaming board offers us with the Threadripper 3960X that we have.

And as always, we appreciate the trust that Asus gives us by giving us this plate to do our analysis.

Asus ROG Strix TRX40-E Gaming technical features

Unboxing

The Asus ROG Strix TRX40-E Gaming has come to us in the usual presentation of the brand for its ROG products, being then a very good quality cardboard box with parture type case. On all faces we see a vinyl type print and with the colors of the brand denoting its different characteristics, especially on the back where it is supported with photos.

Once inside the bundle, we have again a division on two floors to separate plate and accessories. This time we have a plate perfectly accommodated in a protective mold and inside an antistatic bag to avoid problems with static electricity and shocks.

So the purchase bundle will have the following elements:

• Asus ROG Strix TRX40-E Gaming motherboard Support CD User manual 4x SATA 6 Gbps cables 2x Extension RGB and ARGB headers Bracket for vertical M.2 Antenna for Wi-Fi extension Mounting screws for MOG decorative and indicative stickers and clips Adapter for the F_Panel

Well, it is more or less what we expected, since being a non-top range model, we do not have expansion cards as they can control the fans of the other model.

Design and Features

This Asus ROG Strix TRX40-E Gaming still belongs to the high-end of this platform, although it will be below the ROG Zenith II in different aspects as is normal. Not surprisingly, its price rises above € 600 without effort. We start by highlighting the format of this board, which stays in a standard ATX with measurements of 305 mm high by 244 mm wide, so it is compatible with all types of ATX and half-tower chassis.

In the main design, there is no lack of details referring to the ROG Strix range, with the screen printing on both the chipset heatsink and the EMI protector. This is very common in the brand, which is always accompanied by ARUA Sync RGB LED lighting, which in this case is once again present in the chipset and EMI protector and also on the VRM's active heatsink.

Focusing more on each of the parts, we have a very striking heatsink in the chipset area, which, like other models, will be actively cooled by a standard turbine fan. This has an extension that is responsible for covering the two M.2 slots that are located between PCIe slots 1 and 2. Luckily, in this case it can be removed independently from the chipset heatsink, something advantageous when it comes to mount SSDs faster here. In addition, we have a thermal pad in each space for the unit to be mounted in question.

We continue upwards, where the corpulent aluminum sink of the VRM is located, which occupies practically the entire upper area. In addition, special emphasis has been placed on reinforcing the aesthetics of the set with lighting around the open grille for the two axial fans inside. Asus has chosen to introduce the same number of phases in the VRM as in its top range, with 16 phases that require strong cooling. In fact, the heatsink extends below the EMI shield to aid it in cooling.

This protector, in addition, has a Live Dash OLED screen that will monitor the basic state of the hardware such as CPU temperature, frequency, RPM of the fan or pump and of course the Debug codes of the BIOS. It is a good introduction for this platform, we hope that little by little it will have a presence on most boards. In its determination to plug components, we also have a protector for the sound card area, although we see that the ROG SupremFX main chip package is in plain sight. This whole area has the corresponding LED lighting strip that Asus usually uses for the sound area.

Something that we do not like is having chosen to place the third M.2 slot just below the power ATX connector, and also with a vertical placement of the SSD putting it in trouble for being susceptible to shocks. Rather it would have been a better option to place it under the chipset as for example AORUS does or in the back that occurs in the ROG Zenith.

And with this we take advantage to go to the back of the Asus ROG Strix TRX40-E Gaming. In it we have the huge bracket that holds the socket to the board and an aluminum backplate that is responsible for holding the entire heatsink of the VRM. For the rest, we only see solders, electrical tracks, the LED line of the sound card and the different chips that manage the expansion slots.

VRM and power phases

This Asus ROG Strix TRX40-E Gaming uses a power phase configuration the same as the top model, then counting 16 phases for the V_core and 4 phases divided into two zones for the memory banks.

In this case Asus uses a configuration very similar to the one implemented in the latest high-end boards, with phases without signal doublers, but controlled in a group of two MOSFETS. This means that the DIGI + ASP14051 controller generates 8 digital PWM signals, but up to the 16 Infineon TDA21482 MOSFETS mounted in the first stage. Here comes the main and only difference, and that is that they will individually provide 60A in the output current, instead of 70A as in the Zenith thanks to an input voltage of up to 25V, thus generating enough power to cover about 500W with 960 A.

Alongside them, we find 16 60A metal chokes and 10K solid capacitors of high quality and durability. It is good news that Asus uses this similar VRM in its three new boards, since we also have the Infineon TDA21472 MOSFETS on the Prime TRX40-Pro. Something that has changed is the power outlet, which in this model comes with two steel-reinforced 8-pin CPU headers. Therefore, we have lost the 6-pin PCI connector that supported the PCIe slots, and it is understandable since in this case we have support for 2-way MultiGPU.

Socket, chipset and RAM memory

Also in this case we will not have changes compared to the other models, since they are elements that are a strict part of the platform to which this Asus ROG Strix TRX40-E Gaming belongs.

We then find the new AMD LGA sTRX40 socket provided with 4094 pins in the socket itself and flat contacts in the CPU. This socket is identical in distribution and appearance as the sTR4, but internally the pins have a different power distribution. What does this mean? Well, it will only be compatible with the AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3000, while the 2nd and 1st generation cannot be installed on it. Which means that we are obliged to buy a TRX40 board for these new processors, raising the cost to a very close to 2000 euros.

Along with this, it has also been necessary to create the new AMD TRX40 chipset, which continues with a capacity of 24 lanes, but this time PCIe 4.0. In it what mainly changes is the link with the CPU, which rises to no less than 8 lanes instead of 4, thus providing a link of 16 GB / s up and down for the data bus. The 16 that are free can be divided between 8 USB 3.2 Gen2 and 4 2.0 ports along with 4 SATA 6 Gbps ports, 8 PCIe 4.0 lanes for general purpose and a double Pick One to expand up to 4 SATA ports or one or two PCIe lines 1 × 4 or 2 × 2.

Last and not least we must pay attention to the RAM memory capacity of this board. We also have no changes, since with the 8 288-contact DIMM slots we have support for 256 GB DDR4 placed in Quad Channel configuration and working at a maximum frequency of 4666 MHz. Of course, the Ryzen's native 3200 MHz capacity is raised by XMP profiles.

Storage and PCIe slots

In the Asus ROG Strix TRX40-E Gaming we do have more or less substantial changes with other boards of the platform with respect to the PCIe slots, and for that reason they are not going to be bad. We will see everything in detail in this section.

Let's start with its expandability, where we have 3 PCIe 4.0 x16 slots and 1 PCIe 4.0 x4 slot. All three full-size features steel encapsulation for added protection. But being a "lower" cost board, we will have support for AMD CrossFireX 2-way, as well as Nvidia Quad GPU SLI 2-way. Certainly providing a triple bond would not have represented an extra effort from the manufacturer, but we understand that a lower cost board must be cut in certain aspects.

Let's see how these slots will work:

• The 3 PCIe slots (PCIe x16_1 and PCIe x16_2 and PCIe x16_3) will work at x16 and will be connected to the CPU, thus giving their maximum performance at all times. The 4th PCIe x4 slot will work at x4 and will be connected to the chipset independently, without sharing a bus with anyone else.

In this way we will have the total of 48 PCIe lanes occupied of the 56 available in the CPU. Despite having 3 slots in full format, all of them give the maximum in their 16 lines, while the rest of the configurations seen are always x16 / x8 / x16 / x8. This implies that the number of lanes occupied is the same on this board.

Now we turn to see the storage, in which we find a total of 8 SATA III ports at 6 Gbps. Alongside them, we have 3 M.2 PCIe 4.0 / 3.0 slots working at x4 under the NVMe 1.3 protocol. Two of the slots are located between the 1st PCIe slot and the 3rd slot, while the 3rd M.2 is located just below the ATX connector and is compatible with PCie 4.0 and SATA. We have already commented in the design section that we do not find the best site, and also the M.2 unit will be installed vertically. At least with this, we have the possibility of installing SSD with its own heatsink, there is no harm that for good it does not come.

Let's see how and where each of these slots are connected:

• The 1st M.2 slot (M2_1) supports sizes 2242, 2260, 2280 and 22110, and is connected to the CPU with 4 lanes independently. The 2nd M.2 slot (M_2) supports sizes 2242, 2260, 2280 and 22110, and it connects to the CPU also independently. The 3rd M.2 slot (M_3) located under the ATX, supports sizes 2242, 2260, 2280 and 22110, and is connected to the chipset independently. The 8 SATA ports will be directly connected to the chipset without sharing a bus between them.

This completes the 56 lanes available for CPU connectivity, not having been necessary to share a bus in any of the existing slots. Similarly, the rest of the chipset connectivity will go to peripheral ports and network card as we will see later. Finally know that both M.2 and SATA support RAID 0, 1 and 10 natively.

Network and sound connectivity

In this sense, the Asus ROG Strix TRX40-E Gaming does not disappoint either, since it has triple network connectivity and the brand's reference card for its SupremeFX sound system.

Precisely we will start with the sound, which will be generated using an Asus SupremeFX S1220A codec derived from the Realtek reference chip. This provides us with a maximum sensitivity at the input of 108 dB SNR and up to 120 dB SNR at the output, with a capacity of 8 channels of high definition audio. In this way we have support for 32-bit audio playback at 192 kHz. In addition, two operational amplifiers have been installed that support headphones of up to 600Ω, although none of them are from the ESS SABER brand. This does not prevent us from having support for TDS Sound Bound, an advanced three-dimensional sound system, and manageability with Sonic Studio III and Sonic Radar III.

We now turn to see the network connectivity of the board, which as we have mentioned is triple. The LAN configuration consists of a Realtek RTL8125-CG chip with a maximum bandwidth of 2.5 Gbps, and a second 10/100/1000 Mbps Intel I211-AT chip. In this case we see that we do not have a link at 5 Gbps, much less 10 Gbps. Finally, for wireless connectivity, the Intel AX200 Wi-Fi 6 chip has been installed, with a bandwidth of 2.4 Gbps at 5 GHz and 733 Mbps at 2.4 GHz and Bluetooth 5.0. All these elements will be connected to the chipset consuming about 3 PCIe lanes.

I / O ports and internal connections

We now deal with all connections for internal and external peripherals of the Asus ROG Strix TRX40-E Gaming board.

On the rear I / O panel we have:

• BIOS Flashback button 7x USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-A (red) 1x USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-C4x USB 2.02x RJ451x optical port S / PDIF5x 3.5mm jacks for audio

The fact of having less connectivity occupying lanes in the chipset gives us the opportunity to have a total of 8 3.2 Gen2 ports with a width of 10 Gbps, being even more than the superior model. Asus in this case has not installed any 20 Gbps port with ASMedia chips because it does not see a high speed link necessary for a gamer user. In this case we agree that the quantity is valued more, and 12 ports in total is a surplus.

While on the PCB we will have the following internal connectors:

• 4x LED headers (2 Addressable RGB and 2 RGB) Front Audio1x USB 3.2 Gen22x USB 3.2 Gen1 (up to 4 USB ports) 2x USB 2.0 (up to 4 USB ports) TPM7x fan headers1x temperature sensor header7x Temperature measurement points1x Asus Node connector

Again we have more or less standard connectivity, with a maximum capacity of 9 extra USB ports which is not bad to add to the complete rear I / O panel. The fan headers can be managed by FanXpert software or by Armory Crate as is usually the case with the manufacturer.

testing bench

TESTING BENCH
Processor:	AMD Threadripper 3960X
Base plate:	Asus ROG Strix TRX40-E Gaming
Memory:	32 GB G-Skill Royal X @ 3200 MHz
Heatsink	Noctua NH-U14S TR4-SP3
HDD	Kingston SKC400
Graphic card	Nvidia RTX 2060 FE
Power supply	Corsair RM1000

BIOS

The BIOS maintains the design of previous generations. As many of you know, we really like ASUS BIOS because they are very stable and allow us to modify multiple options. For the newer ones, you may wonder what can I do with it?

For example you can modify any parameter at the overclock level, activate the AMP profile of the RAM memories (it is the same as the Intel XMP), modify the startup of the storage devices, monitor and control the voltage and temperatures of our motherboard, format our hard drive or SSD at a low level, update the BIOS directly from the internet and a long etcetera.

Temperatures and Overclock

As we can see in the thermal image, we have quite optimal temperatures. The PWM that controls the VRM, which is located on the back of the plate, heats up a little and rises to 50 ºC. They are not worrisome temperatures at all considering that it is at maximum performance with a 24-core and 48-thread processor.

It is time to talk about overclocking. Although the motherboard has 16 power phases, we see that it does not tune as well as the Zenith II that we tested a few days ago. It is also logical because it mounts different VRMs and the Zenith costs 300 euros more? However, we have managed to raise the frequency to 4400 MHz and 1.5v in our small tests. We don't like to play with such high voltages, but it was the only way to keep it stable for quick tests. As we have commented in all the reviews, we always recommend looking for the sweet spot in the frequency / voltage relationship.

Final words and conclusion about Asus ROG Strix TRX40-E Gaming

After testing the Asus ROG Strix TRX40-E Gaming for several days, we can conclude that it is one of the best options we can buy for the sTR4 socket given its characteristics and performance.

It is compatible with the third generation AMD Threadripper processor, it allows us to install a total of 256 GB DDR4 at a speed of 4666 MHz, it has 16 VRMs that are ideal for overclocking our processor, it is equipped with a very advanced and efficient cooling system It also offers a pretty cool storage solution with 8 SATA connections and three M.2 PCI Express NVME connectors. A very complete motherboard!

We recommend reading our guide on the best motherboards

Connectivity is not a problem because it has a Realtek 2.5 Gigabit network card , a second Gigabit signed by Intel and a WiFi 6 + BT 5 wireless connection. Perhaps we are missing a 5 Gigabit connection instead of 2.5, but few users have a switch or router with these connections.

Asus indicates that its recommended price is 659 euros. As we are seeing on all sTR4 socket motherboards, they are all priced high when compared to AMD and Intel mainstream series. And is that of the three boards that Asus launches for this socket, the cheapest will be the Prime TRX40-PRO with a price of 539 euros, we find it curious to note this data.

We also believe that it is worth your purchase if you want to build an Enthusiast PC, but if you prefer a computer to play, we recommend that you buy the AM4 platform, which as a whole has a cheaper price and offers superior gaming performance. It also has enough power to stream or edit videos.

ADVANTAGE	DISADVANTAGES
+ GAMING DESIGN AND HIGH QUALITY COMPONENTS, AS ASUS WELCOMES US	- THE PRICE MAY BE HIGH FOR MANY USERS. BUT IT IS THE TREND OF THIS PLATFORM.
+ GOOD TEMPERATURES
+ OVERCLOCK PERFORMANCE AND CAPACITY
+ GOOD SET OF WIRELESS AND WIRED NETWORK CONNECTIONS
+ LIGHTING SYSTEM NOT VERY INTRUSIVE AND VERY CONFIGURABLE. WE ALSO HIGHLIGHT YOUR DIAGNOSTIC SCREEN

The Professional Review team awards you the gold medal and recommended product:

Asus ROG Strix TRX40-E Gaming

COMPONENTS - 91%

REFRIGERATION - 85%

BIOS - 90%

EXTRAS - 88%

PRICE - 80%

87%

One of the best quality / price sTR4 boards on the market. Taking into account the high price that these motherboards have.