Custom PC - UK (2020-03)

SPEC

ChipsetAMDTRX40

CPUsocketAMDSocketTR4X

(3rd-genThreadripper/Zen2)

Memorysupport8 slots:max

256GBDDR4(upto4400MHz)

ExpansionslotsFour16xPCI-E4,one1xPCI-E 4

Sound8-channelRealtekALC1220

Networking1 x IntelGigabitLAN,1 x

Intel 10 GigabitLAN,802.11axWi-Fi

OverclockingBaseclock100-

300MHz,CPUmultiplier8-64x;max

voltages:CPU1.8V,RAM2V

Ports8 x SATA6Gbps,8 x M.2PCI-E4,7 x USB3.1

Type-A,1 x USB3.1Type-C,3 x surroundaudioout

Dimensions(mm) 325 x 275

VERDICT

Anextrememotherboard,butwitha price

tomatch.

GIGABYTE

+ Massive feature set

+ Potential for huge

storage arrays

+ Excellent cooling

system control

BUG BITE

• Massively expensive


• Sub-par EFI
  and software


• Disappointing
  overclocking
  headroom

PERFORMANCE

32 / 35

FEATURES

34 / 35

VALUE

14 / 30

OVERALLSCORE

80 %

setoffeatures.There’sevena headerfor
the front panel connectors, and Gigabyte
includes a cable to run this off to the
spaghetti coming from your case, so you
can hide it properly.
The rear I/O panel also features an
integrated shield, and on this panel you’ll find
a clear-CMOS button, as well as Q-Flash
Plus button, which is Gigabyte’s equivalent
of USB BIOS Flashback, allowing you to

get802.11axWi-Fitoo,anda singleIntel 10

Gigabit LAN controller that powers the two

LAN ports, although this obviously supports

standard Gigabit too. There are seven Type-A

USB ports, all of which are USB 3.1, as is the

Type-C port here.

Gigabyte has also tweaked the Realtek

ALC1220 audio codec to include an ESS

Sabre DAC and WIMA capacitors, as well as

a TXC oscillator, which the company claims

provides precise time triggers to digital-

analogue converters.

Performance

With all boards performing so similarly this

month, there’s not much to tell in terms

of performance. The Aorus Xtreme’s

RealBench results were in the middle of the

pack, and it was the quickest board in Far

Cry 5, but only by a single frame per second.

It also produced some of the lowest stock

speed figures in Cinebench, as well as M.2

speeds that were a couple of hundred MB/

sec off the pace. However, it also had some

of the best-performing audio on test, with a

dynamic range of 110dBA. Plus, despite its

massive PCB and feature set, it drew around

the same amount of power as the other

boards on test.

Overclocking was a little disappointing, as

we could only reach 4.3GHz across all our

Threadripper 3960X’s 24 cores, whereas

Asus, ASRock and MSI’s boards all reached

4.35GHz using the same voltage of 1.325V.

This overclock saw the Cinebench score rise

from 13,011 to 14,500 and the video encoding

score from 1,001,922 to 1,120,688, so it’s

potentially worth doing if you’re primarily

concerned with multi-threaded performance.

Conclusion

There’s no getting away from the price of

the TRX40 Aorus Extreme, which will be out

of reach for all but a select few. Even then,

you have to ask if it’s worth it when boards

such as the ASRock TRX40 Taichi perform

well and offer similar storage expansion and

other features. We love the design tweaks,

though, and they make the board stand out

against the competition.

The issue, though, is that it costs so much

more than the Asus ROG Zenith II Extreme

and MSI Creator TRX40, both of which seem

to offer similar features. If you’re building a

liquid-cooled PC and plan on spending serious

amounts of cash on storage, this is a great

board, but it demands a silly amount of money.

sleek-lookingPCB that belies its massive update the EFI without a CPU installed. You