Custom PC - UK (2020-03)

W

e’rehopingbelookingata more
affordableTRX40motherboard
fromMSInextmonth,butthisissue
we’reputtingthecompany’sflagshipTRX40
throughitspacesand,ata whoppingpriceof
£675incVAT,theCreatorTRX40isa monster.
Thecoolingsystemisthemostelaborate
exampleontest,withoneofthelongest
heatpipeswe’veeverseenconnectingboth
themassiveVRMheatsinkswiththelarge
5cmchipsetfan.Thismeansthewhole
contraptionisactivelycooled,asheatis
transferredaroundthemotherboardusing
theheatpipe.
Thefan,whichonlyspunupundermediumto
highloadsandwasquietwhenit didso,alsohas
a smallcut-outsections,whichallowairflowto
reachallthreeM.2portstoo.TheseM.2ports
alsohavethermalpadsontheundersides,
cateringforPCI-E4 SSDs,mostofwhichhave
componentsonbothsidesthatneedcooling.
Still,comparedwithotherboardsontest,
theMSI’sM.2SSDtemperaturewasa fairbit
warmer,althoughit wasstilla good20°Caway
fromthrottlingaftera ten-minutestresstest.

MSI CREATOR

TRX40 /£675 inc VAT

SUPPLIER box.co.uk

However, in

addition to the three

M.2 ports on the PCB,

the MSI also includes

an M.2 expansion

card, which is actively

cooled by a huge

heatsink and 10cm

fan. This kept the load temperature of our

SSD at just 33°C and, with four slots in total,

this card will offer the best home for heavily

used, fast SSDs.

We would also like to commend MSI for

placing all three of the Creator TRX40’s PCB-

mounted M.2 ports in a way that means you

don’t need to remove your graphics card to

access them. Plus, unlike the Asus ROG Strix

TRX40-E Gaming, only the top sides of the

DIMM slots have locking latches, so you can

remove your memory at will too.

The two huge heatsinks sit atop a 16-phase

power delivery system, and with a peak VRM

temperature of 62°C, this cooling system is

clearly very capable. However, the VRMs on

the Asus ROG Zenith II Extreme were cooler

still, perhaps due to the fact that the MSI

doesn’t have a large backplate to aid cooling –

instead, it just has two small metal strips.

While some may argue that storage is

largely moving to SSDs, especially where

motherboards such as the Creator TRX40 are

concerned, the fact that far cheaper boards on

test have more SATA ports than the Creator

stands out when the board costs nearly £700

• it has a lowly count of just six SATA ports.
  The ROG Zenith II Extreme has two more, and
  the mighty Gigabyte TRX40 Aorus Extreme
  has four more SATA ports, so they’re better
  options if you have more than half a dozen
  hard disks with which to contend. For most
  people’s needs, though, the MSI’s six ports
  will be more than adequate.

LABS TEST / TRX40 MOTHERBOARDS

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