The MSI Creator TRX40 Motherboard Review: The $700 Flagship for Threadripper
by Gavin Bonshor on February 26, 2020 11:30 AM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
- AMD
- MSI
- Ryzen
- TRX40
- Threadripper 3000
- Creator TRX40
- 3970X
- sTRX4
Board Features
At present, the MSI Creator TRX40 motherboard is the top model in its current line-up for AMD's Threadripper 3rd generation processors. Included in the controller set is an Aquantia AQC107 10 gigabit Ethernet controller and an Intel I211-AT gigabit Ethernet controller pairing, with an Intel AX200 Wi-Fi 6 wireless interface for Wi-Fi and BT 5.0 connectivity. For users looking to use PCIe 4.0 storage, the Creator TRX40 has three PCIe 4.0 x4 M.2 slots which also support SATA drives, and each slot includes its own M.2 heatsink. There is also six SATA ports which are controlled by the chipset, and support RAID 0, 1, and 10 arrays. With TRX40 being a HEDT platform, the board has four full-length PCIe 4.0 slots which operate at x16/x8/x16/x8, and there are eight memory slots supporting up to DDR4-4666 with a maximum capacity of 256 GB in quad-channel memory mode.
MSI Creator TRX40 EATX Motherboard | |||
Warranty Period | 3 Years | ||
Product Page | Link | ||
Price | $700 | ||
Size | EATX | ||
CPU Interface | sTRX4 | ||
Chipset | AMD TRX40 | ||
Memory Slots (DDR4) | Eight DDR4 Supporting 256 GB Quad Channel Up to DDR4-4666 |
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Video Outputs | N/A | ||
Network Connectivity | Aquantia AQC107 10 GbE Intel I211-AT 1 GbE Intel AX200 Wi-Fi 6 802.11ax |
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Onboard Audio | Realtek ALC1220 Realtek ALC4050H |
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PCIe Slots for Graphics (from CPU) | 4 x PCIe 4.0 x16 (x16/x8/x16/x8) | ||
PCIe Slots for Other (from PCH) | N/A | ||
Onboard SATA | Six, RAID 0/1/10 (TRX40) | ||
Onboard M.2 | 3 x PCIe 4.0 x4/SATA | ||
USB 3.2 (20 Gbps) | 1 x Type-C Rear Panel | ||
USB 3.1 (10 Gbps) | 5 x Type-A Rear Panel 1 x Type-C Front Panel |
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USB 3.0 (5 Gbps) | 4 x Type-A Rear Panel 4 x Type-A Front Panel |
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USB 2.0 | 4 x Type-A Front Panel | ||
Power Connectors | 1 x 24-pin ATX 2 x 8pin CPU |
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Fan Headers | 1 x CPU (4-pin) 1 x Water Pump (4-pin) 4 x System (4-pin) 3 x Extend (4-pin) |
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IO Panel | 4 x USB 3.1 G2 Type-A 5 x USB 3.1 G1 Type-A 1 x USB 3.2 G2 20 G Type-C (ASMedia) 1 x Network RJ45 10 G (Aquantia) 1 x Network RJ45 1 G (Intel) 5 x 3.5mm Audio Jacks (Realtek) 1 x S/PDIF Output (Realtek) 2 x Intel AX200 Antenna Ports 1 x Flash BIOS Button 1 x Reset CMOS Button |
In terms of USB support, the MSI Creator TRX40 rear panel includes a single USB 3.2 G2 20 G Type-C port provided via an ASMedia ASM2342 USB controller, with four USB 3.1 G2 Type-A, and five USB 3.1 G1 Type-A ports. For expansion, the MSI Creator TRX40 has a front-panel USB 3.1 G2 Type-C header, as well as two USB 3.1 G1 Type-A headers, and two USB 2.0 headers. Also on the rear panel is five 3.5 mm audio jacks and an S/PDIF optical output powered by a Realtek pairing of an ALC1220 and ALC4050 HD audio codec.
Test Bed
As per our testing policy, we take a high-end CPU suitable for the motherboard that was released during the socket’s initial launch and equip the system with a suitable amount of memory running at the processor maximum supported frequency. This is also typically run at JEDEC subtimings where possible. It is noted that some users are not keen on this policy, stating that sometimes the maximum supported frequency is quite low, or faster memory is available at a similar price, or that the JEDEC speeds can be prohibitive for performance. While these comments make sense, ultimately very few users apply memory profiles (either XMP or other) as they require interaction with the BIOS, and most users will fall back on JEDEC supported speeds - this includes home users as well as industry who might want to shave off a cent or two from the cost or stay within the margins set by the manufacturer. Where possible, we will extend out testing to include faster memory modules either at the same time as the review or a later date.
Test Setup | |||
Processor | AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3970X, 280W, $1999 32 Cores, 64 Threads, 3.7 GHz (4.5 GHz Turbo) |
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Motherboard | MSI Creator TRX40 (BIOS v11 - PI1.0.0.2) | ||
Cooling | Thermaltake Floe Riing RGB 360 | ||
Power Supply | Thermaltake Toughpower Grand 1200W Gold PSU | ||
Memory | Corsair Dominator Platinum RGB 4x8 GB DDR4-3200 | ||
Video Card | MSI GTX 1080 Gaming 8G | ||
Hard Drive | Crucial MX300 1TB | ||
Case | Open Benchtable BC1.1 (Silver) | ||
Operating System | Windows 10 1909 |
Readers of our motherboard review section will have noted the trend in modern motherboards to implement a form of MultiCore Enhancement / Acceleration / Turbo (read our report here) on their motherboards. This does several things, including better benchmark results at stock settings (not entirely needed if overclocking is an end-user goal) at the expense of heat and temperature. It also gives, in essence, an automatic overclock which may be against what the user wants. Our testing methodology is ‘out-of-the-box’, with the latest public BIOS installed and XMP enabled, and thus subject to the whims of this feature. It is ultimately up to the motherboard manufacturer to take this risk – and manufacturers taking risks in the setup is something they do on every product (think C-state settings, USB priority, DPC Latency / monitoring priority, overriding memory sub-timings at JEDEC). Processor speed change is part of that risk, and ultimately if no overclocking is planned, some motherboards will affect how fast that shiny new processor goes and can be an important factor in the system build.
42 Comments
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carcakes - Wednesday, February 26, 2020 - link
Start saving for an nforce motherboard!bryanlarsen - Wednesday, February 26, 2020 - link
If it had a BMC with IPMI we'd buy 16 of these. Such beasts do exist for older threadrippers I can't find any for current gen. Does anybody know of any BMC equipped motherboards for TRX40?Slash3 - Thursday, February 27, 2020 - link
At the moment there are only Epyc boards with that functionality for high core count CPUs. Asrock Rack will likely release a TRX40 based variant at some point, though, and is your best bet to check with.realbabilu - Wednesday, February 26, 2020 - link
The processor could be assigned as a cheap powerful server. But I think I don't see IPMI feature here.supdawgwtfd - Thursday, February 27, 2020 - link
Because it's not a server product perhaps?pmjm - Thursday, February 27, 2020 - link
Other than F1 2018, the gaming benchmarks seem to be largely GPU bound, which makes this data irrelevant to the motherboard. I think it was a mistake to put a 1080 on this test bed. You're testing one of the most powerful cpu+mobo combos ever mass-produced but choking your fps down with a mid-tier graphics card.MDD1963 - Friday, February 28, 2020 - link
The next generation of Threadrippers will have their gaming prowess thoroughly tested with a GTX1050... :)Silma - Thursday, February 27, 2020 - link
I guess if you can buy a $4k processor $700 for a motherboard is fine.I find it way too exepensive though. Not even Thunderbolt 3 compatible.
Arbie - Thursday, February 27, 2020 - link
For years I bought only Asus motherboards, having started with them in part because they offered more fan headers and related controls. But these haven't improved much with time, and fan controls on the Crosshair Hero VI were so clunky that I never got good results.For the Ryzen 3900X I made the switch to MSI (Creation X570) and am very glad of it. Fan settings are easy to use, responsive, and more importantly have about 5x the resolution. Where the Asus BIOS worked in 5 degC and 10% rpm increments, the MSI is closer to 1 degC and 2%. This is hugely more effective and a pleasure to use - and I had no idea of it prior to hands-on!
Differences like this aren't obvious in screenshots and reviewers never discuss them because (1) on an open bench they don't need case fans and (2) they build for a few performance runs, not quality of life. Though they do cover RGBling so I'll know exactly what I'm disabling.
Anticipating a continuing lack of fan control details, I will probably stay with MSI. They did a good job with the Creation and BTW this Creator TRX40 board clearly has the same features.
dorcassmith - Monday, March 2, 2020 - link
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