MSI Creator TRX40 review - Introduction

MSI Creator TRX40

It is time to review the next T-REX in line, the MSI Creator TRX40. This Threadripper 3000 motherboard is ready for anything from 24 to 64 cores really. It has a beefy 16-phase VRM, you may mount up-to seven M.2 SSDs with the help of an add-in card, 10 Gigabit Ethernet, AX wifi. The list goes on and on. 

The year is 2019, and it's becoming a little common already, I mean CPUs with 24 to even 32 processor cores. AMD unleashed their 3rd generation of Threadripper processors based on the ZEN2 architecture accompanied by that now familiar TRX40 chipset design. And where these mega-core processors really make little sense for your avid PC gamer, these can be very compelling products to developers, content creators and video editors. AMD overhauled the Threadripper and motherboard chipset design, PCIe Gen 4.0 anywhere and everywhere and new memory configurations make the UMA/NUMA discussion a thing of the past, heck, you can even game on these procs as if it was a Ryzen 3000 processor. Based on 7nm ZEN2 dies and the Castle Peak codename, that 32-core 3970X processor with its staggering 64 threads is just unprecedented in this desktop-class. As you can judge from this review, drop-in compatibility with X399 is, unfortunately, not an option ergo the new TRX40 chipset that will be complemented on many motherboards from all big brands. Threadripper 3000 processors are different from their predecessors mainly for reasons including PCI-Express 4.0 and further future-proofing the platform for upcoming generations - forcing AMD to introduce a new motherboard platform and chipset. The new Socket sTRX4 / TRX40 looks identical to the Socket TR4 of the first two generations of Threadrippers, but is not compatible; cooling solutions for existing Threadripper CPUs, however, are suitable for these new models. 

MSI Creator TRX40

This is one impressive motherboard, it has been fitted with a 16 phase digital power design just for the processor, and that already is a good indication of things to come. This board supports 10 Gbe LAN (Aquantia embedded) as well as an Intel Gigabit jack. The board also has been fitted with WIFI 6 (802.11ax) for gigabit wireless performance and offers 5.5x higher throughput compared to the 802.11ac 1×1 standard. The board comes with four PCI Express 4.0 slots, six SATA ports, 3x onboard M.2 drive sockets and wherever you place a focus you'll end up in a multitude of something. The board comes in an E-ATX form factor, meaning you'll need a chassis that can actually hold this bigger sized motherboard. included as well as an AIC drop-in card can hold another four M.2. units (PCIe Gen 4.0 compatible). Let's look at the specifications placed in a table, as really it's a lot to take in.

Form factor	E-ATX
Chipset	AMD TRX40
VRM	16 phases
RAM	8x DDR4 DIMM, quad PC4-35200U/DDR4-4400 (OC), max. 256GB (UDIMM)
Extension slots	4x PCIe 4.0 x16 slots (support x16/x8/x16/x8 mode)
connectors	AMD TRX40 Chipset 2x USB 3.2 Gen2 (SuperSpeed USB 10Gbps) ports (1 Type-A port on the back panel and 1 Type-C port through the internal USB connector) 8x USB 3.2 Gen1 (SuperSpeed USB) ports (4 Type-A ports on the back panel, 4 ports available through the internal USB 3.2 Gen1 connectors) 4x USB 2.0 (High-speed USB) ports available through the internal USB 2.0 connectors 3rd Gen AMD Ryzen Threadripper™ Desktop Processor 4x USB 3.2 Gen2 (SuperSpeed USB 10Gbps) Type-A ports on the back panel ASMedia ASM3242 Chipset 1x USB 3.2 Gen2x2 (SuperSpeed USB 20Gbps) Type-C port on the back panel
Audio	7.1 (Realtek ALC1220/Realtek ALC4050H)
RAID level	0/1/10 (TRX40)
Multi-GPU	NVIDIA 4-Way SLI (x16/x16, x16/x16/x8, x16/x16/x8/x8), AMD 4-Way-CrossFireX (x16/x16, x16/x16/x8, x16/x16/x8/x8)
Power connections	1x 24-Pin ATX, 2x 8-Pin EPS12V
Graphics	NA
LAN/WIFI	1x Intel I211AT Gigabit LAN controller 1x Aquantia AQC107 10-Gigabit LAN controller Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX200 The Wireless module is pre-install in the M2_4 (Key-E) slot Supports 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax, MU-MINO Rx, 2.4GHz- 5GHz (160MHz) up to 2.4Gbps Supports Bluetooth 5