AORUS TRX40 Xtreme Threadripper Motherboard Preview

The new Threadripper CPUs are some of the most advanced CPUs the consumer market has ever seen. With massive core counts, bigger clock speeds, and a wave of new features, there’s only one thing missing. I am, of course, talking about new motherboards! The new TRX40 chipset motherboards are ready to unleash the extreme performance, and few will come more extreme than the AORUS TRX40 Xtreme. Equipped with an innovative and drop-dead-gorgeous design, it takes practicality, style, and build quality just as seriously as it takes high-end performance.

This is much more than some boring workstation board. It seems to tick every single box we can think of. Enthusiast gamers, streaming, as well as content creators, will benefit from the huge core counts of the new CPUs. PCIe Gen4, dual 10Gbe LAN, 802.11ax WiFi, and ESS 9218 DAC and Realtek ALC1220-VB audio. These are just some of the stunning features that make this the ideal motherboard for any extreme workload and high-end production suites. Movies, music, game development, it’s got more features for each than anyone could ask for.

AORUS TRX40 Xtreme

This board features an impressive 16+3 Phase Power Design. They deliver 70A of power each from the dual 8-pin CPU power connectors. Make no mistake, if you’re maxing out the new Threadrippers, power delivery is not going to be an issue here.

Keeping all that hardware cool is no easy task either. Thankfully, with its “Full Reactive Thermal Design,” there’s nothing to worry about here. It features a full “Funs-Array” on the VRM, Nanocarbon heatsinks and backplate, an 8mm thick Heatpipe, and huge 50mm chipset fan.

Features

• Direct 16+3 Phase Power Design for 3rd Gen AMD Ryzen™ Threadripper™ Processors
• Full Reactive Thermal Design
• Fins-Array, NanoCarbon, 8mm Heatpipe, Metal Cover, 5cm Chipset Fan
• Full PCIe Gen4 Design
• Intel Dual 10Gbe LAN
• 4*PCIe Gen 4 M.2
• AORUS Gen4 AIC Adaptor
• 4-Way Dual Wide Configuration
• WIFI 6 (802.11ax) + Dual Band Antenna
• Q-FLASH PLUS

A Closer Look

Just look at the size of those heatsinks, they have to be some of the biggest I’ve ever seen. The one on the left joins up to the top one with an 8mm heatpipe. What’s more, is that they feature a fin design to help with cooling.

It’s serious stuff too, which you see the vast array of power delivery hardware tucked below it! If that’s not enough, it has to navigate around the eight DDR4 slots that surround the new Threadripper socket.

Covered and Cooled

The armour on this motherboard is super stylish. It’s a mixture of brushed aluminium finishes that obviously look to protect the hardware underneath. However, they also form the chipset heatsinks, as well as the M.2 heatsinks. Plus, with a huge 50mm fan keeping things cool, it can ensure perfect performance. Because AORUS is amazing, this fan will even stop in low load conditions; silence is golden.

For ultra-fast storage, you’ll find room for 4 x PCIe Gen 4.0 M.2 drives too.

Power!

Using this motherboard on a test-bench or open-air system? You’ll find handy built-in power controls in the top corner.

Getting Horizontal

This is, by far, my favourite feature of this motherboard. All of the connectors are mounted facing out to the side. There’s a six-pin PSU header to add more voltage stability to the PCIe lanes, as well as a pair of USB 3.0 headers. Above that, a whopping TEN SATA ports, as well as a bank of fan headers at the top edge.

There’s still plenty of other bits tucked around the motherboard too. More fan headers, a wide range of digital and 12v RGB, BIOS switches, etc.

You can’t see it, but there’s also their award-winning Hi-Fi Audio System too. It features the ESS 9218 Sabre DAC with a 130dB SNR and 112 dB THD+N. It’ll handle up to 600 Ohm headphone amplification too. If that’s not enough, you get WIMA Capacitors, TXC Oscillator, Audio Signal Optimization, DTS:X Ultra, and the list just goes on and on.

Rear I/O

Like most high-end boards, the rear I/O shield is built-in this time. You’ll find only the latest USB 3.2 ports here; 7 x Type-A and 1 x Type-C. Plus, why have just one 10GbE port when you can have two of em!

NanoCarbon

What’s cooler than a backplate? How about one that’s made from aluminium, then powder coated with a layer of NanoCarbon. Not only does it look stunning, but it also keeps the board incredibly rigid while helping reduce temperatures by around 10%. It also makes this already heavy motherboard lighter… not wait, I meant a LOT heavier. This thing is a beast, and it’s built to take some serious abuse.

Tell me More!

We would love to, but we’re still waiting on the CPUs to arrive. That being said, we’ll have full performance figures, pretty RGB stuff, time-lapse builds and who knows what else in the coming days and weeks. Stay tuned for more!