ASUS has just announced a trio of motherboards for AMD’s X399 Platform featuring Ryzen Threadripper processors. Designed for power users, gaming enthusiasts and prosumers, these new motherboards feature one-touch intelligent overclocking, refined cooling control, advanced connectivity and enhanced RGB lighting.
The ROG Zenith Extreme brings Threadripper into premium setups with provisions for custom liquid cooling and 10Gbps networking. The ROG Strix X399-E Gaming on the other hand, lets hardcore gamers build stylish and powerful rigs with high-quality streaming capabilities. Then there’s the Prime X399-A for professionals.
The main desktop CPU platform runs from two to eight cores, which is great for gaming and general use. Its more high-end siblings take it a notch higher with more cores and memory channels along with added bandwidth for graphics and storage. AMD’s Threadripper is the latest addition to this category.
With up to 16 cores and 32 threads, Threadripper basically doubles the computing muscles of AMD’s powerful desktop chips. This is beneficial not only for gaming, but moreso for complex video editing, 3D rendering, and heavy multitasking that lets you run a whopping 128GB of DDR4 memory on a single board.
Threadripper incorporates even more I/O with eight USB 3.1 Gen 1 ports with additional USB ports available in its chipset sidekick, which can also cater to up to six SATA ports and PCIe 2.0 lanes for onboard peripherals like networking.
ASUS X399 Motherboard Features:
- Extensive overclocking and cooling options in both the UEFI and software.
- 5 way optimization, which intelligently overclocks your system and tunes the cooling accordingly with your components.
- Headers for LED strips.
- ROG models feature addressable headers, wherein each LED in a compatible device can be controlled independently.
- Headers for pumps and all-in-one coolers.
- Headers for monitoring coolant flow and temperatures. The Zenith Extreme boasts an additional header reserved for custom monoblocks.
- FanXpert can now adjust each fan’s speed based on the hottest input from a group of configurable sensors. This includes the GPU diode on compatible graphics cards.
- Support for three-way SLI and CrossFireX setups. The Zenith Extreme has provisions for a fourth card.
- SafeSlot, which reinforces the graphics slots against damage from heavy GPU coolers.
- Heatsink-protected or intelligently positioned M.2s
- U.2 ports for cabled NVMe SSDs derived from data centers.
- USB 3.1 Gen 2 ports for 10Gbps links: Type A, Type C, and Front Panel.
- 802.11ad Wi-Fi module
- Realtek S1220 series codec paired with an amplifier and premium components for crystal clear sound.
- ESS Sabre 9018Q2C DAC
- Sonic Studio III and Sonic Radar III software suites with support for Sonic Studio Link the allows for virtual surround sound and other effects when using the HTC Vive or Oculus Rift VR Headset.
Availability and Pricing
The ROG Zenith Extreme and ASUS Prime X399-A motherboards will be available at leading resellers starting August 2017 with Pre-orders up for both motherboards at select resellers. The SRP for the ROG Zenith Extreme is PhP31,520, and PhP19,660 for the ASUS Prime X399-A .
The ROG Strix X399-E Gaming motherboard will be available in late September with pricing to be announced before availability.
For additional information on the X399 lineup, you may visit the buyers guide at EdgeUp ASUS. To see more of ASUS’ X399 offers, click here.
To know more about ROG products, you may visit the ASUS ROG Facebook Page.
Emman has been writing technical and feature articles since 2010. Prior to this, he became one of the instructors at Asia Pacific College in 2008, and eventually landed a job as Business Analyst and Technical Writer at Integrated Open Source Solutions for almost 3 years.
