AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3960X Performance Analysis on TRX40 Motherboard

2019 has been a phenomenal year for AMD, which saw them making several headlines, one after another. First, there was the announcement of the world’s first ever processor to use the 7nm FinFET process – the 3rd generation Ryzen (AM4 platform). Then, they released their high-end Ryzen 9 3950X with much fanfare, and it’s currently the most affordable “desktop” processor with the most cores (16 cores/32 threads) costing only USD $749. Both these headlines beat Intel at its game. To this date, Intel still have not released a 7nm CPU, and their so called “flagship” Core desktop processor – the Core i9-9900K is still on 14nm with only have 8 cores/16 threads. But wait, I’m not finished yet! 

AMD’s latest enthusiast series and high-end desktop (HEDT) processors, the Ryzen Threadripper 3000-series (aka codename Castle Peak) is based on the Zen 2 micro-architecture, and is fabricated on TSMC 7 nm process. It is currently boasts the most cores to date, and yet again beating Intel in every department. Right now, you can get the Ryzen Threadripper 3970X processor (TRX4) featuring 7nm technology, 32 cores/64 threads and a massive 128MB L3 cache. Intel can only muster 18 cores/36 threads on their Core i9-10980XE processor (LGA2066) which is still on 14nm technology!

What’s more, to keep the momentum going, AMD plans to release their up-coming flagship Threadripper 3990X in early 2020, and this beast will feature a massive 64 cores/128 threads!

In the performance analysis, we’ll be using the Ryzen Threadripper 3960X processor on a TRX40 Taichi motherboard from ASRock. As you can see below, the Threadripper 3960X features 7nm “Zen 2” architecture, and supports all of the 3rd Gen Ryzen features. It comes with a total of 24 cores/48 threads, and a massive cache of 140Mb, operating on a base frequency of 3.8 GHz with a boost speed of 4.5 GHz.

AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3960X 

Apologies, our sample did not come with the original packaging. But you can expect to find as torx allen key (star shaped) for unlocking the sTRX4 socket on the motherboard. Also be sure you purchase a compatible CPU cooler! Full list of compatible coolers can be found here.

\More information on AMD’s website.

Key features of the ASRock TRX40 Taichi Motherboard

We’ll be using the ASRock TRX40 motherboard during our tests. Watch out for a full review on the motherboard coming soon. In the meantime, here are some photos, as well as features and specifications of the motherboard.

Specifications

• Unique Feature
  ASRock USB 3.2 Gen2
  – ASRock Front Panel Type C USB 3.2 Gen2 Header (10 Gb/s)
  – ASRock USB 3.2 Gen2x2 Type C Port (20 Gb/s)
  – ASRock USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-A Port (10 Gb/s)
  ASRock Super Alloy
  – XXL Aluminum Alloy Heatsink
  – Premium 90A Power Choke
  – 90A Dr.MOS
  – Premium Memory Alloy Choke (Reduces 70% core loss compared to iron powder choke)
  – Combo Caps (Nichicon 12K Black Caps)
  – Nichicon 12K Black Caps (100% Japan made high quality conductive polymer capacitors)
  – Matte Black PCB
  – High Density Glass Fabric PCB
  – 8 Layer PCB
  – 2oz Copper PCB
  2.5G LAN
  Intel^® 802.11ax WiFi
  ASRock Steel Slot Gen4
  ASRock Full Coverage M.2 Heatsink
  ASRock Hyper M.2 (PCIe Gen4x4 & SATA3)
  ASRock Ultra USB Power
  ASRock Full Spike Protection (for all USB, Audio, LAN Ports)
  ASRock Live Update & APP Shop
• CPU
  – Supports AMD Socket sTRX4
  – Intersil Digital PWM
  – 16 Power Phase design
  – Supports ASRock Hyper BCLK Engine II
• Chipset
  – AMD TRX40
• Memory
  – Quad Channel DDR4 Memory Technology
  – 8 x DDR4 DIMM Slots
  – Supports DDR4 4666(OC)+ / 4600(OC) / 4533(OC) / 4466(OC) / 4400(OC) / 4333(OC) / 4266(OC) / 4200(OC) / 4133(OC) / 4000(OC) / 3866(OC) / 3800(OC) / 3733(OC) / 3600(OC) / 3466(OC) / 3200 / 2933 / 2667 / 2400 / 2133 ECC & non-ECC, un-buffered memory (U-DIMM)
  – Max. capacity of system memory: 256GB
  – 15μ Gold Contact in DIMM Slots
• BIOS
  – 128Mb AMI UEFI Legal BIOS with GUI support
  – Supports “Plug and Play”
  – ACPI 5.1 compliance wake up events
  – Supports jumperfree
  – SMBIOS 2.3 support
  – CPU, CPU VDDCR_SOC, DRAM, VPPM, PREM VDD_CLDO, PERM VDDCR_SOC, +1.8V, VDDP Voltage Multi-adjustment
• Graphics
  – n/a
• Audio
  – 7.1 CH HD Audio (Realtek ALC4050H+ALC1220)
  – Premium Blu-ray Audio support
  – Supports Surge Protection
  – Supports Purity Sound™ 4
  – Nichicon Fine Gold Series Audio Caps
  – NE5532 Premium Headset Amplifier for Front Panel Audio Connector (Supports up to 600 Ohm headsets)
  – Pure Power-In
  – Direct Drive Technology
  – PCB isolate shielding
  – Impedance Sensing on Rear Out port
  – Individual PCB Layers for R/L Audio Channel
  – Gold Audio Jacks
  – 15μ Gold Audio Connector
  – Supports DTS Connect
• LAN
  1 x 2.5 Gigabit LAN 10/100/1000/2500 Mb/s (Dragon RTL8125AG):
  – Supports Dragon 2.5G LAN Software
  – Smart Auto Adjust Bandwidth Control
  – Visual User Friendly UI
  – Visual Network Usage Statistics
  – Optimized Default Setting for Game, Browser, and Streaming Modes
  – User Customized Priority Control
  – Supports Wake-On-LAN
  – Supports Lightning/ESD Protection
  – Supports Energy Efficient Ethernet 802.3az
  – Supports PXE
  1 x Intel^® Gigabit LAN 10/100/1000 Mb/s (1 x Intel^® I211AT):
  – Supports Wake-On-LAN
  – Supports Lightning/ESD Protection
  – Supports Energy Efficient Ethernet 802.3az
  – Supports PXE
• Wireless LAN
  – Intel^® 802.11ax WiFi Module
  – Supports IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ax
  – Supports Dual-Band (2.4/5 GHz)
  – Supports WiFi6 802.11ax (2.4Gbps)
  – 2 antennas to support 2 (Transmit) x 2 (Receive) diversity technology
  – Supports Bluetooth 5.0 + High speed class II
  – Supports MU-MIMO
• Slots
  – 3 x PCI Express 4.0 x16 Slots (PCIE1/PCIE3/PCIE4: single at x16 (PCIE1); dual at x16 (PCIE1) / x16 (PCIE3); triple at x16 (PCIE1) / x16 (PCIE3) / x16 (PCIE4)*
  – 1 x PCI Express 4.0 x1 Slot
  – Supports AMD 3-Way CrossFireX™ and CrossFireX™
  – Supports NVIDIA^® 3-Way SLI™ and SLI™
  – Supports NVIDIA^® NVLink™ with dual NVIDIA^® GeForce RTX series graphics cards**
  – 1 x M.2 Socket (Key E) with the bundled WiFi-802.11ax module
  – 15μ Gold Contact in VGA PCIe Slots (PCIE1, PCIE3 and PCIE4)

  *Supports NVMe SSD as boot disks

  **NVIDIA^® NVLink™ Bridge does not come with the package. Please purchase it from NVIDIA^® if necessary.

• Storage
  – 8 x SATA3 6.0 Gb/s Connectors, support RAID (RAID 0, RAID 1 and RAID 10), NCQ, AHCI and Hot Plug
  – 1 x Hyper M.2 Socket (M2_1), supports M Key type 2260/2280 M.2 PCI Express module up to Gen4x4 (64 Gb/s)*
  – 1 x Hyper M.2 Socket (M2_2), supports M Key type 2260/2280/22110 M.2 SATA3 6.0 Gb/s module and M.2 PCI Express module up to Gen4x4 (64 Gb/s)

  *Supports NVMe SSD as boot disks
• Connector
  – 1 x Power LED and Speaker Header
  – 2 x RGB LED Headers*
  – 2 x Addressable LED Headers**
  – 1 x CPU Fan Connector (4-pin)***
  – 1 x CPU/Water Pump Fan Connector (4-pin) (Smart Fan Speed Control)****
  – 3 x Chassis/Water Pump Fan Connectors (4-pin) (Smart Fan Speed Control)*****
  – 1 x 24 pin ATX Power Connector (Hi-Density Power Connector)
  – 2 x 8 pin 12V Power Connectors (Hi-Density Power Connector)
  – 1 x Front Panel Audio Connector (15μ Gold Audio Connector)
  – 1 x USB 2.0 Header (Supports 2 USB 2.0 ports) (Supports ESD Protection)
  – 2 x USB 3.2 Gen1 Headers (Support 4 USB 3.2 Gen1 ports) (Supports ESD Protection)
  – 1 x Front Panel Type C USB 3.2 Gen2 Header (Supports ESD Protection)
  – 1 x Dr. Debug with LED
  – 1 x Power Button with LED
  – 1 x Reset Button with LED
  – 1 x Clear CMOS Button

  *Support in total up to 12V/3A, 36W LED Strip

  **Support in total up to 5V/3A, 15W LED Strip

  ***The CPU Fan Connector supports the CPU fan of maximum 1A (12W) fan power.

  ****The CPU/Water Pump Fan supports the water cooler fan of maximum 2A (24W) fan power.

  *****The Chassis/Water Pump Fan supports the water cooler fan of maximum 2A (24W) fan power.
  CPU_FAN2/WP, CHA_FAN1/WP, CHA_FAN2/WP and CHA_FAN3/WP can auto detect if 3-pin or 4-pin fan is in use.

• Rear Panel I/O
  – 2 x Antenna Ports (on I/O Panel Shield)
  – 1 x PS/2 Mouse/Keyboard Port
  – 1 x Optical SPDIF Out Port
  – 2 x USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-A Ports (10 Gb/s) (Supports ESD Protection)
  – 1 x USB 3.2 Gen2x2 Type C Port (20 Gb/s) (Supports ESD Protection)
  – 4 x USB 3.2 Gen1 Ports (Supports ESD Protection)*
  – 2 x RJ-45 LAN Ports with LED (ACT/LINK LED and SPEED LED)
  – 1 x BIOS Flashback Button
  – HD Audio Jacks: Rear Speaker / Central / Line in / Front Speaker / Microphone (Gold Audio Jacks)

  *Ultra USB Power is supported on USB3_1_2 ports.
  ACPI wake-up function is not supported on USB3_1_2 ports.
• Software and UEFI
  Software
  – ASRock Motherboard Utility (A-Tuning)
  – ASRock Dragon 2.5G LAN Software
  – ASRock Polychrome SYNC*
  UEFI
  – ASRock Full HD UEFI
  – ASRock Instant Flash

  *These utilities can be downloaded from ASRock Live Update & APP Shop.
• Support CD
  – Drivers, Utilities, AntiVirus Software (Trial Version), Google Chrome Browser and Toolbar
• Accessories
  – Quick Installation Guide, Support CD
  – 4 x SATA Data Cables
  – 1 x ASRock SLI_HB_Bridge_2S Card
  – 1 x ASRock HYPER QUAD M.2 CARD
  – 1 x ASRock WiFi 2.4/5 GHz Antenna
  – 1 x ASRock Screwdriver
  – 6 x Screws for M.2 Sockets
  – 2 x Standoffs for M.2 Sockets
• Hardware Monitor
  – Temperature Sensing: CPU, CPU/Water Pump, Chassis/Water Pump Fans
  – Fan Tachometer: CPU, CPU/Water Pump, Chassis/Water Pump Fans
  – Quiet Fan (Auto adjust chassis fan speed by CPU temperature): CPU, CPU/Water Pump, Chassis/Water Pump Fans
  – Fan Multi-Speed Control: CPU, CPU/Water Pump, Chassis/Water Pump Fans
  – Voltage monitoring: +12V, +5V, +3.3V, CPU Vcore, CPU VDDCR_SOC, DRAM, VPPM, PREM VDDCR_SOC, +1.8V
• Form Factor
  – ATX Form Factor: 12.0-in x 9.6-in, 30.5 cm x 24.4 cm
  – 8 Layer PCB
  – 2oz Copper PCB

More information on ASRock’s website.