ASRock X399 Phantom Gaming 6 (Ryzen Threadripper) Motherboard Review

Overview

XXL Aluminum Alloy Heatsink & Heatpipe Design

To support the latest AMD Ryzen™ Threadripper™ X Series CPUs(180W), an extra-large aluminum alloy heatsink with heatpipe is added to effectively take away heat from the MOSFET, giving a more stable and long lasting system.

Phantom Gaming 2.5 Gb/s LAN

The intelligent Phantom Gaming 2.5Gb/s LAN platform is built for maximum networking performance for the demanding requirements of home networking, content creators, online gamers and high-quality streaming media. Boost networking performance up to 2.5X the bandwidth compared to the standard gigabit Ethernet, you’ll enjoy the faster and uncompromised connectivity experience for gaming, file transfers and backups.

Triple Ultra M.2

Triple of the world’s fastest PCIe Gen3 x4 Ultra M.2 slots that deliver up to 32Gb/s transfer speed, it also supports SATA3 6Gb/s M.2 modules.

Dual USB 3.1 Gen2 (Type-A + Type-C)

This motherboard has a pair of onboard Type-A and Type-C USB 3.1 Gen2 ports built on the rear i/o for supporting next generation USB 3.1 Gen2 devices and to deliver up to 10 Gbps data transfer rates.

CREATIVE SOUND BLASTER™ CINEMA5

A new world of cinematic audio that delivers unprecedented levels of audio realism, dynamics and punch to gaming sound. Whether you’re gaming or watching a movie, Reality 3D technology lets you enable 5.1/7.1 surround sound for an additional layer of transience to your listening experience even with just a pair of headphones or stereo speakers.

Full Coverage M.2 Heatsink

A massive full coverage M.2 heatsink can support up to Type 22110 M.2 devices, it is able to dissipate heat efficiently to ensure your high speed M.2 SSD always working at its best.

More information can be found on ASRock’s website.

Features

• Supports AMD TR4 Socket Ryzen™ Threadripper™ X Series CPUs (180W)
• Digital PWM, 8 Power Phase & Dr. MOS
• Supports DDR4 3400+(OC)
• 3 PCIe 3.0 x16, M.2 Key-E for WiFi
• NVIDIA^® 3-Way SLI™, AMD 3-Way CrossFireX™
• 7.1 CH HD Audio (Realtek ALC1220 Audio Codec), Supports Creative Sound Blaster™ Cinema 5
• 8 SATA3, 3 Ultra M.2 (PCIe Gen3 x4 & SATA3)
• 2 USB 3.1 Gen2 10Gb/s (1 Type-A + 1 Type-C),
  12 USB 3.1 Gen1 (4 Front, 8 Rear)
• Phantom Gaming 2.5G LAN, Intel^® Gigabit LAN
• Polychrome RGB SYNC

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Specifications

• Gaming Armor
  Memory
  – 15μ Gold Contact in DIMM Slots
  VGA Card
  – 15μ Gold Contact in VGA PCIe Slot (PCIE1, PCIE2 and PCIE3)
  Internet
  – Phantom Gaming 2.5G LAN
  – Intel^® LAN
  Cooling
  – XXL Aluminum Alloy Heatsink
  – 8 Layer PCB
  – Heat Pipe Design
  Audio
  – Creative Sound Blaster™ Cinema 5
• Unique Feature
  ASRock USB 3.1 Gen2
  – ASRock USB 3.1 Gen2 Type-A Port (10 Gb/s)
  – ASRock USB 3.1 Gen2 Type-C Port (10 Gb/s)
  ASRock Super Alloy
  – XXL Aluminum Alloy Heatsink
  – Premium 60A Power Choke
  – 60A Dr.MOS
  – 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
  ASRock Phantom Gaming 2.5G LAN
  ASRock Steel Slots
  ASRock Full Coverage M.2 Heatsink
  ASRock Ultra M.2 (PCIe Gen3 x4 & SATA3)
  ASRock Full Spike Protection (for all USB, Audio, LAN Ports)
  ASRock Live Update & APP Shop
• CPU
  – Supports AMD TR4 Socket Ryzen Threadripper Series CPUs
  – Supports CPU up to 180W
  – Digi Power design
  – 8 Power Phase design
• Chipset
  – AMD X399
• Memory
  – Quad Channel DDR4 Memory Technology
  – 8 x DDR4 DIMM Slots
  – Supports DDR4 3400+(OC) / 3200(OC) / 2933(OC) / 2667/2400/2133 ECC & non-ECC, un-buffered memory (U-DIMM)
  – Max. capacity of system memory: 128GB*
  – 15μ Gold Contact in DIMM Slots

  *Due to the operating system limitation, the actual memory size may be less than 4GB for the reservation for system usage under Windows^® 32-bit OS. For Windows^® 64-bit OS with 64-bit CPU, there is no such limitation.
• 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
  – VCORE, VCORE_NB, DRAM, VPPM, PCH 1.05V, +1.8V, +1.8VSB, VDDCR_SOC_S5, PROM 2.5V, Voltage Multi-adjustment
• Graphics
  – n/a
• Audio
  – 7.1 CH HD Audio with Content Protection (Realtek ALC1220 Audio Codec)
  – Premium Blu-ray Audio support
  – Supports Surge Protection
  – Nichicon Fine Gold Series Audio Caps
  – 120dB SNR DAC with Differential Amplifier
  – 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 Creative Sound Blaster™ Cinema 5
• LAN
  1 x 2.5 Gigabit LAN 10/100/1000/2500 Mb/s (Dragon RTL8125AG)
  – Supports Phantom Gaming 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 Gigabit LAN 10/100/1000 Mb/s (Intel^® I211AT)
  – Supports Wake-On-LAN
  – Supports Lightning/ESD Protection
  – Supports Energy Efficient Ethernet 802.3az
  – Supports PXE
• Slots
  – 3 x PCI Express 3.0 x16 Slots (PCIE1/PCIE2/PCIE3: single at x16 (PCIE1); dual at x16 (PCIE1) / x16 (PCIE2); triple at x16 (PCIE1) / x16 (PCIE2) / x16 (PCIE3))*
  – Supports AMD Quad CrossFireX™, 3-Way CrossFireX™ and CrossFireX™
  – Supports NVIDIA^® Quad SLI™, 3-Way SLI™ and SLI™
  – 1 x M.2 Socket (Key E), supports type 2230 WiFi/BT module
  – 15μ Gold Contact in VGA PCIe Slot (PCIE1, PCIE2 and PCIE3)

  *Supports NVMe SSD as boot disks
• 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 Ultra M.2 Socket (M2_1), supports M Key type 2230/2242/2260/2280/22110 M.2 PCI Express module up to Gen3 x4 (32 Gb/s)*
  – 1 x Ultra M.2 Socket (M2_2), supports M Key type 2242/2260/2280 M.2 PCI Express module up to Gen3 x4 (32 Gb/s)*
  – 1 x Ultra M.2 Socket (M2_3), supports M Key type 2230/2242/2260/2280 M.2 SATA3 6.0 Gb/s module and M.2 PCI Express module up to Gen3 x4 (32 Gb/s)*

  *Supports NVMe SSD as boot disks
  Supports ASRock U.2 Kit
• Connector
  – 1 x TPM Header
  – 1 x Power LED and Speaker Header
  – 2 x RGB LED Headers*
  – 1 x Addressable LED Header**
  – 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
  – 2 x 8 pin 12V Power Connectors
  – 1 x Front Panel Audio Connector (15μ Gold Audio Connector)******
  – 1 x Right Angle Front Panel Audio Connector
  – 1 x AMD LED Fan USB Header
  – 2 x USB 2.0 Headers (Support 4 USB 2.0 ports) (Supports ESD Protection)
  – 2 x USB 3.1 Gen1 Headers (Support 4 USB 3.1 Gen1 ports) (Supports ESD Protection)
  – 1 x Clear CMOS Button
  – 1 x Power Button with LED
  – 1 x Reset Button with LED

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

  **Supports 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.

  ******Connect the audio device to either one of the audio connectors.

• Rear Panel I/O
  – 1 x PS/2 Mouse/Keyboard Port
  – 1 x Optical SPDIF Out Port
  – 1 x USB 3.1 Gen2 Type-A Port (10 Gb/s) (Supports ESD Protection)
  – 1 x USB 3.1 Gen2 Type-C Port (10 Gb/s) (Supports ESD Protection)
  – 8 x USB 3.1 Gen1 Ports (Supports ESD Protection)
  – 2 x RJ-45 LAN Ports with LED (ACT/LINK LED and SPEED LED)
  – HD Audio Jacks: Rear Speaker / Central / Bass / Line in / Front Speaker / Microphone (Gold Audio Jacks)
• Software and UEFI
  Software
  – ASRock Phantom Gaming Tuning
  – ASRock Phantom Gaming LANSoftware
  – ASRock Polychrome RGB
  – ASRock Key Master*
  UEFI
  – ASRock Full HD UEFI
  – ASRock Instant Flash
  – ASRock Easy RAID Installer

  *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, I/O Shield
  – 4 x SATA Data Cables
  – 1 x ASRock SLI_HB_Bridge_2S Card
  – 4 x Screws for M.2 Sockets
  – 1 x WiFi Bracket
• 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, VCORE_NB, DRAM, PCH 1.05V, +1.8V, VDDCR_SOC
• Form Factor
  – ATX Form Factor: 12.0-in x 9.6-in, 30.5 cm x 24.4 cm
  – 8 Layer PCB