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Sliding in just below the £500 mark, ASUS’ ROG STRIX TRX40-E Gaming is a strong sTRX4 motherboard for enthusiasts not looking to break the bank on their motherboard purchase. Yes, almost £500 on a motherboard is extremely expensive. However, the strength of ASUS’ power delivery solution, the effective cooling solutions, and a host of complimentary features put the TRX40-E Gaming in good standing.
Performance is solid overall, with the only major differences largely being attributed to AGESA version updates. Gigabyte’s competing TRX40 Aorus Master and its AGESA 1.0.0.3 profile was generally a little faster than the ASUS board in our testing. However, the differences were typically minor.
Overclocking proved easy enough with the TRX40-E Gaming thanks to ASUS’ consistent UEFI design. I would like better explanation as to ASUS’ specific load-line calibration profiles in order to improve target voltage accuracy. Other than that, overclocking was straightforward as the relevant features were easy to find and plenty of settings are made available.
What particularly impressed me was the proficiency of ASUS' cooling solutions – in particular the VRM cooling. Deploying 16 60A Infineon power stages to handle the CPU load means that each stage isn’t stressed particularly heavily, even with a 32-core Threadripper CPU. That allows the electrical components to operate efficiently without over-reliance upon the VRM heatsink.
Our stock testing did not result in the MOSFET temperature sensor reaching 60°C and triggering the pair of 30mm VRM heatsink fans to spin up. The system was therefore silent from a VRM cooling perspective, even with our extended 1-hour Cinebench test. Overclocking did force the MOSFET temperatures higher, resulting in the VRM heatsink fans kicking in. However, their RPM was reasonable, and their noise output was unobtrusive.
The excellent hybrid-style heatsink that ASUS has designed, alongside the efficient power delivery components, work very well.
I do have some gripes, however. 2.5GbE instead of 5GbE or 10GbE seems like needless cost-cutting on a premium product. I’d have liked to see onboard voltage monitoring points and a rear IO clear CMOS button. The primary M.2 location is impossible to access with a graphics card installed. And slot spacing isn’t ideal, and it isn’t as good as competing motherboards at the price point.
With that said, ASUS delivers a solid overall bundle that displayed excellent stability, a functionally useful OLED screen, and an overall set of features that addresses most realistic use cases.
£500 isn’t cheap even by TRX40 motherboard standards, and there’s a lot of competition between the big four vendors in this segment of the market. But we feel that the ASUS ROG STRIX TRX40-E Gaming is a solid choice that offers strong overall balance for users jumping onto the new Threadripper 3000-based platform.
The ASUS ROG STRIX TRX40-E Gaming is priced at £489.95 (at the time of writing) at Overclockers UK).
Pros:
- High performance power delivery design.
- Exceptional VRM cooling solution.
- Smart chipset fan positioning and good speed control.
- Good M.2 cooling performance and smart vertical orientation.
- LiveDash OLED looks good and is functional.
- Well built, good looking, and premium quality.
- Strong BIOS stability and plenty of useful UEFI options.
Cons:
- Slot layout not as good as competitors.
- Only 2.5GbE – competitors offer 5Gb or 10Gb.
- No onboard voltage check points or rear clear CMOS button.
- Limited clarity for the UEFI load-line calibration settings.
KitGuru says: A strong option at just under £500, ASUS' TRX40-E Gaming delivers the ROG STRIX quality that we expect and bundles in a superb 16-stage power delivery solution with smart VRM cooling.
