My system:
CPU: AMD Threadripper 1900X
RAM: G.Skill Trident Z RGB 3200
GPU: Radeon R9 270 (I know, but i'm not a PC gamer)
PSU: Thermaltake - Toughpower Grand RGB Sync Edition 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply
Cooler: Thermaltake - Water 3.0 Riing RGB 360 40.6 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler
Fans: Coolermaster Masterfan 240
Case: Thermaltake Core X5
Drives: NVME SSD, 2x 2TB hard drives, 1x PNY SSD
Initially, I ran into several problems with the motherboard and automatically assumed it was a bad motherboard. But it was not. Basically, my G.Skill RAM would not post as 3200 clock speed. It would post at 2133. So I went into the bios and changed the speed to 3200, saved and rebooted. At that point, the bios screen would never come back up. The error codes on the motherboard were random and didn't make much sense. I had problems flashing the bios at this point. Eventually, after many tries, I was able to flash the bios and reset it to factory settings. I was also able to get the RAM to post at 3200 clock speed! I was missing the extra step of enabling DOCP mode in the bios, which appears to be the equivalent of Intel's XMP. Once I enabled DOCP and rebooted, the RAM was recognized and the bios displayed the correct RAM speed and timings. I went through a lot of trouble here, but it was my inexperience with AMD. Perhaps the bios could have warned me that just setting the speed to 3200 without enabling DOCP might cause an issue. Either way, I learned something.
Now, on to Aura Sync. This feature lets you control the rgb lighting on any Aura Sync enabled device. I am a sucker for RGB lighting. Setting up Aura sync was pretty easy, as long as you buy compatible parts. I used pcpartpicker.com to help me choose the right components. The stock Thermaltake case fans were replaced with Coolermaster rgb fans so they could be controlled by Aura. The fans came with a controller, but I didn't need it because I am taking advantage of Aura. Each one of the Coolermaster fans has a cable with split ends. One end connects to a splitter cable that is hooked up to an rgb header on the motherboard. (I have an rgb light strip hooked up to the second rbg header) The other fan cable hooks up to a fan header on the motherboard. This way, the fan can be powered/controlled by both Fan Xpert and by Aura Sync. The Aura Sync software is easy to use, but a bit clunky. It works for the most part. Sometimes, I have to re-apply the Aura settings. For example, the RAM had stopped lighting up for some reason, and i had to reset it. My Thermaltake AIO cooler is not Aura Sync enabled. I almost returned it, but I could not find any other coolers at Microcenter that were Aura Sync enabled. So I decided to give it at try. I was able to match the colors of Aura Sync and it pulses nicely with the rest of the system. So I am ok with it. Moreover, the motherboard has it's own rbg LEDs on it, and it looks very nice. Like I said, I am sucker for rgb for some reason.
I really like:
1. Overall look and style
2. Qcode display
3. Reinforced steel pci-e slots
4. Tons of USB 3.x ports (one type c port that I don't need yet) A total of twenty usb ports, I think.
5. Two fan headers for a future water pump I will install
6. Etc, etc.
The motherboard is pricy, but so are most of the other X399 motherboards. No built-in wifi, but I don't need that. I have not really tested out the Crystal Sound 3 audio, so I can't speak to that. So far, I have been using the system for a week. Everything on the motherboard is working as expected. The entire system is much faster than my old i7 2600. That's not a fair comparison, but it's what I had. Initially, I assumed it was bricked because of the issue I explained at the top. I wonder how many customers return motherboards because they screwed up the bios settings, and they didn't really have a defective motherboard. Overall, I am very happy with it.
| RAM | DDR4 |
|---|---|
| Memory Speed | 667 MHz |
| Wireless Type | 802.11a |
| Number of USB 2.0 Ports | 1 |
