GIGABYTE formally launched its flagship socket TR4 motherboard for AMD Ryzen Threadripper processors, the X399 Designare EX. Positioned slightly above the company's current (and only) offering for this platform, the Aorus X399 Gaming 7, the new Designare EX is based on the same PCB, and a nearly-identical feature-set, except for cosmetic changes, such as its silver-metallic color-scheme dominating the VRM and chipset heatsinks, the M.2 SSD heatspreaders, the I/O shroud and integrated shield, and a back-plate covering most of the reverse side.

Built in the ATX form-factor, the X399 Designare EX draws power from a combination of 24-pin ATX, 8-pin EPS, and 4-pin ATX, conditioning it for the CPU using an 8-phase VRM with "server-grade" chokes, and a VRM heatsink that offloads its heat onto a second heatsink via a heat-pipe. Expansion slots include five PCI-Express 3.0 x16, all of which are wired to the CPU. Storage connectivity includes three 32 Gb/s M.2 slots, and eight SATA 6 Gb/s ports, from which four are directly wired to the CPU.USB connectivity on the GIGABYTE X399 Designare EX includes two 10 Gb/s USB 3.1 (from which one is type-C), ten 5 Gb/s USB 3.0 ports (from which one is type-C), and a number of USB 2.0/1.1 ports via headers. Networking includes a WLAN interface with 802.11ac WiFi, Bluetooth 4.2, and two 1 GbE ports, both of which are driven by Intel-made controllers. The onboard audio solution is of the highest grade by GIGABYTE, consisting of a Realtek ALC1220 (120 dBA SNR) CODEC, audio-grade capacitors, OPAMPs, and ground-layer isolation. The company didn't reveal pricing, but we suspect it could be slightly higher than the USD $399 the company asks for the Aorus X399 Gaming 7.