Gigabyte Announces the TRX50 AI TOP Motherboard for AMD Threadripper

[TheLostSwede]

At Computex last week, we got a first look at Gigabyte's new TRX50 AI TOP motherboard—where TOP stands for trillions of operations per second—designed for AMD's Threadripper and Threadripper Pro CPUs. Now the company has released the full specifications of the TRX50 AI TOP and the board is packed to the brim with features. The E-ATX board is home to four PCIe x16 slots, all of which can operate in PCIe 5.0, but one can be limited to PCIe 4.0, depending on your choice of CPU. There's also four NVMe M.2 slots, with CPU dependent functionality. Other features include eight DIMM slots, but these are again CPU dependent, two 10 Gbps Ethernet interfaces via a pair of Marvell AQtion AQC113C controllers, WiFi 7 via a Qualcomm QCNCM865 module and dual audio chips, one for the rear ports and one for the front panel audio.

As this is a 2024 model, USB4 is of course also part of the package, but only one of the two USB4 supports DP Alt-mode, due to there only being one DP input. The board also has an internal USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 (20 Gbps) header for a case mounted USB-C port, a further six rear 5 Gbps USB Type-A ports, plus a pair of internal headers for a further four 5 Gbps USB Type-A ports. The board also has four SATA ports, a 16+8+4 power phase design, a 14-layer PCB, a debug display and the now common easy release features for the M.2 drive heatsinks and the graphics card. The TRX50 AI TOP also sports what Gigabyte calls "UC BIOS" which has a "User-Centred intuitive UX with Quick Access function", but there's currently no details of how this differs from previous UEFI releases from Gigabyte. There was no word on pricing.



View at TechPowerUp Main Site | Source

 

[Cheeseball]

This is a sexy sTR5 board right here. If the 7970X or 7975WX would just go on a small sale, I can justify buying one.

 

[natr0n]

Very nice board
need a nuclear power supply look at all the plugs

 

[billeman]

Why is it A.I. ?

 

[natr0n]

Why is it A.I. ?

cashing in on a.i. fad

I'm sure they will have a feature and say A.i. like fan spinning up or down with load.

 

[LabRat 891]

Dunno why anyone would put down the immense $$$$ for this, when AMD has a history of truncating support and neglecting Threadripper. Ryzen 9k is on the doorstep, and I'd bet money we either A. Won't see TR 9k or B. TR 9K will be on yet another socket/platform

If someone needs the features of Threadripper, why bother with the 'enthusiast' platform (with historically poor and short support)?
Why not just go fullsend, on an Epyc platform?

 

[Ruru]

Reminds me of Asus' "AI" logo on their boxes from the early and mid 2000s.

 

[SOAREVERSOR]

Reminds me of Asus' "AI" logo on their boxes from the early and mid 2000s.

Bingo. This lingo is nothing new.

 

[HBSound]

I like to think of the board as a puzzle to solve - finding, gathering, and assembling the right parts to build a system that's more powerful than the one I currently have. It might take some time to gather all the parts without relying on credit cards. Doing this way could take a solid two years or less. Just to understand all the correct parts needed for the next TR system. I currently use a 3975WX, and right now, it's nice, and I have no issues. There is a part of me that feels like keep maximizing this system and use it until it just passes out. That could take some time; I do not see my system just dying in the next year or two. There is a part of me that wants to take my current equipment and insert it into a newer and smaller case.

So this motherboard will get a deep divide for sure.

Specs

• CPU
  AMD Socket sTR5, support for:
  AMD Ryzen™ Threadripper™ PRO 7000 processors/
  AMD Ryzen™ Threadripper™ 7000 Series processors
  (Go to GIGABYTE's website for the latest CPU support list.)
• Chipset
  AMD TRX50
• Memory
  Support for DDR5 ECC Registered memory modules (RDIMM/RDIMM-3DS)
  8 x DDR5 DIMM sockets supporting up to 2 TB of system memory
  - AMD Ryzen™ Threadripper™ PRO 7000 Processors support 8-Channel memory architecture
  - AMD Ryzen™ Threadripper™ 7000 Processors support Quad Channel memory architecture
  Support for AMD EXtended Profiles for Overclocking (AMD EXPO™) and Extreme Memory Profile (XMP) memory modules
  (The CPU and memory configuration may affect the supported memory types, data rate (speed), and number of DRAM modules, please refer to "Memory Support List" on GIGABYTE's website for more information.)
• Audio
  Realtek® ALC4080 CODEC (rear panel audio)
  - Support for DTS:X® Ultra
  - High Definition Audio
  - 2-channel
  Realtek® ALC897 CODEC (front panel audio)
• LAN
  2 x Marvell® AQtion AQC113C 10GbE LAN chip (10 Gbps/5 Gbps/2.5 Gbps/ 1 Gbps/100 Mbps)
• Wireless Communication module
  Qualcomm® Wi-Fi 7 QCNCM865
  - 802.11a, b, g, n, ac, ax, be, supporting 2.4/5/6 GHz carrier frequency bands
  - BLUETOOTH 5.3
  - Support for 11be 320MHz wireless standard
  (Actual data rate may vary depending on environment and equipment.)
• Expansion Slots
  3 x PCI Express x16 slots (PCIEX16_1/PCIEX16_2/PCIEX16_3), integrated in the CPU:
  - AMD Ryzen™ Threadripper™ PRO 7000 Processors support PCIe 5.0 x16 mode
  - AMD Ryzen™ Threadripper™ 7000 Processors support PCIe 5.0 x16 mode
  (The PCIEX16 slot can only support a graphics card or an NVMe SSD. If only one graphics card is to be installed, be sure to install it in the PCIEX16_1 slot.)
  1 x PCI Express x16 slot (PCIEX16_4), integrated in the CPU:
  - AMD Ryzen™ Threadripper™ PRO 7000 Processors support PCIe 5.0 x16 mode
  - AMD Ryzen™ Threadripper™ 7000 Processors support PCIe 4.0 x16 mode
• Storage Interface
  3 x M.2 connectors (M2C_CPU/M2B_CPU/M2A_CPU), integrated in the CPU, supporting Socket 3, M key, type 2280 SSDs:
  - AMD Ryzen™ Threadripper™ PRO 7000 processors support PCIe 5.0 x4/x2 SSD
  - AMD Ryzen™ Threadripper™ 7000 Processors support PCIe 4.0 x4/x2 SSD
  1 x M.2 connector (M2D_CPU), integrated in the CPU, supporting Socket 3, M key, type 2280 SSDs:
  - AMD Ryzen™ Threadripper™ PRO 7000 processors support PCIe 5.0 x4/x2 SSD
  * The M2D_CPU connector will become unavailable when using the AMD Ryzen™ Threadripper™ 7000 Processors.
  
  4 x SATA 6Gb/s connectors
  RAID 0, RAID 1, and RAID 10 support for NVMe SSD storage devices
  RAID 0, RAID 1, and RAID 10 support for SATA storage devices
• USB
  CPU:
  - 4 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A ports (red) on the back panel
  Chipset+Intel® USB4® controller:
  - 2 x USB4® USB Type-C® ports on the back panel
  Chipset:
  - 1 x USB Type-C® port with USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 support, available through the internal USB header
  - 2 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A ports (red) on the back panel
  Chipset+USB 3.2 Gen 1 Hub:
  - 4 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports available through the internal USB headers
  Chipset+USB 2.0 Hub:
  - 4 x USB 2.0/1.1 ports available through the internal USB headers
• Internal I/O Connectors
  1 x 24-pin ATX main power connector
  2 x 8-pin ATX 12V power connectors
  4 x PCIe power connectors
  1 x CPU fan header
  1 x CPU fan/water cooling pump header
  2 x system fan headers
  4 x system fan/water cooling pump headers
  3 x addressable RGB Gen2 LED strip headers
  1 x RGB LED strip header
  4 x M.2 Socket 3 connectors
  4 x SATA 6Gb/s connectors
  1 x front panel header
  1 x front panel audio header
  1 x USB Type-C® header, with USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 support
  2 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 headers
  2 x USB 2.0/1.1 headers
  1 x noise detection header
  1 x Trusted Platform Module header (For the GC-TPM2.0 SPI V2 module only)
  1 x power button
  1 x Clear CMOS button
  1 x reset button
  1 x reset jumper
  2 x temperature sensor headers
  1 x Clear CMOS jumper
• Back Panel Connectors
  1 x Q-Flash Plus button
  2 x SMA antenna connectors (2T2R)
  1 x DisplayPort In port
  1 x USB4® USB Type-C® port (DisplayPort)
  1 x USB4® USB Type-C® port
  6 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A ports (red)
  2 x RJ-45 port
  2 x audio jacks
• I/O Controller
  iTE® I/O Controller Chip
• H/W Monitoring
  Voltage detection
  Temperature detection
  Fan speed detection
  Water cooling flow rate detection
  Fan fail warning
  Fan speed control
  * Whether the fan (pump) speed control function is supported will depend on the fan (pump) you install.
  Noise detection
• BIOS
  1 x 256 Mbit flash
  Use of licensed AMI UEFI BIOS
  PnP 1.0a, DMI 2.7, WfM 2.0, SM BIOS 2.7, ACPI 5.0
• Unique Features
  Support for GIGABYTE Control Center (GCC)
  * Available applications in GCC may vary by motherboard model. Supported functions of each application may also vary depending on motherboard specifications.
  Support for Q-Flash
  Support for Q-Flash Plus
  Support for Smart Backup
• Bundled Software
  Norton® Internet Security (OEM version)
  LAN bandwidth management software
• Operating System
  Support for Windows 11 64-bit
  (Go to GIGABYTE's website for operating system support information.)
• Form Factor
  E-ATX Form Factor; 30.5cm x 33.0cm

 

[Wirko]

This kind of board would deserve a few U.2 connectors (SFF-8643 or whatever they're called). Not a bunch of M.2.

 

[HBSound]

I would like to see this board go head to head with the ASUS Pro WS TRX50-SAGE WIFI CEB Workstation motherboard.

 

[Dr. Dro]

I would like to see this board go head to head with the ASUS Pro WS TRX50-SAGE WIFI CEB Workstation motherboard.

Which is where this gets funny: this isn't a workstation motherboard.

The TRX50 chipset is intended for the consumer-grade Threadrippers, which start at $1,500 a piece for the lowest-end model. TR Pros work with it under certain limitations because the targeted audience is so narrow due to the prices practiced that developing some sort of lock wasn't necessary. TR Pro, in this case, being even pricier and you'd only lose important things by using such a chip on a TRX50 board, like the octa-channel memory support.

Seems that AMD is trying to pull the same branding and market positioning that Nvidia did with Titan, to justify the ever higher prices, they started to distance Titan from the GeForce brand, so much that after the Maxwell "GeForce GTX Titan X", they just dropped GeForce from the name and renamed it the "NVIDIA Titan" for the subsequent models (X (Pascal), Xp, V, RTX), until they just did away with the brand entirely and created the x90 segment to bridge between workstation and consumer graphics, with what is essentially a badly overpriced gaming card.

Here we have the same deal, AMD is seemingly distancing this segment from the Ryzen brand, until the third generation they were clearly labeled "AMD Ryzen Threadripper", but now they dropped the Ryzen branding from the CPUs and all the marketing materials, boxes, etc. - it's "AMD Threadripper" now. The justification? Ironically the same as NVIDIA did for Titan: it's a supposedly an AI/ML targeted platform now. Yep. It's a really weird limbo, where it caters to neither people who want a consumer-grade HEDT platform nor people seeking a certified workstation for business...

 

[HBSound]

Which is where this gets funny: this isn't a workstation motherboard.

The TRX50 chipset is intended for the consumer-grade Threadrippers, which start at $1,500 a piece for the lowest-end model. TR Pros work with it under certain limitations because the targeted audience is so narrow due to the prices practiced that developing some sort of lock wasn't necessary. TR Pro, in this case, being even pricier and you'd only lose important things by using such a chip on a TRX50 board, like the octa-channel memory support.

Seems that AMD is trying to pull the same branding and market positioning that Nvidia did with Titan, to justify the ever higher prices, they started to distance Titan from the GeForce brand, so much that after the Maxwell "GeForce GTX Titan X", they just dropped GeForce from the name and renamed it the "NVIDIA Titan" for the subsequent models (X (Pascal), Xp, V, RTX), until they just did away with the brand entirely and created the x90 segment to bridge between workstation and consumer graphics, with what is essentially a badly overpriced gaming card.

Here we have the same deal, AMD is seemingly distancing this segment from the Ryzen brand, until the third generation they were clearly labeled "AMD Ryzen Threadripper", but now they dropped the Ryzen branding from the CPUs and all the marketing materials, boxes, etc. - it's "AMD Threadripper" now. The justification? Ironically the same as NVIDIA did for Titan: it's a supposedly an AI/ML targeted platform now. Yep. It's a really weird limbo, where it caters to neither people who want a consumer-grade HEDT platform nor people seeking a certified workstation for business...

Thank you for the explantion!

 

[illusion archives]

Which is where this gets funny: this isn't a workstation motherboard.

The TRX50 chipset is intended for the consumer-grade Threadrippers, which start at $1,500 a piece for the lowest-end model. TR Pros work with it under certain limitations because the targeted audience is so narrow due to the prices practiced that developing some sort of lock wasn't necessary. TR Pro, in this case, being even pricier and you'd only lose important things by using such a chip on a TRX50 board, like the octa-channel memory support.

Seems that AMD is trying to pull the same branding and market positioning that Nvidia did with Titan, to justify the ever higher prices, they started to distance Titan from the GeForce brand, so much that after the Maxwell "GeForce GTX Titan X", they just dropped GeForce from the name and renamed it the "NVIDIA Titan" for the subsequent models (X (Pascal), Xp, V, RTX), until they just did away with the brand entirely and created the x90 segment to bridge between workstation and consumer graphics, with what is essentially a badly overpriced gaming card.

Here we have the same deal, AMD is seemingly distancing this segment from the Ryzen brand, until the third generation they were clearly labeled "AMD Ryzen Threadripper", but now they dropped the Ryzen branding from the CPUs and all the marketing materials, boxes, etc. - it's "AMD Threadripper" now. The justification? Ironically the same as NVIDIA did for Titan: it's a supposedly an AI/ML targeted platform now. Yep. It's a really weird limbo, where it caters to neither people who want a consumer-grade HEDT platform nor people seeking a certified workstation for business...

Well, this motherboard supports 8 channels dram when you use a TR Pro CPU.
Yes, break AMD's limit.

 

[Caring1]

I've never seen a Wi-Fi jack like that on a Motherboard, and the line out and Mic ports look like non functioning blanks

 

[Dr. Dro]

Well, this motherboard supports 8 channels dram when you use a TR Pro CPU.
Yes, break AMD's limit.

That either means that half of the DIMM slots are unusable with a regular TR CPU (effectively turning this into a 1DPC motherboard) or it's the first I'm hearing of such a thing being possible. RAM is usually directly wired to the CPU, which is why the positioning of each stick is important (A1, B1, etc.), in either way, you are getting hosed in some way with this platform.

My previous experience with dual IMC Xeons such as the MCC/HCC versions of E5 v3 CPUs is that they operate in dual dual-channel mode (instead of dual quad-channel) when installed on a consumer-grade X99 motherboard, with each side being assigned to one of the ring buses' memory controller. This is how my E5-4669 v3 operated on the Gigabyte X99 Ultra Gaming.

Sure, entirely possible that it's different now, but it'd be the first time I ever saw it

 

[Super Firm Tofu]

That either means that half of the DIMM slots are unusable with a regular TR CPU (effectively turning this into a 1DPC motherboard) or it's the first I'm hearing of such a thing being possible. RAM is usually directly wired to the CPU, which is why the positioning of each stick is important (A1, B1, etc.), in either way, you are getting hosed in some way with this platform.

My previous experience with dual IMC Xeons such as the MCC/HCC versions of E5 v3 CPUs is that they operate in dual dual-channel mode (instead of dual quad-channel) when installed on a consumer-grade X99 motherboard, with each side being assigned to one of the ring buses' memory controller. This is how my E5-4669 v3 operated on the Gigabyte X99 Ultra Gaming.

View attachment 351073

Sure, entirely possible that it's different now, but it'd be the first time I ever saw it

From the specification, I think you're correct that without a TR Pro, you'll be limited to 4 DIMMS. There's no RAM list or manual posted on the GB site yet to confirm though.

The CPU and memory configuration may affect the supported memory types, data rate (speed), and number of DRAM modules, please refer to "Memory Support List" on GIGABYTE's website for more information.

 

[Dr. Dro]

From the specification, I think you're correct that without a TR Pro, you'll be limited to 4 DIMMS. There's no RAM list or manual posted on the GB site yet to confirm though.

I just looked at the picture provided and upon careful inspection of the PCB, this seems to be the case. The memory slots are designated DDR5_A through DDR5_H, and obviously channels E through H only work if there's 8-ch support on the CPU. That's insane, should be completely unacceptable on products of this price

 

[Assimilator]

I just looked at the picture provided and upon careful inspection of the PCB, this seems to be the case. The memory slots are designated DDR5_A through DDR5_H, and obviously channels E through H only work if there's 8-ch support on the CPU. That's insane, should be completely unacceptable on products of this price

Thank AMD for taking a leaf out of Intel's book and becoming more greedy and anti-consumer.

 

[TheLostSwede]

I've never seen a Wi-Fi jack like that on a Motherboard, and the line out and Mic ports look like non functioning blanks

It's a new thing, both Gigabyte and Asus is doing some variant of this and MSI also has a push-in type connector now, but you can still screw on an antenna on their upcoming boards.

This is Asus.

@Dr. Dro bigger pic for you.

 

[Dr. Dro]

It's a new thing, both Gigabyte and Asus is doing some variant of this and MSI also has a push-in type connector now, but you can still screw on an antenna on their upcoming boards.
View attachment 351120

This is Asus.
View attachment 351121
View attachment 351122

@Dr. Dro bigger pic for you.

View attachment 351128

I still find it completely insane that this is actually a 1DPC motherboard and the quad-channel restriction is CPU-side. It's the same reason Kaby Lake-X (i7-7740X) was derided into the ground, this gets a pass because HEDT has been projected so far upwards, Intel isn't in the game and this is coming from AMD... so no one will care and they will get away with it

 

[illusion archives]

I think Gigibyte just puts this mb as a “WRX90 Lite”.
But it's too weird .

Some more interesting infomation:

x.com

x.com

 

[Dr. Dro]

I think Gigibyte just puts this mb as a “WRX90 Lite”.
But it's too weird .

Some more interesting infomation:

x.com

x.com

I don't see how it could fallback to 2DPC on TR if the slots are electrically wired to disabled channels though. it'll sure be an interesting thing to see

 

[Random_User]

The back I/O connectivity is a bit lacking, even compared to the X670 motherboards.

 

[ypsylon]

Thank you GB, thank you I can't believe my support question/suggestion/telepathy worked! TRX50 AeroD is nice, but man those 3 slots are meh.

Just tell me when and where and I'm there for this masterpiece.

As side note, I've to point this out. For some reason Gigabyte hasn't learned yet that TPM header shouldn't be under the last slot. AsRock/Asus/SuperMicro and whoever else always put TPM header far from slots. Not Gigabyte, it takes Courage. You soldering it Wrong Gigabyte.