NVIDIA today released GeForce 399.24 WHQL "Game Ready" drivers. These drivers come with optimization for the month's biggest AAA game launch: "Shadow of the Tomb Raider," in addition to "Call of Duty: Black Ops 4" - open beta, and "Assetto Corsa Competizione" - early access. There aren't too many issues fixed with this release. Apparently it addresses a performance drop when using NVIDIA cards on a 32-core/64-thread processor, like the AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2990WX. It also addresses drivers not correctly installing on machines with ye olde Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Quad processors.DOWNLOAD: NVIDIA GeForce 399.24 WHQL

AMD is going ahead with its plans to launch a new HEDT platform chipset dubbed X499, according to a HD Technologia report. Originally rumored to launch alongside the 2nd Generation Ryzen Threadripper family, X499 was delayed indefinitely, and the current X399 chipset continued as AMD's premier HEDT chipset, with existing motherboards receiving BIOS updates to support 2nd Gen Threadrippers, and some motherboard manufacturers launching newer models with beefed up CPU VRM designs to better cope with the 24-core and 32-core Threadrippers.

AMD X499 is reportedly back on the company's roadmap, and slated for a CES 2019 unveiling (January). What's interesting here is AMD sticking to the model number "499" after it emerged that Intel's next HEDT chipset could be named "X599." There's no information on what X499 brings to the table, but there are two big areas for improvement: first, the downstream PCI-Express connectivity needs to be updated to current PCI-Express gen 3.0 standards; and second, unless Threadripper WX processors are hardwired to only support quad-channel memory; X499 could introduce 8-channel memory, which could make it even more competitive against Intel's upcoming 28-core HEDT processor that has 6-channel memory.

It has been a rollercoaster Monday for AMD as it bled yet another bright executive. Jim Anderson, who led Computing and Graphics Group after the departure of Raja Koduri, and who is rumored to have conceived the idea of Threadripper and the client-segment monetization of the "Zen" architecture, left AMD to become CEO of Lattice Semiconductor, a company that designs FPGAs. Anderson will be paid an inducement award of company shares valued up to $2.9 million.

On the same day, AMD stock crossed $25 to close at $25.26 up 5.34 percent, a historic high since way back in 2006 as Intel was beginning to regain its footing with its Core processor family. This raises the company's market cap to $22.9 billion. AMD is better funded than ever (in over 12 years), to start a new GPU project, for example. CTO Mark Papermaster, in a company blog post assured customers that AMD is going all-in with 7 nanometer, and it could bank more heavily on TSMC to achieve its roadmap goals of first-to-market 7 nm CPU and GPU by end of the year.

With the arrival of its 2nd generation Ryzen Threadripper HEDT processors, AMD cut prices of the socket-compatible first-generation parts. A highlight of this move is the availability of the 12-core/24-thread Threadripper 1920X at $399. This chip trades blows with the Core i9-7900X in multi-threaded tasks, and considering stores are still listing Intel's 6-core/12-thread Core i7-7800X at $390 and the 8-core/16-thread i7-7820X at $469, could make for a better alternative, with more PCIe lanes. The 8-core/16-thread Threadripper 1900X is now down to $299, or less than the SEP price of the Ryzen 7 2700X. The 1900X still gives you 64-lane PCIe and quad-channel memory.

Cooler Master, a global leader in computer hardware and peripherals manufacturing, announces the Wraith Ripper, the official air cooler for the 2nd Gen AMD Ryzen Threadripper desktop processor, as part of an exclusive partnership with AMD. The Wraith Ripper is designed, specifically, to keep the 2nd Gen AMD Ryzen Threadripper cool under the most strenuous conditions and manage up to 250W TDP.

ENERMAX has put up a product page for a revised version of its LIQTECH TR4 II 240 liquid cooler, which they've readied in expectation of AMD's second-gen Threadripper CPU lineup. Remember that the new AMD Threadrippers will bring about much increased levels of performance due to their doubled core-counts in relation to first-gen Threadrippers - and of course, a doubling in core counts necessarily translates into increased power consumption, even if AMD did bring about some more power efficiency improvements to the design (besides those already enabled by the usage of the 12 nm fabrication process).

The new LIQTECH TR4 II features support for AMD's TR4 socket, and according to ENERMAX, can dissipate up to 500 W of waste heat due to the usage of multiple technologies, such as their patented Shunt-Channel-Technology (SCT) which boosts thermal conductivity, alongside an EF1 pump with high flow rate up to 450L/h. Innovative batwing blades improves overall airflow for increased thermal dissipation at the radiator level, and revised pumps work to allow fluid circulation to flow unimpeded. Additionally, ENERMAX have added addressable RGB functionality to the water block, so users can personalize their cooling champion. The LIQTECH TR4 II coolers will be available in this month of August - right around the time of AMD's Threadripper II.

MSI today announced the MEG X399 Creation, its flagship socket TR4 motherboard, with out of the box support for 2nd generation AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2000 processors. The company showed off this board at the 2018 Computex, held this June. Although built in the ATX form-factor, this board is recommended only for EATX-capable cases. The highlight of this board is its gargantuan 19-phase CPU VRM that's optimized for overclocking event the 32-core Threadripper 2990WX. The board draws power from a combination of 24-pin ATX, two 8-pin EPS, and an optional 4-pin Molex. Heat drawn from the CPU VRM MOSFETS is dissipated not just by a large heatsink that spans almost the entire width of the board, but also a secondary heatsink cooling the SoC phases, via a heat-pipe. The huge chipset heatsink cools not just the X399 chipset, but also three M.2-NVMe slots (two M.2-22110 and one M.2-2280). You get 4 more M.2-2280 slots over the new M.2-Xpander Aero, which is a PCI-Express 3.0 x16 riser card that converts the slot to four M.2-2280 slots with x4 wiring, ventilating them with a 100 mm fan. It ends up looking like a graphics card in doing so.

Expansion includes eight DDR4 DIMM slots supporting up to 2048 GB of DDR4 ECC memory; four PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slots (full-time x16/x8/x16/x4), and an x1. Storage connectivity includes 7 M.2-NVMe slots (3 onboard, 4 via the included M.2-Xpander Aero accessory); and eight SATA 6 Gbps ports. Connectivity includes MSI's highest-grade onboard audio solution combining an ALC1220 with a headphones amplifier, and audio-grade capacitors; and two 1 GbE interfaces driven by Intel i219-V controllers (10 GbE is a notable absentee); and 802.11ac + BT 5.0 WLAN. You get 10 USB 3.1 ports on the rear panel (including a type-C port), and four USB 3.1 ports via front-panel headers). RGB LED diffusers dot the rear I/O shroud, the chipset heatsink, and the reverse side of the PCB. The board is expected to be priced around $500.

Tech Day slides leaked to the web by Kitguru provide a confirmation of how AMD is wiring out the additional two dies on the 24-core and 32-core Ryzen Threadripper 2000-series MCMs on the socket TR4 platform. We had speculated that because the quad-channel DDR4 memory and PCIe interfaces are wired to two diagonally-opposite dies on AMD X399 chipset motherboards; in the interest of backwards compatibility, AMD could wire out memory and PCIe from just two out of four dies on the multi-chip module, and have the two additional dies seek memory and PCIe over the InfinityFabric interfaces.

The obvious trade-offs with this design choice is that latencies to the dies with indirect memory/PCIe access are higher, and that reflects heavily in AMD's own performance figures for comparing the 32-core 2990WX with the 16-core 2950X from the same generation. The 2990WX is "only" up to 64 percent faster than 2950X at Cinebench R15 nT, despite having double the number of cores. To its credit, the 2950X has higher clock-speeds (3.50 GHz nominal with 4.40 GHz boost) than the 2990WX (3.00 GHz nominal with 4.00 GHz boost). The presentation also puts out interesting bits of information such as AMD's own performance numbers showing 10-15 percent performance gains between the 2950X and the 1950X; and performance gains of the 2990WX over Intel Core i9-7980XE.

AMD announced its second-generation Ryzen Threadripper high-end desktop (HEDT) processor series, succeeding its lean and successful first-generation that disrupted much of Intel's Core X HEDT series, forcing Intel to open up new high-core-count (HCC) market segments beyond its traditional $1000 price-point. AMD's 16-core $999 1950X proved competitive with even Intel's 12-core and 14-core SKUs priced well above the $1200-mark; and now AMD looks to beat Intel at its game, with the introduction of new 24-core and 32-core SKUs at prices that are sure to spell trouble for Intel's Core X HCC lineup. The lineup is partially open to pre-orders, with two SKUs launching within August (including the 32-core one), and two others in October.

At the heart of AMD's second-generation Ryzen Threadripper is the new 12 nm "Pinnacle Ridge" die, which made its debut with the 2nd Generation Ryzen AM4 family. This die proved to introduce 3-5 percent IPC improvements in single-threaded tasks, and multi-threaded improvements with an improved Precision Boost II algorithm, which boosted frequencies of each of 8 cores on-die. The Threadripper is still a multi-chip module, with 2 to 4 of these dies, depending on the SKU. There are four of these - the 12-core/24-thread Threadripper 2920X, the 16-core/32-thread Threadripper 2950X; the 24-core/48-thread Threadripper 2970WX, and the flagship 32-core/64-thread Threadripper 2990WX.

That didn't take long - from the moment we've put our eyes on AMD's premium packaging for their new Threadripper 2 lineup, we're getting images that slowly expose the workings and ritual of unboxing these feats of silicon, engineering, and human ingenuity. The original video has, in the meantime, been taken down, but of course, whatever hits the web, stays in the web, and screenshots abound that give us a taste of what to expect.

GIGABYTE today announced its flagship socket TR4 motherboard for AMD Ryzen Threadripper processors, with out-of-the-box compatibility with 2nd generation 32-core Threadrippers. The new Aorus X399 XTREME board is part of a new breed of X399-TR4 motherboards launched/unveiled in the past few months, with reinforced VRM to cope better with the upcoming 250W TDP 24-core and 32-core processors, such as the MSI MEG X399 Creation. A brochure of this board was leaked to the web last month, and now we see it in the flesh. Technically still an ATX board, the Aorus X399 Xtreme is slightly broader, and is recommended to be installed in EATX-capable cases. Power is drawn from a 24-pin ATX, two 8-pin EPS, and an optional 6-pin PCIe power. A 10-phase VRM powers the CPU.

Expansion includes four PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slots (x16/NC/x16/NC or x16/NC/x8/x8 or x8/x8/x8/x8), and an x1 slot. Storage connectivity includes three M.2 slots with gen 3.0 x4 wiring, each; and six SATA 6 Gbps ports, from which four come directly from the CPU. The onboard audio is top of the line, with an ESS Sabre DAC working the main stereo out, and a Realtek ALC1220VB handling the other 8 channels. The Sabre is slaved to the ALC1220VB, so the system only sees one audio controller. There are four network interfaces - a 10 GbE driven by an Aquantia-made controller, two 1 GbE pulled by Intel i219-V, and an 802.11ac driven by an Intel 9260 WLAN card, which also handles Bluetooth 5.0. There are 10 USB 3.1 ports at the integrated rear panel (eight running at 5 Gbps, and two at 10 Gbps, one of which is type-C). Four other 5 Gbps ports are wired internally. Of course there's the full-shebang of RGB lighting and control. Available from 8th August, the board will be priced at USD $499.99.

AMD is known for some of the most quirky retail packaging. It sold its first FX-series processor in tin boxes, and its first Ryzen Threadripper HEDT processors came in an unusually shaped box that made unpacking the processor an experience unto itself. With its second generation, AMD is poised to introduce new 24-core and 32-core SKUs, presenting the company with an opportunity to make its retail boxes even more grandiose on store shelves.

The new box features a rounded-rectangular front and rear side. A large acrylic window dominates the front, with polygonal bellows leading up to an inner case that shows off the processor as if its a piece of jewelry. This window opens up like an airtight Tupperware box, with a lock on the top, and a hinge at the bottom. Inside, there's a small orange LED lightshow powered by a couple of 2032 button cells. The reverse side also has an acrylic window looking up to the translucent orange back of the inner case, showing you the LGA of the chip. The product logo is unchanged, but a catchphrase has been added - Unlocked, Unrestrained, Uncompromising.

AMD today announced key promotions that extend senior-level focus on company growth. AMD named "Zen" chief architect Mike Clark an AMD corporate fellow; promoted Darren Grasby to senior vice president of global Computing and Graphics sales and AMD president for Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA); and promoted Robert Gama to senior vice president and chief human resources officer.

"We believe the opportunities ahead of us are tremendous as we execute on our long-term strategy and exciting product roadmap," said Lisa Su, AMD president and CEO. "As leaders, Mike, Darren, and Robert have made significant contributions to our success so far, and these promotions elevate their impact at AMD as we accelerate company growth going forward."

Thermalright today introduced a variant of its Silver Arrow dual fin-stack, tower-type CPU cooler for AMD socket TR4, meant for Ryzen Threadripper processors. Capable of handling thermal loads of up to 320W, the cooler can be paired with even upcoming 250W TDP 24-core and 32-core Threadripper II models. Although bearing the same name, the Silver Arrow TR4 bears little design resemblance with the Silver Arrow ITX-R or the Silver Arrow SB-E, or even the original Silver Arrow from 2010. It's the largest cooler of this class, with an enlarged nickel-plated copper base designed to provide full coverage of the Threadripper IHS, from which eight 6 mm-thick heat pipes draw heat, with the two aluminium fin-stacks propagating along their ends.

Nested between the two fin-stacks is a 140 mm fan which takes in 4-pin PWM input, spins between 600 to 2,500 RPM, pushing 53.3 - 220.9 m³/h, with a noise output ranging between 21 - 45 dBA. With its fan in place, the Silver Arrow TR4 measures 155 mm x 103 mm x 163 mm (LxWxH). The narrow width ensures clearance for the memory slots that flank the CPU socket from either side. The fin-stack itself is offset sideways to ensure clearance for the topmost PCI-Express slot on your motherboard. You can latch on two additional fans. A syringe of Thermalright's Chill Factor III TIM comes included. The cooler tips the scales at 1,050 g. The company didn't reveal pricing.

DeepCool probably intended for its name to read like "frozen," but ended up with the name "Fryzen," which is what I'd call a fried (dead) Ryzen. The GamerStorm Fryzen is a large tower-type CPU air cooler designed for AMD socket TR4. Its 68 mm x 46 mm base offers 100% coverage of the AMD Ryzen Threadripper IHS (integrated heatspreader), although it also supports AM4. It takes advantage of this large nickel-plated copper base to pass six 6 mm heat-pipes through the longer side, such that heat pipes line the width of the aluminium fin-stack, rather than the edges. The fin-stack is capped off by a stylish top-plate with an RGB LED diffuser.

The included 120 mm fan spins between 500 to 1,800 RPM, pushing up to 64 CFM of air, with noise output ranging between 17.8-41.5 dBA. The fan features fluid-dynamic bearing, and an X-shaped RGB LED diffuser along its uniquely shaped frame. With the fan installed the Fryzen measures 124 mm x 81.5 mm x 164.6 mm (WxDxH), with little or no intrusion into the memory slots on either side of the CPU socket. It weighs 1.18 kg. Its various RGB LED diffusers take in standardized addressable RGB LED header input, supporting most software control standards. The company didn't reveal pricing.

It seems that the marketing money is flowing once again at AMD - certainly buoyed by the company's mainstream, enthusiast and professional success with its Ryzen, Threadripper and Epyc series of processors. The event, being organized between AMD and Ferrari, has been confirmed by multiple sources, according to Videocardz, and should be focused on AMD's upcoming Threadripper 2000 series. Being one of Ferrari's sponsors for its Formula 1 team, the company is likely taking advantage of that fact to ease into such a high profile partnership - as well it should. The event is expected to take place in the last week of July - maybe time for a Threadripper 2000 an announcement with a spin on AMD's solutions being employed for simulations, providing the crunching power that is behind every F1?

It's becoming clear that AMD is naming its 32-core flagship HEDT processor Ryzen Threadripper 2990X. The chip was even listed on a German online retailer for a little over 1,500€, which if it turns out to be true, could spell doom and gloom for Intel's Core X HEDT processor lineup, as it could demolish the price-performance equations of every Intel SKU priced 1,000€ and above.

Thai PC enthusiast Tum Apisak scored a screenshot of this chip lurking around on 3DMark database. The screenshot hints at the possible clock speeds of the 2990X, with a rather healthy nominal clocks of 3.00 GHz, with boost frequencies of 3.80 GHz. XFR 2.0 could automatically overclock the chip even beyond the boost frequency, if your cooling is up to the task. The screenshot also reveals that this database submission was made by someone testing the processor, as a prototype motherboard codenamed "Whitehaven OPS rev B CF4" is listed. AMD is expected to launch its 2nd generation Ryzen Threadripper HEDT processors, based on the 12 nm "Zen+" architecture, some time in Q3-2018.

AMD has partnered with Cooler Master to deliver a Threadripper 2-specific cooler. Dubbed the Wraith Ripper (as per AMD's Wraith stock coolers and their Threadripper 2, up to 32-core, 64-thread HCC CPUs), this is a behemoth of a mega cooler that can dissipate Threadripper 2's (perhaps theThreadripper 2990X's) 250 W TDP.

The cooler features addressable RGB lighting that can be app-controlled, and Cooler Master says this cooler has been designed to offer full memory compatibility. The height between the baseplate and the heatsink's fins does seem tall and tidy for the tallest RAM sticks you can find, for sure - even with the eight pairs of heatpipes that drive the heat away from your most precious silicon component. Check our COMPUTEX 2018 pics of this behemoth below.

First benchmarks and CPU-Z screenshots of AMD's upcoming Ryzen Threadripper 32-core monster have surfaced, courtesy of HKEPC. The on-time-for-launch (as AMD puts it) 12 nm "Pinnacle Ridge" processor has apparently been christened "Threadripper 2990X", which does make sense - should AMD be thinking of keeping the 2920X moniker for 12 cores and 1950X for 16-cores, then it follows a 20-core 2960X, a 24-core 2970X, a 28-core 2980X, and the aforementioned 32-core 2990X. whether AMD would want to offer such a tiered lineup of HEDT processors, however, is another matter entirely, and certainly open for discussion - too much of a good thing can actually happen, at least where ASP of the Threadripper portfolio is concerned.

On the CPU-Z screenshot, the 2990X is running at 3.4 GHz base with up to 4.0 GHz XFR, and carries a 250 W TDP - a believable and very impressive achievement, testament to the 12 nm process and the low leakage it apparently produces. The chip was then overclocked up to 4.2 GHz on all cores, which caused for some thermal throttling, since performance was lower than when the chip was clocked at just 4 GHz on all cores. Gains on this particular piece of silicon were reserved up to 4.12 GHz - the jump to 4.2 GHz must have required another bump in voltage that led to the aforementioned throttling. At 4.12 GHz, the chip scored 6,399 points in Cinebench - a remarkable achievement.

Oh well, this almost makes us think of this industry as going hand in hand merrily, tongue-in-cheeking each other towards fulfilling, eternal happiness. It's a shame that this not usually the shape of our industry, but really, life isn't either, so let's keep our expectations in check. All in all, Intel's Twitter response to the viral, beautifully-crafted AMD initiative of exchanging one of Intel's commemorative 8086K CPUs for one of its Threadripper 1950X processors is equally satisfying - there's an unavoidable smile to be found while considering these two exchanges.

Kudos, Intel. Kudos for both companies for keeping it in a good spirit. If only we didn't have strange things such as Optane memory shenanigans going on concurrently...

AMD acknowledges Intel's contribution to the x86 architecture over the last 40 years. However, AMD is convinced that they are the leading company for future high-performance computing, and will "take it from here". That's why AMD will hold its own online sweepstakes to give the first 40 U.S.-based winners of the Intel sweepstakes the opportunity to swap their 6-core prize for a 16-core monster. To put things into perspective, the Ryzen Threadripper 1950X has 16 cores, 32 threads, 40 MB of cache, and 64 PCIe Gen3 lanes. Now that's something hard to pass up on! AMD's sweepstakes will go live on June 25 at 1:00:00 PM EDT. If you were one of the lucky Core i7-8086K winners and want to take up on AMD's offer, check this page for further details.Update: Intel's response didn't take long. The company posted the following message to their Intel Gaming Twitter account: "if you wanted an Intel Core i7-8086K processor too, you could have just asked us. :)"

Intel is readying a refresh to its "Basin Falls" HEDT platform (LGA2066 client high-end desktop), with a new 22-core silicon. This part is neither Skylake HCC (20 tiles, up to 18 cores) nor Skylake XCC (30 tiles, up to 28 cores), but a new die with four more tiles than the Skylake HCC silicon, all of which are cores. The new silicon could let Intel design 20-core and 22-core SKUs for the X299 Express chipset, and is seen as a direct response to AMD's 24-core Ryzen Threadripper II processor, which was recently shown beating the 18-core i9-7980X in tech demos. The 32-core Threadripper II could face competition from the 28-core HEDT processor Intel is readying for Q4-2018, but that processor won't be compatible with LGA2066.

In related news, the company is giving finishing touches to a new 8-core "Coffee Lake" die for the mainstream-desktop platform (LGA1151 socket, 300-series chipset). This die features 8 cores, and likely 16 MB of shared L3 cache, while retaining the iGPU and uncore components from the existing Coffee Lake-S die. The chip could retain the classic "Ring Bus" design. The new 8-core mainstream-desktop SKUs, and at least two new high-end desktop SKUs (20-core and 22-core), could be launched in September 2018. The "Basin Falls" refresh, coupled with the new LGA3647 "Purley" derivative for the 28-core monstrosity, will be all Intel has to face AMD this year, with the company's next HEDT silicon, "Cascade Lake-X" being reportedly delayed to the second half of 2019, probably due to foundry problems.

At Computex 2018, we witnessed two major HEDT (high-end desktop) processor announcements. Intel unveiled a client-segment implementation of its "Skylake XCC" (extreme core count) silicon, which requires a new motherboard, while AMD announced a doubling in core-counts of its Ryzen Threadripper family, with the introduction of new 24-core and 32-core models, which are multi-chip modules of its new 12 nm "Zen+" die, and compatible with existing X399 chipset motherboards. With frantic increases in core counts, the practicality of these chips to even the most hardcore enthusiast or productivity professional diminishes. The Computex 2018 demos reek of a pissing-contest between the x86 processor giants, with AMD having an upper hand.

The HEDT segment is intended to occupy the space between client desktops and serious scalar workstations. Intel is frantically putting together a new HEDT platform positioned above its current LGA2066 (X299) platform, built around its Purley enterprise platform, and a variant of the LGA3647 socket (this chip + your X299 motherboard is no bueno). This socket is needed to wire out the 28-core Skylake XCC (extreme core count) silicon, which has a six-channel DDR4 memory interface. The company put up a live demo at the teaser of this unnamed processor, where it was running at 5.00 GHz, which led many to believe that the processor runs at that speed out of the box, at least at its maximum Turbo Boost state, if not nominal clock. Intel admitted to "Tom's Hardware," that it "forgot" to mention to the crowds that the chip was overclocked.

AMD at its Computex 2018 presser unveiled the 2nd generation Ryzen Threadripper high-end desktop (HEDT) processors. These processors are multi-chip modules of four 12 nm 8-core "Pinnacle Ridge" dies, with up to 32 cores, and SMT enabling up to 64 threads. Much like the first-generation Threadripper family, there could be 16-core, 12-core, and 8-core SKUs; in addition to 24-core, 28-core, and 32-core ones. AMD did mention that these chips are backwards compatible with X399 motherboards, although it remains to be seen how AMD wires out the memory of two extra dies on the X399 platform. In all likelihood, there could be a new wave of motherboards that retain the TR4 socket with backwards-compatibility with 1st generation Threadripper proccessors, but having 8-channel memory slots.

The 2nd generation chips feature higher clock-speeds, and all of the "Zen+" features introduced by "Pinnacle Ridge," including Precision Boost II and XFR 2.0. AMD put up a demo of the chip challenging Intel's top-dog Core i9-7980XE, which has two more cores than it. This probably explains why Intel revealed a 28-core HEDT SKU yesterday. AMD stated that the lineup is en route Q3-2018 launch.

This Computex, we are on the lookout for motherboards based on Intel Z390 and upcoming AMD chipsets such as the B450, or even the Z490; but a new X399 motherboard for the Ryzen Threadripper was the last thing we expected. Imagine our shock at the sight of the MSI MEG X399 Creation. This board has the most polarizing, in-your-face design from MSI since the mid-2000s (roller-coaster heatsinks, anyone?). The board appears to be clearly wider than ATX spec, and approaching E-ATX territory.

A humongous L-shaped heatsink dominates the bottom-right corner, cooling not just the AMD X399 chipset, but also three M.2 slots. The top-left, and far-left corners feature some of the largest CPU VRM heatsinks we've seen in a long while. The VRM heatsink extends to the left side, while the rear-I/O shroud blends into it, running the entire length of the left side. The board gives you a maximum of 7 M.2 slots. A 19-phase VRM drawing power from two 8-pin EPS connectors fuels your Threadripper. Four PCIe 3.0 x16 slots, eight DDR4 DIMM slots, and the whole shebang of OC features make for the rest of it.