The ASRock X399 Phantom Gaming 6 is a handsome board, the theme and colors mesh together perfectly. I am really happy with what ASRock has done with their entire new Phantom Gaming line. Bringing that idea into a semi-professional workstation space is also a smart move. While the lower frequency of Threadripper does hurt performance in some gaming applications, the added productivity headroom will more than make up for it for many. The board was stable throughout testing, and the features on offer are well implemented.

The ASRock X399 Phantom Gaming 6 is interesting; it is the top end (ok, the only board so far) for the X399 Phantom Gaming offerings, but the nomenclature would indicate that it is placed more towards the middle. In the Z390 family, the Phantom Gaming 9 is the top dog, and the Phantom Gaming 6 is the more mainstream board. This could mean one of two things (or both, really): either ASRock is testing the market to see if there is potential for a really high end gaming X399 board, or they are trying to keep the naming more in line with the product features than the product hierarchy. I, for one, hope for the first. While I wouldn't recommend anyone go all out on a 2990WX in a system purely for gaming, I would love to play around with a board like that, and cramming that much hardware into an ATX form factor would be quite the impressive feat.

As for the ASRock X399 Phantom Gaming 6, I think ASRock made some wise choices for what features to include and what to leave out. The board is a powerhouse for productivity, but won't feel like a big compromise when gaming. For pure gaming or even light productivity, the Z390 platform is definitely a better option. However, if you are a professional looking for a board that will do double duty for work and play, then I strongly recommend looking at the ASRock X399 Phantom Gaming 6.