Asus X399 ROG Zenith Extreme vs ASRock X399 Taichi

[RyanTScott]

Which is better in terms of performance at 100% load for extended periods of time. Why is the ROG $200 more?

 

[kanewolf]

Only reviewers could possibly know that today. The CPU was only released yesterday. There isn't enough time yet to determine long term stability. If you read the Threadripper review on Tom's HW you will see that VRM temps don't seem to be a problem with the X399 platform.

 

[RyanTScott]

I'm not asking about TR. I'm asking about the motherboards in the subject line. Really the question is why is the ROG $200 more and is it worth the extra investment for a mission critical workstation build or would I just be paying for a brand name (Asus)?

 

[kanewolf]

Indirectly you ARE asking about Threadripper. The motherboards don't exist in a vacuum. They have to have a CPU to test them. So to know if either of those motherboards are any good, requires a CPU. That CPU became available to the general public yesterday.

If you have a "mission critical workstation" you buy a Xeon not a Threadripper IMO.

 

[RyanTScott]

Do you think you could possibly comment on why ROG is $200 more than Taichi?

 

[kanewolf]

Why is the Asus so much more expensive? RGB lighting, OLED status panel, whatever that M.2 expansion card is, maybe a 10GE card, fancy antennas for the built-in WIFI. Lots of "bling"

None of those things scream "mission critical" to me. Except maybe the 10GE card. But you can buy one of them discretely if you can actually use it.

 

[RyanTScott]

Thanks KW. What about their ability to handle 100% loads for extended periods of time. Same? ROG better? Taichi better?

 

[kanewolf]

Thanks KW. What about their ability to handle 100% loads for extended periods of time. Same? ROG better? Taichi better?

We are back to my first post. Unknown. The products are too new.

 

[RyanTScott]

I know you know KW.

 

[kanewolf]

I know you know KW.

Not a clue. As I ALSO said, if it is "mission critical" don't buy a Threadripper, buy a Xeon based workstation.

I didn't buy a Ryzen yet, because the platform needs to mature for 6 months from initial release. I may think about it next month. I would say the same for Threadripper. Don't buy one for 6 months to allow firmware updates to be made.

 

[Solarion]

The Zenith is surely the best price is no object x399 board thus far, but the extra goodies aren't worth the extra couple benjamins to me...so I went with the MSI x399 Carbon which works out to $280 after discounts/rebates and arrives with a "free"...probably useless headset.

If it's terrible for some reason it'll get gone and I'll probably replace it with the Asrock Taichi(the next cheapest x399).

One thing that distinguishes the Zenith and MSI Carbon boards are that they're the only two I've noticed with 8+8 EPS input plugs. All the rest of the x399 boards, including Asus have 8+4 plugs there. Probably won't matter, but if the TR4 socket remains AMD's premium desktop solution for a few years we may eventually see 24 or 32 core CPUs which would theoretically require more juice.

 

[metaclay]

Which is better in terms of performance at 100% load for extended periods of time. Why is the ROG $200 more?

You may want to see this :
http://www.funkykit.com/articles/whos-winner-rog-zenith-extreme-vs-asrock-x399-taichi/

 

[kennycoc]

Indirectly you ARE asking about Threadripper. The motherboards don't exist in a vacuum. They have to have a CPU to test them. So to know if either of those motherboards are any good, requires a CPU. That CPU became available to the general public yesterday.

If you have a "mission critical workstation" you buy a Xeon not a Threadripper IMO.

Or Epyc!