amithabh9 :
I have shortlisted two X399 motherboards:
1) MSI - X399 GAMING PRO CARBON
2) ASUS Prime X399-A
I heard that Asus and Gigabyte have issues with mounting the threadripper due to the TR4 bracket. But MSI costs 100 usd more in India. I would like to know if there is something else due to which Asus costs less. Thanks.
It's more than just LEDs. The MSI is, overall, a better motherboard specs-for-specs, due to the higher number of connectivity and features. There's also the difference in size, where the Msi is a standard ATX-sized mobo (can fit in a standard ATX-sized or larger case), while the Asus is an EATX (extended ATX) mobo which requires a larger case that supports such extended width. Both have the same number of RAM slots (at 8x, quad channel), PCIe x16 slots (at 4x, but different supported speeds), LAN controller (Intel I211-AT), Audio Codec (Realtek ALC1220, though the Asus slightly modifies it with built-in software, thus, using the moniker "S1220A"), and same number of internal USB headers.
That Asus costs less because 1)
it has less VCC (CPU) power phases in its VRM (8x compared to MSI's 10x); 2)
it has less SATA III 6Gbps ports (6x compared to MSI's 8x); 3)
it has less M.2 32Gbps sockets (2x compared to MSI's 3x); 4)
it only supports PCIe x16 speeds of x16/-/x16/x8, thus, only allowing
up to 3-way SLI/CrossFire, compared to the MSI's x16/x8/x16/x8 4-way SLI/CrossFire support; 5)
it has lesser USB ports at the rear panel (10x total versus MSI's 12x due to the inclusion of 2x USB2.0 ports); 6)
it has less cover/armor (no audio armor compared to MSI's); and 7)
less reinforcements on its PCIe slots and RAM/DIMM slots.
Here's a comparison of the two motherboards:
[pre]
+------------+------+-+-+-------+---+---------------+---------+----+---------+-------+-+-----+-+-+-+-+-+---+---+---+------+--------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+----+----+------+-------+--------------+------------+
| | POWER|D|S| M.2 | | | OTHER | | | |J|TOTAL|USB|USB|U|USB HEADERS| FAN/ | RGB | |SATA3|SHROUDS/REINFORCEMENT| EPS/ | FORM | THEME | |
| BRAND / | PHASE|I|A| SLOTS |CF/| PCIEx16 SLOTS | PCI-E |WiFi| LAN | AUDIO |A| USB |3.1|3.0|S|(MID-BOARD)| PUMP | LED STRIP |DEBUG|PORTS|---------------------|ATX12V|FACTOR/| PCB + ACCENT | BRAND / |
| MODEL |(CPU +|M|T| (max. |SLI| Version /Mode | 2.0 | | | CODEC |C|PORTS|-+-|-+-|B|USB|USB|USB|HEADER| CONNECTOR | LED |IN 90| I/O |AUDIO|PCIE|DIMM|SOCKET| SIZE | COLORS AND | MODEL |
| | SoC)|M|A| speed)| | | SLOTS | | | |K|@REAR|C|A|C|A|2|3.1|3.0|2.0| | [Pin Types] | |DEGS.|ARMOR|ARMOR|SLOT|SLOT|REQ'T.| (mm) | AMBIENT LEDS | |
+------------+------+-+-+-------+---+---------------+---------+----+---------+-------+-+-----+-+-+-+-+-+---+---+---+------+--------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+----+----+------+-------+--------------+------------+
|
Asus |
11 | | |
2x: |
3-W|
4x: 4x PCIe3.0 |1x PCIEx4| YES| 1x: | ALC | | | | | | | | | | |
9x: |
2x: | | | | | | |1x8pin|
E-ATX | Black +Silver|
Asus |
|
Prime |(
8+3) |8|
6|PCIe3.0|CF/|[x16/
x0/x16/x8]|1x PCIEx1|
433|1x i211AT|S1220A |5|
10x |1|1|0|8|
0| 1 | 2 | 2 |8x PWM|2x [12V/G/R/B]| YES |
6/6 | YES |
NO |
3x |
NO |1x4pin|305x
269|
RGB LED |
Prime |
|
X399-A | | | | x4 |SLI| | |Mbps| | | | | | | | | | | | |1x DC | | | | | | | | | | |
X399-A |
+------------+------+-+-+-------+---+---------------+---------+----+---------+-------+-+-----+-+-+-+-+-+---+---+---+------+--------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+----+----+------+-------+--------------+------------+
|
Msi X399 |
13 | | |
3x: |
4-W|
4x: 4x PCIe3.0 | | YES|
1x: | | | | | | | | | | | |
6x |
2x: | | | | | | | |
ATX | Gray + Black |
Msi X399 |
|
Gaming Pro |(
10+3)|8|
8|PCIe3.0|CF/|[x16/
x8/x16/x8]|2x PCIEx1| 867|1x i211AT|ALC1220|5|
12x |1|1|0|8|
2| 1 | 2 | 2 |PWM/DC|1x [12V/G/R/B]| YES |
6/8 | YES |
YES |
4x |
YES |2x8pin|305x
244|
RGB LED |
Gaming Pro |
|
Carbon AC | | | | x4 |SLI| | |Mbps| | | | | | | | | | | | | |1x [C1/D/5V/G]| | | | | | | | | |
Carbon AC |
+------------+------+-+-+-------+---+---------------+---------+----+---------+-------+-+-----+-+-+-+-+-+---+---+---+------+--------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+----+----+------+-------+--------------+------------+
[/pre]
For more comparative info on other TR4 / X399 motherboards, see here:
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-3505087/tr4-motherboards-x399-comparison-tables.html
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