ASUS ROG Zenith Extreme ALPHA, AMD X399 Mainboard - Socket TR4 [90MB10G0-M0EAY0]

With up to 64 PCIe lanes provided by the Ryzen thread-ripper CPUs, X399 motherboards offer a high level of connectivity and can accommodate, for example, up to three PCIe NVMe SSDs and up to four graphics cards each with two 16 and eight Connect lanes.

PCIe NVMe SSDs connect directly to the CPU on AMD's X399 motherboards, and a total of 12 PCIe lanes are reserved by Threadripper for this purpose. This allows the extreme read and write rates of NVMe M.2 and U.2 SSDs to be used optimally without being slowed down by the data set being redirected by the chipset. The connection via four PCI Express 3.0 lanes per PCIe NVMe slot in U.2 or M.2 format enables enormously high data transfer rates of up to 32 Gbit / s, which is almost eight times as fast as SATA 6G.

The X399 chipset on Socket TR4 motherboards is connected to the processor as usual via four PCIe lanes and the X399 platform natively supports USB 3.1, so that usually no additional USB controllers are needed to support the extremely fast USB Standard with maximum speeds of 10 Gbps per port. Main memory is operated on X399 motherboards in particularly fast quad-channel mode and via OC depending on the motherboard RAM clock rates beyond the 4000 MHz mark are possible.

As another feature, X399 motherboards support overclocking of the Ryzen thread ripper CPUs and the motherboards with the TR4 socket, along with the threadripper processors, form AMD's enthusiast platform for gamers and content creators.
Features of the ASUS ROG Zenith Extreme ALPHA in E-ATX format

The ASUS ROG Zenith Extreme ALPHA is a motherboard in the E-ATX format and has four PCI Express 3.0 slots for graphics cards, two of which are connected to the chipset with full 16- or 8-lanes. Additional expansion cards can be plugged into a single PCIe x1 and x4 slot, and as an X399 motherboard, the ASUS ROG Zenith Extreme ALPHA also supports AMD's Crossfire and NVIDIA SLI technology for multi-GPU setups. Up to 128 GB DDR4 memory take up the eight RAM banks, whereby appropriate memory natively with maximally 2.666 megahertz can run, overclocking however clock speeds up to 3.600 MHz are supported.

The features of the ASUS ROG Zenith Extreme ALPHA at a glance:
- 4x PCIe 3.0 x16 (x16 / x8 / x16 / x8) for high-end graphics cards
- 5x USB 3.1 (3x type A / 1x type C / 1x internal)
- 12x USB 3.0 (8x type A / 4x internal) and 1x USB 2.0 (internal)
- 2x M.2 22110 (PCIe 3.0 x4 & SATA) / 1 × M.2 2280 (PCIe 3.0 x4) / 8 × SATA 6G
- DDR4 memory up to 3,600 MHz in quad-channel mode
- Bluetooth 5.0 & WLAN module, dual Gigabit LAN (10 Gb / s & 1 Gb / s)
- RGB LED lighting including RGB LED headers
- Modern UEFI BIOS including temperature monitoring

The ASUS ROG Zenith Extreme ALPHA in detail
For disks, the board provides a very comprehensive set of three M.2 slots for particularly fast NVMe-M.2 SSDs and eight SATA-6G ports for 3.5-inch or 2.5-inch hard disks and SSDs (including RAID support) available. An M.2 port is located directly on the motherboard and is suitable for PCIe SSDs with up to 88 millimeters in length. The ROG-DIMM.2 slot is for the included plug-in module with two M.2 slots, which can accommodate PCIe SSDs with a maximum length of 110 millimeters.

A small highlight of the ASUS ROG Zenith Extreme ALPHA is also that the I / O panel on the back of the motherboard has a USB 3.1 connector with Type C socket. The USB Type C port is very thin and can be plugged in on both sides. USB 3.1 or USB 3.1 Gen 2 achieves maximum speeds of 10 Gbit / s per port. In addition, the user will find here three USB 3.1 sockets and eight Type A USB 3.0 ports.

For unrestricted network connectivity, the ASUS ROG Zenith Extreme ALPHA also has two RJ45 ports, one of which offers 10 Gigabit LAN, and fast wireless AC with two antenna ports for a lag-free gaming experience. The ROG Supreme FX 8-Channel High Definition Audio CODEC S1220 and the five audio ports with gold-plated connectors, which are complemented by an optical S / PDIF output, ensure decent sound. In addition, a USB 3.0 port can be used as a BIOS flashback option
Other features

Special features of the ASUS ROG Zenith Extreme ALPHA include extensive water cooling monitoring capabilities and ASUS Aura Sync RGB LED lighting. In addition to four lighting zones directly on the board, several addressable LED strips can also be connected and also controlled perfectly via the Aura Sync software. In addition, the board offers a freely configurable on-board display, including the display of CPU and fan vital data, directly under the CPU socket. Finally, the board is equipped with massive reinforcements and a backplate with a separate GPU holder.

Note: Due to the size of the Ryzen Threadripper CPU, the TR4 socket differs greatly from conventional sockets. When inserting the CPU, please carefully observe the instructions in the assembly instructions of the CPU or the mainboard! It is an LGA socket! The pins are on the socket, not the CPU.

Technical details:
- Format: E-ATX
- Chipset: AMD X399
- Socket: TR4 (for Ryzen Threadripper)
- R.A.M:
- 8x DDR4 (2,666 MHz, using OC up to 3,600 MHz)
- Quad-Channel
- Max. 128 GB
- slots:
- 2x PCIe 3.0x16
- 2x PCIe 3.0 x16 (electric x8)
- Multi-GPU configurations: 4-way CrossFireX (16/8/16/8), 4-way SLI (16/8/16/8)
- 1x PCIe 3.0x4

Internal connections:
- 8x SATA 6G (RAID 0, 1, 10)
- 2x M.2 to M.2 dimming card (M-Key, PCIe 3.0 x4 with max 32 Gbps, sizes 2242 to 22110)
- 1x M.2 (M-Key, PCIe 3.0 x4 with max 32 Gbps, horizontal, sizes 2242 to 2280)
- 4x USB 3.0 (2 headers)
- 2x USB 2.0 (1 header)
- 1x USB 3.1 front panel header
- 1x CPU fan connector (4-pin)
- 1x CPU OPT Fan Connector (4-Pin)
- 2x Chassis Fan Connectors (4-Pin)
- 2 x 3-pin RGB headers (5V, addressable)
- 2 x 4-pin RGB headers (12V)
- 1 x W_PUMP + connector
- 1 x Front Panel Audio Connector (AAFP)
- 1 x slow mode switch
- 7 x ProbeIt Measurement Points
- 2 x Thermal Sensor Connectors
- 1 x EZ Plug Connector (4-pin Molex power connector)
- 1 x reset button
- 1 x BIOS switch button
- 1 x Node Connector
- 1 x LN2 mode jumper
- 1 x Safe Boot Button
- 1 x ReTry button
-1 x 14-1 pin TPM connector
- 1 x slow mode jumper
- 1 x System Panel Connector
- 1 x W_IN header
- 1 x W_OUT header
- 1 x W_FLOW header
- 1 x start button
- 1 x DIMM.2 slot
- 1 x RSVD switch
- 1 x 4-pin HS fan connector

External connections:
- 3x USB 3.1 (Type A, USB 3.1 Gen 2, Red)
- 1x USB 3.1 (Type C, USB 3.1 Gen 2)
- 8x USB 3.0 (Type A, USB 3.1 Gen 1, Blue)
-2x RJ45 (1x 10Gb / s, Aquantia AQC-107 10G, Red & 1x 1Gb / s, Intel I211-AT, Black)
- 1x BIOS flashback switch
- 1x CMOS switch
- 2 × WLAN antenna port (Intel Wireless AC 9260, 802.11 a / b / g / n / ac, 2.4 / 5 GHz, Bluetooth 5.0)
- 1x S / PDIF (TOSLINK, optical)
- 5x 3.5mm Jack (Audio, ROG Supreme FX 8-Channel High Definition Audio CODEC S1220)

Power supply:

- 1x 24 pin ATX12V
- 2x 8-pin ATX12V
- Special features: integrated LED lighting