Aorus X399 Gaming 7 Motherboard Review + Linux Test | Level One Techs

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This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://level1techs.com/video/aorus-x399-gaming-7-motherboard-review-linux-test
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Hey @wendell,

great in-depth review! But I do have one question: You said/wrote in the review that ECC is confirmed, but from the logs it sounds to me like itā€™s not working properly? What I mean is the line where it said ā€œECC disabled in the BIOS or no ECC capability, module will not loadā€.

Did you do some further testing or what is up with that line in the log?

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Wooo thanks for the review @wendell. Been looking forward to this one.

Just placed an order for my 32GB RAM Kit - 2x packs of Corsair Dominator Platinum Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4 DRAM 3200MHz (PC4-25600) C16 (CMD16GX4M2B3200C16)

@comfreak Good point, curious to hear about that too.

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I havenā€™t had much luck finding ECC RAM beyond 2400 MT/s - if you do, let me know.

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Only had two ecc sticks. One bank was enabled one was not. It works fine tho in quad channel if you have 4 matching sticks.

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I recall you posted a video on increasing the timings to improve the infinity fabric for slower sticks, i.e. a 2400 MT/s kit could perform similar to 3200 MT/s. Would you recommend this approach given there arenā€™t much options for ECC RAM past 2400MT/s?

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I havenā€™t experimented with it much. Unless the ecc has really right timings you could probably bump from 2400 to 2666 or 2666 to 2800 but thatā€™s about it.

If seems to have some latencies of itā€™s own for sure. So it kinda works fudging it a bit.

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So if I understood it right, the populated bank will properly work in ECC mode, despite the log message?

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The log message describes both banks? Ecc on in one bank off in the other bank is present in the log message.

So yes?

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Thanks! The reason why I asked was that I thought from the message that it will only work in ECC at all, if both banks are populated.

But I wouldnā€™t leave the second bank empty anyway :wink:

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The ryzen memory controller situation is for sure a bit weird. each die gets its own dual channel controller. I guess. Vs ā€œtrueā€ quad channel memory on the other platform.
It does scale really well with serverish workloads, though, vs the other approach

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Video promised the IOMMU groups in textā€¦ canā€™t see it anywhere but also did you try with ACS patch as well or not?

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You can refer my listing until @wendell updates the article

Iā€™ve got a GTX1070 in the second PCIe slot (running in 8x); itā€™s just a temporary situation.

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Thanks @bsodmike - does the ACS patch improve that any? I notice the USB controllers are all bundled in with other stuff and ideally I would like to pass through a separate GPU and USB controller to each VM (probably 3 running at same time).

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Gigabyte Aorus X399 Gaming 7 VRM details.

Main Cpu Vcore vrm.

  • pwm: IR35201 8+0 phase mode.
  • powerstages: IR3556 50A.
  • Inductors: 76A Cooper bussmann.
  • output caps: Tantalumā€™s poscaps.

SOC vrm:

  • pwm: 2 phases controlled by a second IR35201 pwm.
  • powerstages: IR3556.

Memory vrm:

  • pwmĀ“s 2x IR3570 in 2+1 phase mode.
    providing 2 phases for each set of 4 dimm slots.
    And the +1 rail is used to controll DDR4 VPP rail.
  • powerstages: IR3553. 40A
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Pardon my ignorance, whatā€™s this ACS patch youā€™re referring to? /me has been under a rock for a whileā€¦

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Hi all - Iā€™d like to confirm that the Corsair Dominator Platinum 16GB Kit (2x 8GB) at 3200MT/s v4.24 sticks work flawlessly on this mobo. I added 2x sticks for 32GB and it booted into XMP straight away.

CMD16GX4M2B3200C16
https://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Dominator-Platinum-3200MHz-PC4-25600/dp/B018GK2G9S

	Handle 0x0046, DMI type 17, 40 bytes
	Memory Device
	        Array Handle: 0x002E
	        Error Information Handle: 0x0045
	        Total Width: 64 bits
	        Data Width: 64 bits
	        Size: 8192 MB
	        Form Factor: DIMM
	        Set: None
	        Locator: DIMM 1
	        Bank Locator: P0 CHANNEL D
	        Type: DDR4
	        Type Detail: Synchronous Unbuffered (Unregistered)
	        Speed: 3200 MT/s
	        Manufacturer: Unknown
	        Serial Number: 00000000
	        Asset Tag: Not Specified
	        Part Number: CMD16GX4M2B3200C16
	        Rank: 2
	        Configured Clock Speed: 3200 MT/s

However, the universe wants to rain on my parade so my Threadripper box is down with a PSU OCP loop issue, so Iā€™m sorting that out now.

EDIT ā€” I spoke too soon.

Having set VCORE SOC to 1.125vdc, CPU Core voltage to 1.4vdc, both DDR4 Channel Voltages to 1.4vdc, Iā€™m only able to get a stable 2933MT/s OC on the Corsair sticks. Guess the v4.24 kit are not B-die after all.

	Handle 0x0046, DMI type 17, 40 bytes
	Memory Device
	        Array Handle: 0x002E
	        Error Information Handle: 0x0045
	        Total Width: 64 bits
	        Data Width: 64 bits
	        Size: 8192 MB
	        Form Factor: DIMM
	        Set: None
	        Locator: DIMM 1
	        Bank Locator: P0 CHANNEL D
	        Type: DDR4
	        Type Detail: Synchronous Unbuffered (Unregistered)
	        Speed: 2933 MT/s
	        Manufacturer: Unknown
	        Serial Number: 00000000
	        Asset Tag: Not Specified
	        Part Number: CMD16GX4M2B3200C16
	        Rank: 2
	        Configured Clock Speed: 2933 MT/s

Seems the ā€˜flawlessā€™ boot up at 3200MT/s was a fluke. I canā€™t get it to do it againā€¦

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@wendell Were you able to get Windows 10 installed?

I had to disable IOMMU in the UEFI to get the installer running.

Once I get to the ā€˜custom installā€™ option in the installer and I choose my target SSD (connected to mobo SATA header), Iā€™m able to select it. When trying to create a new partition or attempt the installer, it complains saying that the hardware controller needs to be enabled in the BIOS.

AHCI is enabled in UEFI. Do you need to load any particular drivers at this point?

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Now that was strange - once I disconnected all drives, apart from the one I wanted to install to - it installed smoothly. :roll_eyes:

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Yep. Is why we recommend that. Windows can see other uefi disks and assumes it needs to modify the boot loader for that

1 Like