Deciding between Aorus Master vs Designare and correct memory

Hardware Build a PC
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Hi Guys,

Looking for help with my first build.
First of let me thank you for your time. And help…
i have bin a long time lurker of the forum and the channel.
i have searched the forum, the internets , youtube before asking for help…

Use:

ansible, kubernetes, docker, kvm.
Going back to school to get my degree. Bin out of the IT for a while so i’m going to use the machine to build my own home lab.
Currently using an old macbook pro mid 2012 upgraded ram and storage. and reapplied cooling paste but the machine is under powered and over get’s warm fast… and i want to move to a Linux build that can do everything and serve me for several years.
So i decided to put my savings in… for this build.
i’m hoping this community of knowledgeable people can help me out.

MotherBoard options i’m considering:

After watching BuildZode talk about TRX40 boards.
i decided between these two boards.

1) Gigabyte TRX40 Aorus Master

2) Gigabyte TRX40 Designare

Looking at both boards the price difference is €230 more for the Designare.
i don’t mind paying a bit more as i upgrade my systems ever 7yr haha…
Having said that i don’t want to throw my savings out the window if the added price doesn’t bring anything worth wile (value wise).
Looking at the specs of both… (see link above)…
i can see only one diff and that is the Storage interface there seems to be one more M.2 running true the Chipset.
Also i believe there are no add-on cards on the Aorus Master.
i plan on using one M.2 for my os. and two for my vm’s to spread out the i/o load over the pci slots.

in my mind paying the extra €230 would be to future proof my build.
i do like BuildZode’s comment on the pci slot layout

But that comes at a cost as the Designare XL-ATX is so big only one case came up in my research.
And that’s the old “Fractal Design Define XL R2”. i wanted a silent case… and be quit lost the battle…
Besides because the price is €135 i could upgrade that down the line if so needed.

Memory decision :

Since i want to run as much memory as i can i looked around for any post
talking about memory…

my first option is this kit “HyperX Predator HX432C16PB3K8/256” it’s 3200MHz CL16 256GB (Kit of 8).
After watching @wendell talk about Gskill 256GB/3600Mhz Threadripper ram.

i started to have doubts about the choices so i tried to have a look at the QVL list of the Designare.
But that confused me even further… as i did not see 256Gb kits in the list…
Then i tried to interpret the QVL as best i could…
searching for 32gb in the Density column and then looking for a v in the 8 column of “Memory socket support” column.
my thinking was if that means it’s support for 32Gb stick on all sockets.
only one kit came up “F4-3200C16Q-256GTZNC” but that was a 128Gb kit so that’s not what i’m looking for…

The kit that i have in mind costs around €1200

There are several other options here is the link:

I could go for the “G.Skill Trident Z RGB F4-3200C16Q2-256GTZR” Same price at a good store… meaning i don’t want to buy it from one address that is cheaper but has no customer support.

Can someone tell me how to deal with the QVL and my memory choices ???

further config:

  • cpu: AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3960X - 24-core

  • cooler: Noctua NH-D15

  • power supply: Fractal Design ION+ 860W Platinum

  • GPU: MSI Radeon RX 580 ARMOR 8G OC
    (don’t need much don’t game… just to run the new “LG 43UN700-B” 43inch 4k monitor i’m going to buy with this build.

  • OS: Fedora Linux.

  • Build date: after the summer if my under powered laptop doesn’t crap out. And i can figure all the little details that are bugging me…

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To start of, NH-D15 doesn’t come with the sp3/tr4 baseplate, you’ll need a
U14-S TR4/SP3.

Regarding memory, I hope someone with the motherboards you’re looking at will chime in.

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This might be a topic of interest:

256GB is pushing it, as i read on the forum.

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I think the gist of that thread was that almost no mobos except for the Asus Zenith II TRX40 Alpha and one ASrock board are able to run 256gigs of ram at high speeds

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Thanks … that was a typo on my part. i have so many notes regarding my new build . i just checked the Noctua site … and corrected my build notes…
to the “NH-U14S TR4-SP3” thanks for the heads-up… that would have bin a big blunder… hahah

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i have not checked the “Asus Zenith II TRX40 Alpha” and “ASrock board” if only those boards are able to run 256gigs
then i suppose i have to get one of those will read the post…
The whole reason for going with Threadripper was not having limitation when it comes to memory.
if i can’t have the max advertised mem than what… was one of these boards @wendell showed in his GSkill vids ?? https://youtu.be/GSIFsN1Ofqw
have to re watch that one and read the thread / topic you mention…

i read the topic you linked to … interesting. bit disappointing but ok.
the kit i was looking at “HX432C16PB3K8/256 3200MHz CL16 256GB (Kit of 8) $1,250.00”
is i believe the best i can buy for the price… if anyone has a different recommendation i would really appreciate it…

There are several other options here is the link:
https://tweakers.net/geheugen-intern/vergelijken/#filter:q1YqSExPDc6sSlWyMjQw0FEqKMpMTvXNzFOyAnKKC1KT3TJzSlKLipWsqpUMjc1BVFlijpJVtJKhmYGJUmytjpKpCUg0F6RHycjMyNDERElHKTexAsGtra0FAA

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Well when it comes to the TRX40 Aorus Master and the TRX40 Designare,
there are a few differences between those boards.
When ever or not those differences are really worth the additional cost is up to you really.
But both boards kinda target different use case targets.
The Master is just an expensive Gamers oriented board,
on which the Designare is more geared towards content creator,
or any other type of workstation like use cases.

The Designare does have a nice pci-e slot spacing situation,
but you kinda pay extra for the Thunderbolt 3 addin card mainly of course.
Another nice feature of the board are the 2x Intel 210AT 1Gb lan,
connections which are teamable.
And an additional m.2 is always nice.

So yeah if you have the use for Thunderbolt3,
which is the main reason for buying this board i think.
Then it´s kinda worth it’s premium price tag over the Master.

The Master is really more geared towards gamers mainly.
It comes with upgraded audio, and dual lan intel 1Gbit and 5Gbit Aquantia.
But other then that, not really that special.
I personally don´t realy find the Master that attractive in terms of features.

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But of course in the price range of the Designare,
there are also other interesting boards to look at.

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I have bin looking at the Gskill vid Wendell made and he mentions two boards that seem to work with the mem kit he got.

  1. Asus ROG Zenith II Extreme Alpha €990
  2. MSI Creator TRX40 €680

And one board only worked at 3533 (fine by me)

  1. Gigabyte TRX40 Aorus Xtreme €944

i also read the post @Pleytos mentioned .
The final conclusion @happyluckbox made was to get the:
“Asus ROG Zenith II Extreme Alpha”
i think that one is a tad over what i wanted to spend on a motherboard… €990…

Looking at wendell’s vid i assume that getting the “MSI Creator TRX40” with 3960X and the same 256Gb 3600 kit would at least give me a stable system running at 3500 ???

Only thing that worries me is all the negative points BuildZoid brings up in regards to this mobo. https://youtu.be/UT41-TdvF4c?t=362
Seems to me the “TRX40 designare” layout is way better… and the SSD addon card is 1 slot big instead of the thick one MSI gives…
But since i won’t be using the addon cards just yet i might be happy with the
€470 “Gigabyte TRX40 Aorus Master” were it not for the mem issues…
But i hear BuildZoid mention that this board has the same VRM as the Extreme from Gigabyte and the same VRM as the MSI Creator. Don’t really know what that means for mem compatibility and if i can plug in a 256Gb kit and get at least 3200. ??

i also tried to find the kit Wendel used in his vid. and i did find a store in Poland we also have here in The Netherlands ( Alternate) . So i could call them and see if i can get that kit here and what the price is… if you guys say that the kit is way better then i wanted to get…

G.Skill Trident Z Neo F4-3600C18Q2-256GTZN €1282
That’s only €82 more then i was planning to spend on the kit i found
can’t say if the kit Wendel got is better… i do see the CAS Latency is 18 instead of 16. But which is better ???

Sorry for the long Reply … Let me try to summarize:

  1. Doe getting the “Gigabyte TRX40 Aorus Master” mean i have to settle for slower mem and not getting 3200 if i want 256Gb ??
    Will i notice this and would i be better of calculating and seeing if i can manage with 128Gb instead of 256gb . or is running slower but with more / max ram a better option for me as i plan to run a lot of vm’s…
    diving in to this world of mem and motherboard compatibility i am fairly sure that if one does not grab a kit of total mem upgrading / adding mem in the future is not a good idea…

To be honest with you guys i’m kind of lost. i thought i knew what i wanted but now i’m finding my self going deeper and deeper in this rabbit hole and loosing perspective… dear god… will i ever have a system up and running hahaha…

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update; i found the kit @wendell mentioned in his vid…
that kit has it’s one webiste (dear god hahaha)…

looking at the QVL even the affordable Gigabyte TRX40 AORUS MASTER is on there… And the Designare… now i’m really confused as Wendel said it won’t work on the Designare…

Perhaps it works now with bios updates??
i do not need to have it perform on 3600 3200 would be quite enough …

i tried to find the same info for the kit i wanted to get…with CL16
but could not find anything. for the HyperX Predator HX432C16PB3K8/256

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Well maybe maybe not, nothing is really guaranteed in that regards.
You can have two totally exact the same configurations,
but that would not mean that you also get the same results as wendell.
In the end it’s really a matter of luck.
Every system is kinda different.

Also if you are looking for proper vrm information on all the TRX40 boards,
i made a nice overview on that, which you could check out if you like. :slight_smile:

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trying to find a bit more info on the mem seeing what kit is better…
the kit i head in mind … is kind of strange…
i can find no info from the manufacturer for that kit…
on their site they mention 128Gb max …

nothing about this kit.
HyperX Predator HX432C16PB3K8/256

guess that’s a no go for that kit.

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Yeah memory kits are a bit finicky.
Best thing to do likely is just check out the motherboards qvl list.
If the said memory kits are on the qvl list,
then it basically should be tested working.

Depending on the said board you like to buy for each board there is a qvl list.
Still ¨if¨ wendell has good success with a certain kit on a certain board,
then it might actually also work out for you.
al though unfortunately nothing is really guaranteed.
Basically all boards should be capable to run 256GB of memory.
But at which speed is hard to tell, because not only the board it selfs plays a role,
also the imc in the cpu and of course the bios.

Bios updates can definitely improve memory support.
But sometimes also degrade it.

I know this is generally not really a useful answer, but yeah quad channel memory,
in high quantities will always be a hit or miss in terms of actual speeds you can achieve,
with a said memory kit and hardware configuration.

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it is useful, because i will now focus on having mem that i can find on a QVL.

when you look on the G.skill site here you see the Gigabyte TRX40 Aorus Master in the QVL list . since that’s a E-ATX board it should be compatible with the Fractal Meshify-2

Could you tell me how to interpret a manufacturer QVL list ?
Looking at the TRX40 AUORUS MASTER here

i see a column “Density” and a column " # of Ranks x DRAM devices"
i assume i need to look for 32GB of “Density” and
2Rx8 " # of Ranks x DRAM devices" ??
and then further to the right the column “Memory Socket Support 8” .

i’m thinking all that means 8 dims of 32Gig correct ???

if so then only 3 options are on the QVL if someone is looking to put as much mem possible.

these are the 3 options. please correct me if i’m wrong.

CMK256GX4M8D3600C18 ver 5.49 32GB of 2Rx8. support for 8 mem socket ; 3600 ; CORSAIR ;; €1970

F4-3600C18Q-128GVK 32GB of 2Rx8. support for 8 mem socket ; 3600 ; G.Skill; this is a 128GB kit €600

And if i’m going to settle for 128Gb instead of the 256Gb i would look at the same columns but the column “Memory Socket Support” would be 4 instead of 8.
as i would use 4 times 32Gig … correct ???

update: btw i’m really liking the G.Skill site… a simple way to look for the mem one needs… simply pick your mem klik on the QVL and find your motherboard…
no pdf with rows and columns where i need to bother people and ask if i am interpreting the columns correctly … if someone from Gigabyte is reading this :wink:

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update: i’m trying to see if i can manage 128Gb instead of 256Gb … i think i’m going to risk it and just go for a 128Gb kit…

i’m comparing the F4-3600C18Q-128GVK link here

and the F4-3200C16Q-128GVK link here

the 3200c has a better Latency if lower numbers mean better or tighter.
16-18-18-38

vs the 3600 with 18-22-22-42… … and since 3200 is not a Overclock when using 4x32 dual rank (128GB) i think that’s the better plug and pray option…

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