Intel Xeon W-3175X Review: Ultimate Performance at the Ultimate Price

The Test System, ROG Dominus Extreme, and Test Setup

Intel sent an Anidees evaluation system for us to review. It came decked out with RGB lighting on the five 120mm case fans and an Asetek 690LX-PN 360mm AIO cooler, which hails from the enterprise space. The cooler's Gen6-s pump, which is typically found in supercomputing clusters, operates at 3,800 RPM.

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Intel designed and approved the cooler design, which Asketek says is tailored for enthusiasts and gamers with up to 500W of thermal dissipation. Intel also sent over an unreleased EKWB EK-Phoenix 360 Annihilator AIO cooler for our overclocking experiments. We stuck with the Asetek solution and six 8GB sticks of Samsung DDR4-2666 ECC memory for our stock tests, and then switched over to the EKWB water-cooler and six sticks of Corsair's Vengeance RGB DDR4-2666 for our overclocking efforts.

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For most Socket-P coolers, you first snap the processor into the heat sink, where two plastic clamps hold it tight. A pair of guide pins on the socket ensure correct sink and processor placement. Then, you secure the heat sink with four Torx screws. The socket mounting mechanism also has a large gap on one end to accommodate an Internal Faceplate-to-Processor cable that plugs into Omni-Path-enabled Xeon processors for the data center. Naturally, you won't see that feature in the workstation space.

The EKWB cooler doesn't come with a plastic mounting mechanism attached, so after removing our system's poorly-applied TIM, we placed the processor in its socket and allowed it to "float" as we tightened down the EKWB cooler. With things looking decidedly more enthusiast-y, we then swapped out the memory.

Delivering enough power to operate the CPU at stock settings is a challenge, so the system came with a single Supernova 1600 T2 power supply. According to EVGA, the 80 PLUS Titanium-certified PSU is rated for up to 133.3A on the +12V rail. For more info on this power supply, head over to our full review. Intel also sent over an additional 1600W T2 to ensure we could feed the Asus ROG Dominus with enough power for overclocking.

Asus ROG Dominus Extreme

The ROG Dominus Extreme lives up to its extreme branding. Asus turned to the EEB form factor to make room for its massive power delivery subsystem. As a result, the board measures an incredible 14" x 14". That means you need a case able to accommodate the spacious board, which flanks the LGA 3647 interface with 12 DIMM slots that feed the W-3175X's six-channel memory controller. 

The Dominus hosts four full-length PCIe 3.0 x16 slots that operate at full bandwidth, creating plenty of room for multi-GPU configurations. Those setups are no longer popular in the enthusiast space due to a lack of game support. But they do prove useful to professionals who lean heavily on GPU-accelerated applications and AI workloads. High-speed networking adapters also benefit from the extra throughput.

The Dominus has two 24-pin ATX power connectors, four eight-pin, inputs, and a pair of six-pin connectors that feed a 32-phase VRM arrangement. Asus also equips the power delivery subsystem with active cooling composed of four fans hidden under the aluminum heat sink cover. These fans spin up or down based on thermals, so forced air cooling on the VRMs shouldn't be necessary outside of the most extreme overclocked setups.

Asus says the board is designed to accommodate custom water-cooling solutions, which is evident from the two water pump PWM connectors and 12 PWM fan headers. An enterprise-class 15W "Lewisburg" C621 platform controller hub adds another 20 PCIe 3.0 lanes to the CPU's native 48 lanes, though four of those lanes are set aside for the DMI 3.0 connection.

What good is an over-the-top board without some bling? Asus equips the ROG Dominus Extreme with RGB lighting on the large chipset shroud, along with support for Aura Sync. A 1.77-inch color LiveDash OLED occupies the top of the I/O shroud. Temperature, flow, and leak detection sensor support helps facilitate custom water-cooling setups, too. 

Surprisingly, the Dominus doesn't come with M.2 slots. Instead, it has two DIMM.2 slots that support riser cards housing two M.2 SSDs apiece. You also get two U.2 and eight SATA connectors, meaning you can load this board up with plenty of storage.

Networking comes courtesy of a 10G Aquantia AQC-107 LAN chip and Intel's I219-LM gigabit connection complemented by an Intel wireless AC-9260 controller supporting 802.11ac. The board exposes five USB 3.1 Gen 2, 12 USB 3.1 Gen 1, and four USB 2.0 connections.

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Test Setup

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