ASRock X299 Taichi Motherboard Review

Verdict and Conclusion

Actually, I was quite reluctant to try out the X299 platform and its associated processors. Mainly due to the fact that it uses a completely different socket to the Z170/Z270 ,which we only invested at the beginning of the year (6 montsh ago). With X299 motherboards, I have to get a new SkyLake-X or KabyLake-X processor, which uses a completely different LGA 2066 socket.

Anyway, when I heard ASRock was going to send us their flagship X299 Taichi motherboard … I just has to get a 2066 processor. There was no way I was going to get a i7-7900X ($999), knowing the fact that Intel’s 8th Gen Coffee Lake processors is coming soon. So instead, for the purpose of testing this and future X299 motherboards, I decided to go for the i5-7640X which is a great buy at USD $240.

Let’s get on with our conclusion. Overall, the ASRock X299 Taichi is a very good solid motherboard that offers excellent performance. Although the improvements are are only marginals, you can see from the scores during our benchmarks that it effortlessly beats the Z270/KabyLake (LGA1151) combo.

The ASRock X299 Taichi is probably the most feature-packed motherboards I’ve come across, and just to name a few of these… you get 13 Power Phase Design, Dr. MOS, 4 PCIe 3.0 x16, 1 PCIe 2.0 x1, 10 x SATA3 ports, 3 x Ultra M.2 (PCIe Gen3 x4 & SATA3), 8 x USB 3.1 Gen1 (4 Front, 4 Rear), Dual Intel Gigabit LAN, Intel 802.11ac WiFi, 7.1 channel HD Audio, ASRock RGB LED, BIOS Flashback, and the list goes on!

Overclocking was super simple. I managed to overclock the i5-7640X from a default of 4.0GHz to a whopping 5.1GHz, that’s an extra 1.1GHz overcIock. I’m pretty happy about that! Inorder to achieve this, I increased the CPU vcore to 1.35V, and set the CPU cache ratio to x40. Everything else was left at default or Auto.

The only thing I thought was lacking, is the onboard power-on/off and reset buttons, which are essential for many enthusiasts and overclockers. Apart from that, the ASRock X299 Taichi is a very solid motherboard for overclocking, and offers excellent performance at default settings.

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Pros: 

• Support Skylake-X and KabyLake-X processors
• Feature-packed with loads of options and connectivity 
• Great looking Taichi design
• Supports dual and quad channel memory
• Able to overclock i5-7640X to 5.1GHz with ease

Cons:

• No onboard power/reset buttons

Final Thoughts:

The ASRock X299 Taichi motherboard is a “must-have” for all you enthusiasts and hardcore overclockers out there. The board not only looks great with its Taichi design, but also performs just as good.