Box and Packaging
The box and packaging looks nice and sleek. Inside the box, you get the usual quick installation guide, instruction manual and drivers on DVD disc. You’ll also find 2 x SATA cables, I/O backplate, 2 wifi antennas, some M.2 screws, 3 SLI bridge connectors… 4-way SLI, 3-way SLI and of course a dual-SLI.
ASRock X399 Taichi Motherboard
The motherboard is a full size ATX and comes in a black/grey finish. Notice the TR4 socket. Again it has the same instructions to unlock/lock mounting bracket (3-2-1 to unlock and 1-2-3 to lock).
The Taichi themed heatsink looks great, and has RGB LEDs which cycle different colors when you power up the system, and there’s also a hood for the I/O panel, which is a nice touch.
The motherboard features ASRock’s Super Alloy, IR digital PWM, 11 Power Phases and Dr.MOS. Other features include the BIOS Flashback, Hyper BCLK Engine III, 8-pin and 4-pin CPU power connectors.
A Closer Look
On closer look, you can see the “steel slots” for the PCIE, these 4 of them. For overclockers, the BIOS Flashback, diagnostic LED as well as the onboard power-on/off and reset buttons are an added bonus.
Another feature which I really like are the 3 x Ultra M.2 connectors for your SSDs. Most high-end motherboard only give you two M.2 connectors due to the lack of space, and the fact that populated M.2 connectors reduce the amount of PCIE x16 slot availability.
Currently, this is the ONLY X399 motherboard on the market that feature 3 x full length M.2 (type 2280) connectors.
For storage, there are 8 x SATA ports, 1 x U.2 and of course the 3 x Ultra M.2 connectors, which is more than you’ll ever need. For audio, you get the Purity Sound 4, which is standard across all Taichi range of motherboards.
On the I/O panel, you can see 2 x USB 2.0, PS/2 mouse and keyboard combo, 2 wifi antenna mounts, BIOS Flackback button, dual Gigabit LAN, 8 x USB 3.0, 2 x USB 3.1 (A and C-type), and finally an array of audio connectors.
