ASRock Z390 Taichi Motherboard Review

Overview

• Supports 9^th and 8^th Gen Intel^® Core™ processors (Socket 1151)
• IR Digital PWM, 12 Power Phase design
• Supports DDR4 4200+(OC)
• 3 PCIe 3.0 x16, 2 PCIe 3.0 x1
• NVIDIA^® Quad SLI™, AMD 3-Way CrossFireX™
• Graphics Output Options: HDMI, DisplayPort
• 7.1 CH HD Audio (Realtek ALC1220 Audio Codec)
• Supports Purity Sound™ 4 & DTS Connect
• 8 SATA3, 3 Ultra M.2 (PCIe Gen3 x4 & SATA3)
• 5 USB 3.1 Gen2 (1 Front Type-C, 1 Rear Type-C, 3 Rear Type-A)
• 8 USB 3.1 Gen1 (4 Front, 4 Rear)
• Dual Intel^® Gigabit LAN
• Intel^® 802.11ac WiFi + BT 4.2
• ASRock Polychrome SYNC
• Hyper BCLK Engine II

Specifications

• Unique Feature
  ASRock USB 3.1 Gen2
  – ASRock Front Panel Type C USB 3.1 Gen2 Header (10 Gb/s)
  – ASRock Rear USB 3.1 Gen2 Type-A Ports (10 Gb/s)
  – ASRock Rear USB 3.1 Gen2 Type-C Port (10 Gb/s)
  ASRock Super Alloy
  – XXL Aluminum Alloy Heatsink
  – Premium 60A Power Choke
  – Premium Memory Alloy Choke (Reduces 70% core loss compared to iron powder choke)
  – Dual-Stack MOSFET (DSM)
  – Combo Caps (Nichicon 12K Black Caps)
  – Nichicon 12K Black Caps (100% Japan made high quality conductive polymer capacitors)
  – I/O Armor
  – Matte Black PCB
  – High Density Glass Fabric PCB
  Intel^® 802.11ac WiFi
  ASRock Steel Slots
  ASRock Full Coverage M.2 Heatsink
  ASRock Ultra M.2 (PCIe Gen3 x4 & SATA3)
  ASRock Full Spike Protection (for all USB, Audio, LAN Ports)
  ASRock Live Update & APP Shop
• CPU
  – Supports 9^th and 8^th Gen Intel^® Core™ Processors (Socket 1151)
  – IR Digital PWM
  – 12 Power Phase design
  – Supports Intel^® Turbo Boost 2.0 Technology
  – Supports Intel^® K-Series unlocked CPUs
  – Supports ASRock BCLK Full-range Overclocking
  – Supports ASRock Hyper BCLK Engine II
• Chipset
  – Intel^® Z390
• Memory
  – Dual Channel DDR4 Memory Technology
  – 4 x DDR4 DIMM Slots
  – Supports DDR4 4200+(OC)/ 4133(OC) / 4000(OC) / 3866(OC) / 3800(OC) / 3733(OC) / 3600(OC) / 3200(OC) / 2933(OC) / 2800(OC) / 2666 / 2400 / 2133 non-ECC, un-buffered memory
  – Supports ECC UDIMM memory modules (operate in non-ECC mode)
  – Max. capacity of system memory: 64GB*
  – Supports Intel^® Extreme Memory Profile (XMP) 2.0
  – 15μ Gold Contact in DIMM Slots

  *Due to the operating system limitation, the actual memory size may be less than 4GB for the reservation for system usage under Windows^® 32-bit OS. For Windows^® 64-bit OS with 64-bit CPU, there is no such limitation.
• BIOS
  – 2 x 128Mb AMI UEFI Legal BIOS with multilingual GUI support (1 x Main BIOS and 1 x Backup BIOS)
  – Supports Secure Backup UEFI Technology
  – ACPI 6.0 Compliant wake up events
  – SMBIOS 2.7 Support
  – CPU Core/Cache, GT Core/Cache, DRAM, VTT DDR, PCH 1.0V, VCCIO, CPU PLL 2, VCCSA, VCCPLL, CPU Cold Bug Killer, CPU PLL 1, CLK VDD, DMI, CPU Internal PLL, GT PLL, Ring PLL, System Agent PLL, Memory Controller PLL Voltage Multi-adjustment
• Graphics
  – Supports Intel^® UHD Graphics Built-in Visuals : Intel^® Quick Sync Video with AVC, MVC (S3D) and MPEG-2 Full HW Encode1, Intel^® InTru™ 3D, Intel^® Clear Video HD Technology, Intel^® Insider™, Intel^® UHD Graphics
  – DirectX 12
  – HWA Encode/Decode: AVC/H.264, HEVC/H.265 8-bit, HEVC/H.265 10-bit, VP8, VP9 8-bit, VP9 10-bit (Decode only), MPEG2, MJPEG, VC-1 (Decode only)
  – Dual graphics output: Support HDMI and DisplayPort 1.2 ports by independent display controllers
  – Supports HDMI with max. resolution up to 4K x 2K (4096×2160) @ 30Hz
  – Supports DisplayPort 1.2 with max. resolution up to 4K x 2K (4096×2304) @ 60Hz
  – Supports Auto Lip Sync, Deep Color (12bpc), xvYCC and HBR (High Bit Rate Audio) with HDMI Port (Compliant HDMI monitor is required)
  – Supports HDCP with HDMI and DisplayPort 1.2 Ports
  – Supports 4K Ultra HD (UHD) playback with HDMI and DisplayPort 1.2 Ports

  *Intel^® UHD Graphics Built-in Visuals and the VGA outputs can be supported only with processors which are GPU integrated.
• Audio
  – 7.1 CH HD Audio with Content Protection (Realtek ALC1220 Audio Codec)
  – Premium Blu-ray Audio support
  – Supports Surge Protection
  – Supports Purity Sound™ 4
  – Nichicon Fine Gold Series Audio Caps
  – 120dB SNR DAC with Differential Amplifier
  – NE5532 Premium Headset Amplifier for Front Panel Audio Connector (Supports up to 600 Ohm headsets)
  – Pure Power-In
  – Direct Drive Technology
  – PCB isolate shielding
  – Impedance Sensing on Rear Out port
  – Individual PCB Layers for R/L Audio Channel
  – RGB LED
  – Gold Audio Jacks
  – 15μ Gold Audio Connector
  – Supports DTS Connect
• LAN
  – Gigabit LAN 10/100/1000 Mb/s
  – 1 x Giga PHY Intel^® I219V, 1 x GigaLAN Intel^® I211AT
  – Supports Wake-On-LAN
  – Supports Lightning/ESD Protection
  – Supports Dual LAN with Teaming*
  – Supports Energy Efficient Ethernet 802.3az
  – Supports PXE

  *Teaming is supported on Windows^® 10 RS2 and above.
• Wireless LAN
  – Intel^® 802.11ac WiFi Module
  – Supports IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac
  – Supports Dual-Band (2.4/5 GHz)
  – Supports high speed wireless connections up to 433Mbps
  – Supports Bluetooth 4.2 / 3.0 + High speed class II
• Slots
  – 3 x PCI Express 3.0 x16 Slots (PCIE2/PCIE4/PCIE5: single at x16 (PCIE2); dual at x8 (PCIE2) / x8 (PCIE4); triple at x8 (PCIE2) / x4 (PCIE4) / x4 (PCIE5))*
  – 2 x PCI Express 3.0 x1 Slots (Flexible PCIe)
  – Supports AMD Quad CrossFireX™, 3-Way CrossFireX™ and CrossFireX™
  – Supports NVIDIA^® Quad SLI™ and SLI™
  – Supports NVIDIA^® NVLink™ with dual NVIDIA^® GeForce RTX series graphics cards**
  – 1 x Vertical M.2 Socket (Key E) with the bundled WiFi-802.11ac module (on the rear I/O)
  – 15μ Gold Contact in VGA PCIe Slot (PCIE2)

  *Supports NVMe SSD as boot disks

  **NVIDIA^® NVLink™ Bridge does not come with the package. Please purchase it from NVIDIA^® if necessary.

• Storage
  – 6 x SATA3 6.0 Gb/s Connectors, support RAID (RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, RAID 10, Intel^® Rapid Storage Technology 16), NCQ, AHCI and Hot Plug*
  – 2 x SATA3 6.0 Gb/s Connectors by ASMedia ASM1061, support NCQ, AHCI and Hot Plug
  – 1 x Ultra M.2 Socket (M2_1), support M Key type 2230/2242/2260/2280 M.2 SATA3 6.0 Gb/s module and M.2 PCI Express module up to Gen3 x4 (32 Gb/s)**
  – 2 x Ultra M.2 Sockets (M2_2 and M2_3), support M Key type 2230/2242/2260/2280/22110 M.2 SATA3 6.0 Gb/s module and M.2 PCI Express module up to Gen3 x4 (32 Gb/s)**

  *M2_1, SATA3_0 and SATA3_1 share lanes. If either one of them is in use, the others will be disabled.
  If M2_2 is occupied by a SATA-type M.2 device, SATA3_3 will be disabled.
  M2_3, SATA3_4 and SATA3_5 share lanes. If either one of them is in use, the others will be disabled.**Supports Intel^® Optane™ Technology
  Supports NVMe SSD as boot disks
  Supports ASRock U.2 Kit
• Connector
  – 1 x TPM Header
  – 1 x Power LED and Speaker Header
  – 2 x RGB LED Headers*
  – 1 x Addressable LED Header**
  – 1 x CPU Fan Connector (4-pin)***
  – 1 x CPU/Water Pump Fan Connector (4-pin) (Smart Fan Speed Control)****
  – 6 x Chassis/Water Pump Fan Connectors (4-pin) (Smart Fan Speed Control)*****
  – 1 x 24 pin ATX Power Connector (Hi-Density Power Connector)
  – 1 x 8 pin 12V Power Connector (Hi-Density Power Connector)
  – 1 x 4 pin 12V Power Connector (Hi-Density Power Connector)
  – 1 x Front Panel Audio Connector (15μ Gold Audio Connector)
  – 1 x Thunderbolt™ AIC Connector (5-pin)
  – 2 x USB 2.0 Headers (Support 3 USB 2.0 ports) (Intel^® Z390) (Supports ESD Protection)
  – 2 x USB 3.1 Gen1 Headers (Support 4 USB 3.1 Gen1 ports) (ASMedia ASM1074 hub) (Supports ESD Protection)
  – 1 x Front Panel Type C USB 3.1 Gen2 Header (ASMedia ASM1562 Retimer)
  – 1 x Performance Mode / Easy OC Header
  – 1 x Dr. Debug with LED

  *Support in total up to 12V/3A, 36W LED Strip

  **Supports in total up to 5V/3A, 15W LED Strip

  ***The CPU Fan Connector supports the CPU fan of maximum 1A (12W) fan power.

  ****The CPU/Water Pump Fan supports the water cooler fan of maximum 2A (24W) fan power.

  *****The Chassis/Water Pump Fan supports the water cooler fan of maximum 2A (24W) fan power.
  CPU_FAN2/WP, CHA_FAN1~6/WP can auto detect if 3-pin or 4-pin fan is in use.

• Rear Panel I/O
  – 2 x Antenna Ports
  – 1 x PS/2 Mouse/Keyboard Port
  – 1 x HDMI Port
  – 1 x DisplayPort 1.2
  – 1 x Optical SPDIF Out Port
  – 3 x USB 3.1 Gen2 Type-A Ports (10 Gb/s) (ReDriver) (Supports ESD Protection)
  – 1 x USB 3.1 Gen2 Type-C Port (10 Gb/s) (ReDriver) (Supports ESD Protection)
  – 4 x USB 3.1 Gen1 Ports (Intel^® Z390) (Supports ESD Protection)
  – 2 x RJ-45 LAN Ports with LED (ACT/LINK LED and SPEED LED)
  – 1 x Clear CMOS Button
  – HD Audio Jacks: Rear Speaker / Central / Bass / Line in / Front Speaker / Microphone (Gold Audio Jacks)
• Software and UEFI
  Software
  – ASRock A-Tuning
  – ASRock Polychrome RGB
  – ASRock XFast LAN
  UEFI
  – ASRock EZ Mode
  – ASRock Full HD UEFI
  – ASRock My Favorites in UEFI
  – ASRock Instant Flash
  – ASRock Internet Flash
  – ASRock Easy RAID Installer

  *These utilities can be downloaded from ASRock Live Update & APP Shop.
• Support CD
  – Drivers, Utilities, AntiVirus Software (Trial Version), Google Chrome Browser and Toolbar
• Accessories
  – Quick Installation Guide, Support CD, I/O Shield
  – 4 x SATA Data Cables
  – 1 x ASRock SLI_HB_Bridge_2S Card
  – 2 x ASRock WiFi 2.4/5 GHz Antennas
  – 3 x Screws for M.2 Sockets
• Hardware Monitor
  – Temperature Sensing: CPU, CPU/Water Pump, Chassis/Water Pump Fans
  – Fan Tachometer: CPU, CPU/Water Pump, Chassis/Water Pump Fans
  – Quiet Fan (Auto adjust chassis fan speed by CPU temperature): CPU, CPU/Water Pump, Chassis/Water Pump Fans
  – Fan Multi-Speed Control: CPU, CPU/Water Pump, Chassis/Water Pump Fans
  – Voltage monitoring: +12V, +5V, +3.3V, CPU Vcore, DRAM, PCH 1.0V, VCCIO, DRAM VPP, VCCSA, VCCST, DMI, CPU Cold Bug Killer
• Form Factor
  – ATX Form Factor: 12.0-in x 9.6-in, 30.5 cm x 24.4 cm