Asrock X670E Taichi review: This motherboard hits a sweet spot

Price When Reviewed

$499

Best Prices Today: Asrock X670E Taichi

AMD’s freshly launched Ryzen 7000 CPUs are blazingly quick, and the companion X670E chipset brings much more options to the desk. 

The AM5 Ryzen launch stumbled considerably over its excessive total platform prices, nevertheless. But latest vacation reductions have softened the blow with cheaper CPU pricing. 

Where does the Asrock X670E Taichi are available in? At an MSRP of $499, it’s not a finances choice—but it surely packs construct high quality and options usually discovered on dearer motherboards. With a characteristic set that can blow away each avid gamers and content material creators, the Taichi has tons of promise. 

The board has a smooth, futuristic design, and outdoes itself within the {hardware} rundown, too. We’ll go over the specs, options, design, and efficiency attributes. Does the Taichi have what it takes for a really premium motherboard expertise? Let’s discover out!

Asrock X670E Taichi: The specs

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The Asrock Taichi comes wrapped in AM5’s premium motherboard chipset providing, the X670E. Compared to B650, you’ll be getting extra PCIe lanes, USB, and SATA ports. It’s all DDR5, nevertheless, so plan accordingly. 

It helps AMD’s new Ryzen 7000 lineup with a very redesigned socket, too. Yep, no extra pins on the CPU like in Ryzen 5000.

Let’s talk about the pleasant unboxing expertise: At $499, you’re getting top-shelf packaging right here with a windowed field so you possibly can peep the motherboard inside. Yes, please! You additionally get some good included extras: typical Wi-Fi antenna, SATA cables, and a neat M.2 fan. Oh, it’s an enormous motherboard—E-ATX, wider than regular (12 x 10.5 inches). 

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Note: It does include a “sticker” over the RAM slots, which may go away some residue when eliminated. Hopefully this modifications with future iterations to keep away from this. 

• E-ATX kind issue 
• Support for Ryzen 7000 CPUs 
• 24+2+1 Phase Power Design 
• DDR5 RAM, twin channel as much as 4 DIMMs 128GB
• 2x PCIe Gen 5.0 16x slot  
• 4x onboard M.2 slots, (1x PCIe Gen 5, 3x PCIe Gen 4) 
• HDMI out 
• 10 USB ports on again, together with 2x USB4
• “Killer” Wi-Fi 6E 
• “Killer” 2.5GbE LAN
• Multiple RGB headers
• 8 SATA 6Gb/s ports 
• 8 PWM fan headers 
• BIOS Flashback and Clear CMOS buttons
• Power button, reset button, and debug 
• Audio: ALC4082 Codec  
• MSRP $499

Asrock X670E Taichi: Features

First, for an MSRP of $499, the included options deserve an enormous, “Wow.” Gamers AND content material creators might be impressed. 

Super-fast 40Gb/s USB 4? You’ll get two of them—it’s typical for motherboards to supply these on the $699 degree or above! Together with eight SATA ports and 4 onboard NVMe slots, workstation customers have all they want with this wealthy characteristic set. With Wi-Fi 6E and a couple of.5GbE LAN included, solely 10GbE is missing. For this value, we are able to’t fault Asrock for not together with this feature, both. Small nitpick: We’d like to see a fast launch system on the M.2 slots, as discovered on different premium X670E motherboards.

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Gamers are additionally accounted for. Power button? Yep. Reset button? Here too. How a few debug display? Check. These are nice for overclockers, but additionally come in useful for any person throughout troubleshooting and constructing phases. BIOS Flashback and Clear CMOS are additionally current, rounding off the enthusiast-grade options. 

You’ll get a wholesome providing of 2x PCIe 16x slots, too. These are greater than sufficient for a beefy GPU plus a PCIe card. Some workstation customers could really feel restricted by having simply two PCIe slots, however that’s the pattern in fashionable motherboards. Four onboard NVMe slots, with one being a “blazing” Gen 5, is a good addition.

Audio can also be spectacular, with loads of inputs alongside the Realtek ALC4082 codec, equivalent to SPDIF. Short of an exterior USB DAC that comes with higher-end motherboards, the Taichi consists of all the things you’d want for a high-level audio expertise onboard.

Asrock X670E Taichi: Design

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The Asrock X670E Taichi feels premium, interval. It is among the most creatively designed motherboards available on the market. First, it appears severe and attention-grabbing with its gold “gears” design and silver accents. This gold motif carries by means of on the facet of the PCIe space and works its manner as much as the I/O shroud. (Yep, built-in I/O defend, like we like to see!)

The I/O shroud has its personal charms, too. Starting within the rear, what is usually a boring USB port view, is as an alternative a splendidly quirky structure aesthetically. Blue and gold make a fantastic combo right here, with among the “gears” theme coming into as nicely. The VRM space means enterprise—and that’s precisely how the Taichi appears in its northern area.

Backplates are an indicator of premium motherboards, and located on the Taichi. It provides the board a high-quality, tactile really feel when held within the hand. For RGB followers, the entrance is simple, with the Taichi emblem lighting up properly on the decrease PCIe space, and a few tasteful again lighting, too. Overall, it’s a fantastically designed and constructed motherboard that’s interesting for each avid gamers and content material creators.

Asrock X670E Taichi: Performance, software program, and BIOS

With a VRM part design of 24+2+1 packing 105 amps, plus an eight-layer PCB, even the mighty Ryzen 9 7950X will discover this a worthy residence. The beefy VRM heatsink proves that Asrock knew so as to add the products the place it counts. 

Asrock features a “server-grade low-loss PCB” right here, which is important: The Taichi is tasked with dealing with PCIe Gen 5 16x slots alongside a Gen 5 NVMe slot. (On prime of that Ryzen 9 7950X!) 

You’ll seemingly run right into a bottleneck along with your CPU cooler lengthy earlier than you attain any wall with the VRMs or energy supply limitations—they’re overkill! (Most AM4 CPU coolers that use the unique backplate ought to work fantastic with AM5, however remember that customized backplate cooling options could require an up to date half.) 

That Gen 5 NVMe slot can be cooled by the included M.2 warmth sink fan, a pleasant contact since these drives can definitely get toasty. 

DDR5 can also be right here, and in case you can take away that cussed sticker, it offers you among the greatest efficiency we’ve seen from DDR5. Going as much as 6600MHz, you’ll have the ability to select one click on “Expo” profiles within the BIOS.

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Asrock has had a number of BIOS updates to date, and hopefully the longer-than-normal boot instances proceed to enhance. The sticker has some estimates on boot instances after a transparent CMOS, with worst-case state of affairs of 4 sticks (32GB) taking so long as 400 seconds! (That’s nearly 7 minutes for these protecting monitor!) 

If you’re working an RTX 40 sequence GPU from Nvidia, you must seize the most recent BIOS updates as nicely, since they’ve included numerous efficiency updates associated to those graphics playing cards.

The BIOS itself is straightforward to make use of, and as anticipated, is strong in tweaking choices for overclockers and people in search of to fine-tune their rigs. Those who need a easy one-click strategy even have this feature. Asrock has a powerful historical past with excessive overclockers, equivalent to with its “Formula” line of motherboards, the DNA of which may be discovered within the Taichi. Rounding issues out, energy and reset buttons, in addition to a debug display are right here for optimum management.

Asrock additionally affords numerous items of management software program inside Windows: Polychrome RGB for mild performance, Nahimic3 for audio, APP Shop for updates, and Asrock motherboard utility for different capabilities. Compared to the Asus Armoury Crate, Asrock’s software program is much less built-in and will stand extra polish.

Should you purchase the Asrock X670E Taichi?

The Asrock X670E Taichi brings the most effective characteristic units you’ll discover on any motherboard within the $499 vary. With USB 4, loads of NVMe slots, plus a premium presentation to the whole package deal, it’s a winner. 

Sure, there are a number of objects we are able to nitpick: that tough-to-remove sticker, and that lack of M.2 fast launch. (It’d be a house run to have 10GbE included too!) We additionally don’t like that the USB4 ports aren’t clearly labeled? Is one in every of them Thunderbolt 4? The symbols are the identical.

BIOS updates are welcomed and important, and we hope the board continues to enhance and stay secure. (This is widespread of most X670E motherboards—with a brand new chipset updates and tweaks are anticipated.)

Overall, the Taichi is among the greatest premium motherboards you’ll find for X670E, particularly contemplating the value. Both avid gamers and content material creators will discover lots to love on this succesful and richly appointed product.