ASRock X670E Taichi

Sep 14, 2023

Like with most new hardware generations, the flashy high-end products get launched first, and then their vanguard designs are trimmed down into the mainstream and lower-budget parts. With the new AM5 socket from AMD, which launched with its Ryzen 7000 desktop processors, ASRock went big, literally, making its X670E Taichi ($499.99) an Extended ATX (E-ATX) whopper of a motherboard with a big price to match. The Carrara version of the Taichi, with its special white marble styling, might be the flagship ASRock AM5 board of the moment, but the two share the same hardware.

AMD's new AM5 socket, with the help of its counterpart X670 and B650 chipsets, brings a host of changes and new features over AM4. For a more detailed breakdown, you can read our coverage piece here. The short version is as follows.

The physical changes are the most obvious ones. AM5 moves from the pin grid array (PGA) chips to a land grid array (LGA). This moves the CPU connection pins from the CPU area to the motherboard socket, where they're better protected from getting bent or damaged. AMD has also substantially increased the amount of power that can be delivered to the CPU, officially supporting a 170-watt thermal design power (TDP). Along with the higher TDP, AMD has updated its CPU power delivery system to what it calls Scalable Voltage Interface 3, allowing the CPU and power delivery system to communicate more efficiently. In practical terms, this means the CPU can throttle up and down more quickly in response to changes in available power and thermal ceiling.

AMD also requires all AM5 motherboards to support firmware updates without requiring a CPU. This feature, commonly called USB Flashback, has been available on motherboards of every platform for many years now, but rarely on lower-cost boards. Making this a mandatory feature means as new AM5 processors are released, you can update the BIOS/UEFI on older-gen boards to support new CPUs without first needing an old CPU to do it.

Unlike Intel's LGA 1700 platform, which can support DDR4 and DDR5 memory, AM5 is DDR5 only. This simplifies the memory controller, though it does require you to use (currently) more expensive RAM modules. As DDR5 prices come down, this will become a non-issue. Also memory-related, AMD has started a new standard called Extended Profiles for Overclocking (EXPO), similar to Intel's Extreme Memory Profile (XMP). Like many AMD technologies, EXPO is an open standard and doesn't require any royalties, whereas Intel doesn't publish XMP specifications. As AMD's Zen architecture differs considerably from Intel's, memory with EXPO can have AMD-specific timings to improve performance and compatibility with Ryzen 7000 CPUs. Memory modules can have support for both XMP and EXPO, so there's no worry about needing a specific version of a given RAM kit.

The AM5 platform officially has four chipsets (B650, B650E, X670, and X670E). It's easiest to think of them as all the same chipset, but implemented in four different ways. A B650 motherboard uses only one of these controllers, while an X670 board uses two of them, doubling the total connectivity options. The E chipsets (the "E" for "Extreme") are identical to non-E chipsets. The difference is in the motherboard itself, as all E models must include at least one PCI Express (PCIe) 5.0 card slot for the CPU. All AM5 boards, whether E or not, must still include at least one M.2 PCIe 5.0 x4 connection for NVMe drives.

AMD's B650 chipset has eight PCIe 4.0 lanes to divide between expansion card slots and other integrated peripherals, like Ethernet and Wi-Fi. The peak supported USB count increases from 10 to 12 (six 3.x ports, six 2.0 ports), but all 3.x connections are now 10 gigabits per second (Gbps) capable and two can be combined for a 20Gbps port. B650 no longer has dedicated SATA connections, instead having four PCIe 3.0 lanes to use for either SATA or other devices. That means a B650 board can have just four SATA ports, but this shouldn't be an issue for most PC users these days. X670, being two B650 chips, has double the above, except four PCIe 4.0 lanes are used for the interconnection between the two chips, leaving 12 available for the rest of the board.

This doesn't cover everything new in AM5, but these are the biggest changes and upgrades that will affect you most likely.

ASRock's X670E Taichi looks distinguished, executive, and refined. It's hard to avoid "balance" and "harmony" puns when reviewing a Taichi product, especially when ASRock references Bruce Lee's water analogy on the product page. Nevertheless, it's fair to say this incarnation of the Taichi certainly finds equilibrium between typically gaudy show-offs and dull, monochrome premium boards.

Still, the look has some subtle pep. At first, the Taichi seems like another tired black-on-black-on-black color scheme (because black is edgy and serious, or something): Cue up the black printed circuit board (PCB), black connectors, black-nickel CPU bracket, black heatsinks. However, ASRock livens things up with texture, particularly a matte finish on the PCB. The heatsinks are powdered. A diagonal stripe reaches across the entire board with a faux brushed finish. The three contrast against each other, giving depth to the design.

Also, ASRock includes chamfered edges on the heat shields over the board, leaving thin strips of bare aluminum. This, along with a single exposed heat pipe and PCIe slot reinforcement brackets, add a touch of shine. A bronze stripe up the side, lettering over the voltage regulator module (VRM), and a bronze cog set into the chipset heatsink add a splash of color. The Taichi logo over the chipset and a small strip on the underside of the board are the only RGB elements. It's the epitome of the "less is more" adage, without going to extremes.

Flipping the board over shows the back covered almost as much as the front. A massive backplate stiffens the eight-layer PCB and helps support the weight of the heat shields on the top. The normal AM5 socket backplate is separate, and it can still be swapped out if necessary for mounting different CPU coolers. Not visible from the backside are through-hole pins from the PCIe card slots. The expansion card and RAM slots both use surface mount soldering to the board. ASRock states this gives a cleaner and more stable signal, which is critical at PCIe 5.0 and DDR5 frequencies.

If a tuxedo were made into a motherboard, it would be the X670E Taichi. It's understated without being bland, and classy without being ostentatious. It's Cary Grant in a three-piece and overcoat. And, just like ZZ Top's "Sharp-Dressed Man," you'll need a fat wallet to afford the $499.99 tag. If weight truly does mean quality, as many people believe, the Taichi certainly deserves its asking price. With the larger E-ATX size, heat sinks, and backplate, the board weighs more than 2 kilos.

As the CPU is now LGA, the mounting socket uses a clamping bar similar to that on Intel boards. AMD chose to use the same cooler mounting brackets and backplate as AM4, meaning most AM4 coolers should fit AM5 sockets. Coolers that don't use the stock brackets will continue to screw directly into the backplate. However, as with Intel's LGA 1200 to LGA 1700 switchover, you should still double-check with your cooler manufacturer to ensure proper mount compatibility.

To feed the new CPU and its higher TDP, ASRock gave the Taichi a robust power delivery system employing 24+2+1 phases with 105-amp stages. Two eight-pin power jacks are at the top left of the board, easily accessible with the sink cut back. To keep the VRM temperature under control, ASRock employs a stealth active cooling system. A fan is neatly tucked below the shroud, just under the bronze Taichi label, boosting the ventilation along the cooling fins' surface area. Under the sinks, a nickel-plated heat pipe makes an S-curve around the CPU socket, down to the chipset controllers, and loops to the bottom of the board, linking nearly every heatsink on the board to maximize cooling.

To the right of the CPU socket are four metal-clad DDR5 slots with top and bottom latches. ASRock claims the reinforcing, along with being surface mounted, provides a more stable signal at higher DDR5 clocks. A sticker atop shows a memory installation guide and a notice that the very first boot (or any boot immediately following a CMOS reset) will take extra time due to more extensive memory tests. The Taichi officially supports DDR5-6600 speeds, both XMP and EXPO, and can use up to 128GB of memory. This review used a Kingston DDR5-6000 EXPO kit, which had no problems.

With the Taichi, ASRock targets mostly high-end gamers, and so doesn't waste board space on frivolities like x1 card slots, and instead focuses on supporting dual GPUs. Two full-length, reinforced slots stand out from the heat shields over the board. Spaced three slots apart, they have room for even the biggest GPU coolers. Both connect directly to the CPU at PCIe 5.0 signaling, and they can split between x16 and x8/x8 modes.

Four M.2 slots are hidden by the heat shields on the board. Above the primary PCIe slot is the "Blazing M.2" that connects to the CPU at PCIe 5.0 x4. Two more sit between the two card slots and a further one is to the right of the RAM slots. These three run at 4.0 x4 through the chipset. The M.2 slot by the RAM can fit up to a Type-22110 (110mm) drive and operate in SATA mode, while all others are limited to Type-2280 (80mm) and smaller drives and operate only in PCIe mode. The cover plate mounting screws aren't formally captive, but they are undercut and don't easily fall out of the plates, so losing them in a crevice somewhere shouldn't be a problem. They also have thread-locking compounds on them, so they shouldn't come loose.

As heat is the biggest enemy to NVMe drives, it's unfortunate the Taichi only has thermal pads on one side for all the M.2 slots. However, the board comes packed with a cooler for the primary "Blazing M.2" slot. It's a replacement heat-shield cover with a heatsink tower and cooling-fin stack, on which a 40mm PWM fan is mounted. The fan cable is long enough to reach any fan header on the board or an add-in fan controller elsewhere in the case. If anything, the fan cable is probably too long, and you'll need to bundle it up to keep the cable out of the way.

Being a small fan, it becomes quite shrill at higher RPM speeds but is unobtrusive so long as it stays under 60% speed. The heatsink tower is designed to fit between GPU cooler backplates and large air coolers for the CPU, but, of course, you'll still want to check fit and clearance for your own specific installation. The "Blazing M.2" slot's cooler does make it tricky to reach the card release latch, especially when a large CPU air cooler is used.

At the bottom right of the board are eight forward-facing SATA ports. While an X670 board has enough PCIe lanes to natively host eight SATA ports, the Taichi uses two of its eight PCIe 3.0 lanes for the Ethernet and Wi-Fi. To make up for that, an add-on ASM1061 controller fuels half the SATA. One of those add-on lanes is shared with the second M.2 slot, so only one SATA drive can be used at a time between those two connections. RAID 0, 1, and 10 are supported for both NVMe and SATA drives.

The rear I/O panel uses an integrated cover and houses 10 USB ports: eight Type-A and two Type-C. The two Type-C ports are USB4, connecting through the CPU and add-on Intel Maple Ridge controller instead of the board chipset. They can operate up to 40Gbps and support power delivery up to 9V at 3A or 5V at 3A. Though the ports are both marked as Thunderbolt, whether they are officially Thunderbolt-compatible is a bit of a mystery. ASRock has a Thunderbolt driver for the board, and the UEFI has the option to enable or disable Thunderbolt, but nowhere on ASRock's product page, on the box, or in the manual does it mention Thunderbolt. More than likely, the hardware is perfectly capable, but licensing or certification hit some snags.

Of the eight USB Type-A ports, five are 10Gbps. AM5 is supposed to be able to support all USB3 connections at 10Gbps, but ASRock runs three of them at 5Gbps speeds instead. The ports are labeled whether they handle 5Gbps or 10Gbps traffic, but that doesn't do you much good when it's on the rear of a computer case, facing away from you. The two topmost USB ports with the yellow cog graphic are the so-called Lightning Gaming ports. These are meant for your mouse and keyboard, and each uses a different controller, which is supposed to reduce lag and jitter on input traffic.

If you're using integrated video, you can connect through the HDMI 2.1 port in addition to the two Type-C ports. The Taichi's audio system is powered by a Realtek ALC4082 codec with left and right channels on separate PCB layers. The front-panel audio header uses a SABRE9218 DAC and WIMA audio capacitors for a claimed 130dB signal-to-noise ratio. Rear audio jacks include line-out (auto impedance detecting) and mic-in 3.5mm jacks, plus an optical S/PDIF connector.

ASRock uses Killer-branded components to handle networking. An E3100G controller powers 2.5Gbps Ethernet, and an AX1675 combo card provides Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3. An external Wi-Fi antenna with a 1-meter cable is included in the box. As the antenna supports the 6GHz band, the cable is thick and quite stiff. Instead of a magnetic base, the antenna uses double-sided adhesive foam for mounting. Also on the rear panel are buttons for resetting the CMOS and using the BIOS Flashback function. Only one USB port can be used for Flashback, and it's highlighted in a yellow box, the same as the Flashback button.

A total of eight four-pin fan headers are available, most along the edges of the board. Two for the CPU are directly above the RAM slots. The CPU1 header allows only up to 1A of current, while CPU2 can provide up to 3A for heavy-duty water pumps. Five more fan headers are along the front and bottom edge of the board, with the last near the bottom right corner of the CPU socket. These six headers can supply up to 2A each.

If the 10 USB ports on the rear panel aren't enough for your use, the Taichi has five more USB headers on the board. On the front edge, between the 24-pin ATX power connector and SATA ports, is a 20Gbps Type-C front panel header and 5Gbps 3.1 header. The other three, one 3.1 and two 2.0 headers, are along the bottom edge. The Taichi also includes a two-port USB expansion card bracket to utilize the 2.0 headers. (The manual recommends using it for wireless peripheral dongles.)

As a premium board for overclocking and power users, the Taichi includes bench-friendly features. Buttons for power and reset are at the bottom right corner of the board, next to a debug error code display. After the system boots, the debug display switches to a real-time CPU temperature display. A separate clear CMOS jumper is just left of the debug in case, for whatever reason, you can't use the button on the back panel.

Four RGB headers are available if you want to dress up the Taichi a little more. One four-pin header on the bottom edge is compatible with the ASRock Polychrome RGB system, next to a generic addressable header. Two more addressable connections are near the top right corner. The audio header is at the bottom left, as typical, and the front-panel control header is at the bottom right.

As the Taichi is an E-ATX board, case compatibility requires a close eye. For the builder, an E-ATX board usually means extra caution when connecting anything on the board's leading edge. The SATA ports, USB headers, and ATX power connector all overhang the mounting screws, giving them no direct support underneath. The ATX power connector can be especially tricky to connect.

Another small annoyance is the sticker on the RAM slots. Peeling it off can leave residue and small scraps of the label over the slots. Heating up the sticker with a hair blower on low heat will soften the adhesive, allowing it to peel off cleanly. But really, ASRock should use a less sticky adhesive, like that of a Post-It Note. Or, ideally, make that label part of the protective film for the M.2 cover next to the memory.

Apart from these small distractions, the Taichi is easy enough to build into a full computer system. Fan headers at the top, middle, and bottom of the forward edge are in easy reach—more so than in most case fan arrangements. Exhaust fans next to the rear I/O panel might have a bit of a reach, though. Two USB3 headers give builders more options in routing those thick front-panel cables. Perhaps the most helpful feature here is that every connector and header is clearly labeled on the PCB using a font large enough to read, even for aging eyes. It's always helpful when you don't need to flip back to the manual every 30 seconds when connecting the front-panel power button and LED leads.

ASRock's USB Flashback process is simple and works as advertised. The warning sticker about a long first boot time is also accurate. Using the 32GB DDR5-6000 memory kit for this review, the initial boot is about two minutes. However, even normal boots can take a while or, more specifically, the POST time before the OS itself loads.

This seems to grow longer the more aggressively that the memory is overclocked. Using default DDR5-4800 settings, the time from powering on to entering UEFI is about 20 seconds. When using the higher DDR5-5600 and 6000 memory profiles (both EXPO and XMP), the time to UEFI increases to 40 seconds, sometimes even a full minute from a cold boot. But long POST times seem to be becoming the norm for many motherboards recently. With faster bus frequencies and tighter memory timings, it's paramount to ensure all the components and sub-systems are within spec and communicating correctly.

The UEFI prominently displays the Taichi logo in the background, just in case you forgot which board you're using. It uses the same layout typical of ASRock motherboards for years, but no EZ Mode is available. (This review used version 1.11.) Entering the UEFI lands you on the Main tab by default, showing basic system configuration and status.

ASRock's OC Tweaker tab is primarily for memory overclocking as CPU configuration is elsewhere. Standard JEDEC, Intel XMP, and the new AMD EXPO profiles are all supported.

Also on the OC Tweaker tab are Precision Boost Overdrive (PBO) presets and sub-menus for RAM profiles, timings, and external voltage. Ten system configuration slots are available to store and recall personal presets, which can also be exported to and imported from USB drives.

The Advanced tab still contains settings for the board's integrated components and peripherals, such as storage, USB, and PCIe configuration. As with all ASRock boards, the UEFI supports full 1080p resolution when it detects a compatible monitor, instead of 1,024 by 768.

Though it might be more intuitive for the CPU overclocking settings to be in the OC Tweaker section, they're under the Advanced tab instead. Every time you enter the AMD Overclocking sub-menu, you're presented with a warning about the risks of damaging your hardware.

ASRock's provided tools include a basic RGB configuration, SSD erase utilities, BIOS updater, and driver auto-installer utility. System temperature and fan control stay under the Hardware Monitor section. Fans can be customized with a five-point speed curve in the Fan-tastic GUI and set to respond to either CPU or motherboard temperature. The VRM fan (called MOS Fan) can only have its profile curve changed manually on the Monitor page using text fields.

For better or worse, ASRock continues to use separate applications and utilities rather than one comprehensive application for device updates and configuration. If you enable the driver auto-install in the UEFI (on by default), the network drivers will be installed on the first boot of Windows and you'll be prompted to launch the auto-download utility to receive the latest drivers.

With the drivers installed, you can find the rest of the utilities from ASRock's website. The App Shop utility will list any updated drivers as well as other applications and utilities available for your motherboard.

Overclocking and tuning for the motherboard continue to be handled by A-Tuning, though the Taichi has a special branded background different than the usual green motif. Controls here aren't as granular as those in the UEFI, but they're also easier to use. AMD-based boards also have a second overclocking utility, called Blazing OC, which allows handoffs between the manual settings in A-Tune and AMD's PBO. Here you can set thermal and power thresholds where the motherboard will shift from manual all-core overclocks to PBO that favors higher single-core performance.

System temperature monitoring and fan customization are still available in A-Tune, as expected. Also, whereas the MOS fan customization was limited to manual text entry in the UEFI, A-Tune lets you use the graphical interface.

Finally, as the RGB controls in the UEFI are quite limited, ASRock's Polychrome Sync app is for changing and synchronizing RGB lighting effects between the motherboard and any other peripherals.

First, we must address the $500 price tag. Is it a lot? Certainly. Is it outlandish? That's harder to say for certain. High-end products are the first produced at new platform launches because they have the highest profit margin. Manufacturers want to recoup the R&D costs that went into developing the new products, so there's always going to be a premium to pay as an early adopter.

However, as signal frequencies increase, so do the requirements of the pathways to carry those signals. PCB traces for DDR5 and PCIe 5.0 must meet tighter tolerances and higher standards than 4.0 specs. The more 5.0 connections on a board, and the longer those traces become, the more exacting the motherboard layout must be. What were acceptable manufacturing deviations for last-gen protocols can cause critical failures for current-gen boards today.

AMD requires all AM5 boards to support BIOS flashback and at least one PCIe 5.0 x4 NVMe slot. That means even low-end B650 boards will have connectivity that was considered premium-level only a few months ago. That's reflected in current pricing, as even the least-expensive B650 boards right now are above $150, while B650E and X670 boards start at $100 more.

So what is the Taichi providing above a $250 "base" board? Most noteworthy are the two PCIe 5.0 expansion slots, especially as they can run at an equal x8/x8 split instead of the x8/x4 split found in less-expensive options. As it's a safe bet the first slot will nearly always be used for a GPU, the downside is the Taichi only has one other expansion slot. Using that second slot for anything means the primary GPU drops to 5.0 x8, but as GPUs aren't even close to saturating PCIe 4.0 slots at this point, this is hardly a bottleneck. The two USB4 ports add further value and aren't something seen on every X670 motherboard.

ASRock's Taichi is far from flawless, however. Storage and USB don't seem as optimized as they could be. The add-on SATA controller is unnecessary, apart from advertising purposes to "compete" against boards with eight SATA ports. Between the four M.2 slots, four native SATA ports, and a bevy of fast USB connections for speedy external drives, those four extra SATA ports will hardly be used. Dropping the controller would have saved manufacturing costs and likely dropped prices as a result. Or perhaps the M.2 slot outside the RAM area could be dropped, allowing eight native SATA ports and shrinking the board to a more compatible standard ATX size. This is speculative, of course, and we all wish we could customize a motherboard to our exact specifications and price.

According to AMD's specs, the Taichi utilizes only two-thirds of the X670 platform's capabilities. Many connections run at 5Gbps instead of the 10Gbps the chipset provides. Does that make a difference in the real world? Likely not, as many 10Gbps connections are still available, to say nothing of the two 40Gbps USB4 ports. It may be nit-picking, but it does hurt the perception a little.

Outside the actual circuitry, a few fit-and-finish improvements would go a long way. With the expansion card slots buried in the heat shields, releasing the retention latches can be tricky, especially in the top slot when using the M.2 active cooling cover. A remote latch release would be quite welcome, along with quick-release clamps for the M.2 drives, so losing those tiny screws would be a non-issue. A magnetic mount on the external antenna would be an improvement. Also, the sticker over the RAM slots has all sorts of potential problems.

By all indicators, AM5 will be a long-term platform; AMD promises support through 2025. But AM4 was only promised through 2020 and it got two extra years, so there's a likely chance AM5 will be similar. Though the Taichi is certainly a sizable chunk at $500, that's not even in the upper 50% of the X670E price range now. It's tough to call it a value buy, but (at the risk of an unintentional "balance" pun) it's quite the flexible board for the money. It brings the most important next-gen features that will be heavily utilized in the next few years, some of which are more commonly available on pricier boards. On top of that, it includes some nice-to-have creature comforts, like high-quality audio and active cooling for the VRM and M.2 drive, without going to the ridiculous lengths of many budget-mauling "kitchen sink" boards. ASRock's X670E Taichi makes a few missteps along the way, but it delivers where it matters most.