Final Thoughts
ASRock’s Taichi motherboards really do stand out when compared to other motherboards. Most motherboard manufactures have an entry-level segment, then a gaming segment, and then finally a high-end enthusiast segment. The Taichi sort of has elements from all three, because I can’t think of another X299 motherboard that packs in the features like this board does for its price of only $289.99.
Some of those great features include three Ultra M.2 slots, dual-band 802.11ac WiFi, dual LAN, USB 3.1, Quad-SLI and Quad-Crossfire support, a 13-phase power design, and even RGB lighting with two RGB headers. While you might find a couple of these features in other X299 motherboards in this price range, you are not going to find them all. Hell there are not many X299 boards in this price range that even offer WiFi.
When it comes to overclocking this board is very solid. We were able to achieve 4.6 GHz on all 10 cores of our Core i7-7900X, which seems to be when we reach our thermal limit under load conditions. I’m sure if we had better cooling or de-lidded our CPU we could go even further with this board. The 13-phase power design and its high-end components make it possible to overclock the higher 16 and 18 core chips in the Core X-Series. The X299 Taichi was the board we used to test both the i9-7980XE, and i9-7960X and we overclocked both chips no problem.
The only part where this board lacks in my opinion is its software and BIOS. Compared to ASUS, Gigabyte, and MSI the BIOS is really lacking and just seems dated. Also the software needs work. I like the App Shop, but why can’t I launch my apps through it? I don’t want a ton of icons on my desktop for all of the ASRock apps and it would just be nice to have all my motherboard companion apps in a single easy to find location where I can launch them.
It seems everyone that I’ve talked to has said the Taichi line is solid and I would have to agree. It gives you quite a lot of value and a price that won’t really break the bank. You just are not going to get all of the flash and bling you see on other motherboards, and most people will be fine with that given what you get with this board. As I mentioned this board is only $289.99. Overall ThinkComputers gives the ASRock X299 Taichi a 9 out of 10 score and our Good Value Award!
Pros:
– Price
– 13-phase power design
– Triple Ultra M.2 slots
– Support for Quad-SLI and Quad-Crossfire
– Unique gear design
– RGB lighting and two RGB headers
– Dual LAN as well as WiFi
– USB 3.1
Cons:
– BIOS and software could use some work
