ASRock X299 Taichi Motherboard Overview
Taking a first look at the X299 Taichi it has a black PCB, but the bottom half of the board is designed to look like a big gear that sort of connects with the PCH heatsink, which is fashioned as a large gear as well. Definitely something different and and this design is what the Taichi boards are known for. For those wondering this is an ATX board so it has official dimensions of 12.0-in x 9.6-in.
Starting at the CPU socket we have Intel’s LGA2066 socket which supports their Core X-series high-end desktop processors (HEDT). Above the CPU socket we have our power delivery components. This board features a 13-phase power design that supports up to 1300W of power, so you should be ok overclocking Intel’s high core-count X-Series processors with this board. This board like many other ASRock boards features the Dr. MOS design that has the latest SPS (Smart Power Stage) technology. It’s optimized for monitoring current and temperature of each phase, thus delivering smoother and neater power to the CPU with enhanced performance and OC capability. There are premium 65A power chokes which effectively make the saturation current up to three times better, thus providing enhanced and improved Vcore voltage to the motherboard. Finally you also have Nichicon 12K Black Caps that offer 20% longer lifespans and provide more stability and reliability. There is a large aluminum alloy heatsink covering the power delivery components that says “X299” on it.
Flanking the CPU socket on each side you have four DDR4 DIMM slots (8 total). They are not color-coded or reinforced with any steel or metal. They do however have closed latches on the bottom so you can easily install and remove memory without having to remove your graphics card. This board supports up to 128GB of DDR4-4400 memory. Sitting above the top heatsink is your 8-pin EPS connector. Next to it is a 4-pin CPU Optional fan header and then over a little bit is your 4-pin CPU fan header. There is also a 4-pin fan header to the bottom left of the CPU socket.
Moving over to the side of the board there is a 4-pin RGB header, 24-pin ATX power connector, and USB 3.0 header that comes straight out of the motherboard.
Coming down the board you will find another USB 3.0 header and 10 SATA 6GB/s ports. The SATA ports as well as USB 3.0 header are at a 90 degree angle so they do not interfere with installed graphics cards. Eight of the SATA ports are controlled by the Intel X299 chipset, while two are controlled by the ASMedia ASM1061 controller.
At the bottom of the board you are going to find the rest of your headers and connections. From left to right you have your HD audio headers, clear CMOS jumper, 4-pin RGB header, Thunderbolt header, TPM header, two USB 2.0 headers, 4-pin fan header, POST code display, front panel headers, and another 4-pin fan header.
Most of the audio solution is covered by a dust cover, but ASRock is making use of their Purity Sound 4 solution, giving you 7.1 HD audio provided by the Realtek ALC1220 Audio Codec. The audio solution also features a 120dB SNR DAC with differential amplifier, TI NE5532 premium headset amplifier for front panel audio connector (Supports up to 600 Ohm headsets), and Nichicon Fine Gold Series audio capacitors.
As far as expansion slots go you have four PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slots and one PCI-Express 2.0 x1 slot. The board officially support both quad-SLI and quad-CrossFire setups. All four of the PCI-Express slots are steel reinforced.
In between the PCI-Express slots you are going to find three Ultra M.2 slots. These are PCI-Express 3.0 x4 slots. The middle slot supports longer 110 mm M.2 SSDs, while the other two slots support 80 mm M.2 SSDs.
Finally coming to rear I/O from left to right we have two USB 2.0 ports, PS/2 combination port, WiFi Antenna connections, BIOS Flashback button, clear CMOS button, four USB 3.0 ports, dual Ethernet (Intel I219V & Intel I211AT), two USB 3.1 ports (1x Type-A, 1x Type-C), and your HD audio connections.
