Rounding the corner, working our way down the right edge, we spot the two-character Dr. Debug display. During POST, it displays codes that help locate any problems during boot. Skipping past the buttons for now, we see the 24-pin ATX power connector to feed the board, along with an 8-pin PCIe connector for supplemental power (to support 36W charging). Below that is a rare feature: two front-panel USB Type-C (3.2 Gen 2×2, 20 Gbps) ports, which are great if you can use both, but a bit of an oddity for a dedicated overclocking board.
Now that we have all the everyday motherboard items out of the way, we can focus on the OC Toolkit. A series of physical OC buttons offers hardware-level control of overclocking (the +/-) and easy access to Nick Shih’s OC profiles (the buttons labeled 1, 2, and 3). These are especially useful for the extreme overclocking crowd, where, with the help of the ASRock Hyper BCLK Engine (BCLK generator chip), you can use them at the razor’s edge of stability to get that last MHz out of your CPU or RAM. Set your speed (MHz) in the BIOS for the three buttons, and you can use them in Windows to recall the profile. The two rudimentary buttons below are for the Safe Boot and Retry functions. Tucked next to the Power and Reset buttons are seven small copper holes, dubbed the V-Probe. As the name implies, this area allows users to measure the board's voltage directly and is considered more accurate than software readings. While this isn’t terribly helpful for the average user, as software is generally good enough, it is fun to play around with. The last of the OC Toolkit is two switches along the bottom edge. One is for LN2 mode, and the other for Slow Mode; both are useful for extreme overclocking.
As you may expect, power delivery on the X870E Taichi OCF will handle anything you can put in the socket, no matter how hard you push it. The Renesas RAA229628 PWM controller manages the 22-phase ‘duet’ rail for Vcore to the Renesas R2209004 110A SPS MOSFETs. The 2,420A available for Vcore is one of the highest values we’ve seen this generation and won’t flinch under pressure, even if it’s a liquid nitrogen-cooled Ryzen 9 9950X at its limits.
On the bottom half of the board, partially hidden under the heatsink on the left, is the audio section. In typical Taichi fashion, we see the latest-gen flagship Realtek ALC4082 codec. Around it are multiple WIMA Audio caps and the ESS SABRE9219 DAC. Supported by the Nahimic audio application, you won’t find much better, even out of more expensive motherboards.In the middle are three PCIe slots for graphics cards and expansion, with the two full-length slots using reinforcement. Starting at the top is an open-ended PCIe 4.0 x4 slot (PCIE1) that connects through the chipset. Both full-length slots connect to the CPU: The EZ Release top slot supports PCIe 5.0 x16, while the bottom slot supports up to PCIe 5.0 x8. When the bottom slot is occupied, both slots soak up the 16 lanes and run x8/x8.
Hidden all around the slots are SIX M.2 sockets. The top two sockets, each with its own heatsink, are your CPU-connected PCIe 5.0 x4 (128 Gbps) connections. The top socket features ASRock’s M.2 Toolless design on the top SSD and heatsink, but not the rest. I would have loved to see the toolless design extend at least to the socket below. Under the large plate heatsink are four more M.2 sockets. These are all chipset-connected; two (M2_4/6) running PCIe 4.0 x4 (64 Gbps), while M2_3 runs at PCIe 4.0 x2 (32 Gbps). M2_5 also runs at 32 Gbps, but is PCIe 3.0 x4-capable.
And with all that, there’s a lot of bandwidth sharing going on: When M2_2 is occupied, both rear USB4 Type-C ports and this socket downgrade to x2 mode. You can run M2_2 in x4 mode with a simple BIOS setting, but that disables the USB4 ports altogether. Lastly, PCIE1 (the x4 slot) downgrades to x2 mode if M2_3 is occupied.
Across the bottom of the board are several exposed headers. You’ll find the usual, including additional USB ports, RGB headers, and more. Below is a complete list, from left to right.
The rear IO is packed with connectivity, with little room to spare. On the left is the BIOS switch, which is in a unique position, as it's typically on the motherboard. Next to that are the Clear CMOS and BIOS Flashback buttons. Continuing right, we encounter Wi-Fi 7 connectivity and an HDMI output for integrated video. That purple-and-green connector is a PS/2 port — something we don’t typically see on modern motherboards, but is helpful for extreme overclocking (USB use can cause instability). Next, there are a slew of USB ports, 12 to be exact. You get seven 3.2 Gen2 (10 Gbps) Type-A ports, 1 Type-C port, 2 USB 2.0 (480 Mbps) ports, and two USB 4 (40 Gbps) Type-C ports. Last but not least, the 5GbE port, and the 2-plug plus SPDIF audio stack.
There are plenty of ports on the rear IO for daily use, and even a few are suitable for the extreme crowd, too.
Current page: ASRock X870E Taichi OCF Features and Specifications
Key considerations
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Reference reading
- https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/motherboards/SPONSORED_LINK_URL
- https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/motherboards/asrock-x870e-taichi-ocf-motherboard-review#main
- https://www.tomshardware.com
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Informational only. No financial advice. Do your own research.