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At this point, we’ve looked at a few Z890-based motherboards. Overall, we like what they offer and most of them sound better than the versions they replace. But we haven’t looked at any of them yet that are specifically for significant overclocking, yet. ASRock’s Z890 Taichi OCF, is on the test bench for this review. At $599.99, the ASRock has all kinds of features aimed at overclocking pros. From built-in profiles from renowned overclocker Nick Shih and blazing-fast memory support via two DIMM slots, to redundant power delivery and the company’s own overclocking kit, there’s a lot included here.
But it’s not about extreme overclocking. There’s still plenty of fun spec for a daily driver, too. You get six M.2 sockets, 5GbE, and Wi-Fi 7, which is class leading My voice A codec with an amplifier, and some “EZ” features like PCIe EZ Release and tool-free M.2 heatsinks to make PC building and parts replacement easier. It is an upper mid-range motherboard that packs a slew of overclocking features. My only major concern is that the five USB Type-A ports on the back of the I/O device could be restrictive for those who want to run this as their main computer and use a lot of peripherals. Apart from that, it has everything you need, even the built-in RGB lighting.
Performance on the Z890 Taichi OCF, e.g Taichi Lite which we tested previouslywas one of the best performing boards overall. It didn’t excel in the Procyon Office suite (not that you might notice), but it performed well in productivity-type applications and was also competent in our gaming tests using ASRock Extreme Mode. We still haven’t seen power usage of 250W, but there’s no doubt that our Intel Core Ultra 9 285K processor was able to stretch its legs during testing.
Below, we’ll examine the details of the painting and decide if it deserves a spot with us Best motherboards existing. But before we share the test results and discuss the details, we will list the specifications from the ASRock website.
ASRock Z890 Taichi OCF specifications
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| socket | AM5 (LGA 1851) |
| slices | Z890 |
| Form factor | ATX |
| Voltage regulator | 27 phases (22x 110A SPS MOSFETs for Vcore) |
| Video ports | (2) Thunderbolt 4 (Type C) |
| USB ports | (2) Thunderbolt 4 (40 Gbps) Type C (1) USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 (20 Gbps) Type C (4) USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10 Gbps) (1) USB 3.2 Gen 1 (5 gigabits per second) |
| Network sockets | (1) 5 Gigabit |
| Audio jacks | (2) Analog + SPDIF |
| Old outlets/jacks | ✗ |
| Other ports/jacks | ✗ |
| PCIe x16 | (1) Version 5.0 (x16/x8) (1) Version 5.0 (x8) |
| PCIe x8 | ✗ |
| PCIe x4 | (1) Version 4.0 (x4) |
| PCIe x1 | ✗ |
| Crossfire/SLI | AMD Crossfire |
| DIMM slots | (2) DDR5-10133+(OC), 128GB |
| M.2 sockets | (1) PCIe 5.0 x4 (128 Gbps) / PCIe (up to 80mm) (3) PCIe 4.0 x4 (64 Gbps) / PCIe (up to 80mm) (2) PCIe 4.0 x4 (64 Gbps) / PCIe (up to 80mm) (supports RAID 0/1/5/10) |
| sata ports | (4) SATA3 6Gbps |
| USB headers | (1) USB v3.2 Gen 2×2 (20Gbps) Type C (2) USB v3.2 Gen 1 (5Gbps) (2) USB v2.0 (480Mbps) |
| Fan/pump heads | (7) 4-Pin (CPU, Chassis, AIO Pump) |
| RGB headers | (4) ARGB 2nd generation (3 pin) |
| Diagnostic board | (1) Dr.Debug two-letter debug LED |
| Internal button/switch | (1) Power/Reset Buttons (3) OC Profile Buttons (2) +/- Buttons (2) Retry/BFG Buttons (2) Slow Mode/LN2 Buttons (6) OC Buttons |
| sata controllers | ASmedia ASM1061 |
| Ethernet controller(s). | (1) Realtek 8126 (5GB) |
| Wi-Fi/Bluetooth | WiFi 7 – 320MHz, 6GHz, BT 5.4 |
| USB controllers | Genesis Logic GL3523 |
| High-resolution audio codec | Realtek ALC4082 |
| DDL/DTS | ✗ / ✗ |
| a guarantee | 1 year |
Inside the ASRock Z890 Taichi OCF box
ASRock includes some accessories to get you going: SATA cables (four), a Wi-Fi antenna, two thermistor-type cables, an ARGB splitter, and finally M.2 screws and mounts. It’s not missing anything major, but the included accessories from all brands are getting lighter.
Designed by Taichi OCF
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The design of the Taichi OCF is different from that of the Taichi and Taichi Lite. While the former is adorned with high-end aesthetics, the Lite and OCF have a mid-range look, showing off plenty of server-grade black 10-layer PCBs. The Taichi OCF pays homage to its roots and features a distinctive black/yellow gold color. Being a ‘part of Taichi’, the familiar cogs/cogs appear as an RGB feature on the VRM heatsink, with a second RGB zone below the heatsink in the form of the bottom plate for the M.2 sockets and chipset.
The Polychrome Sync app controls the RGBs, and offers several modes, many of which you can customize for each compatible part, or sync things together. Since this is designed for heavy overclocking and is meant to be sitting on an outdoor test bench, looks shouldn’t matter much. All that said, it’s a relatively neutral design that is sure to blend in with most building themes.
In the upper left corner there are two 8-pin high-density EPS connectors to power the installed processor. It’s flanked by a large VRM heatsink connected to a heatpipe and actively cooled, and features a brushed aluminum finish and the first RGB feature. Between the mass, surface area, and active cooling, these elements will stay cool even during extreme overclocking sessions.
Moving beyond the socket area, we reach the two DIMM slots with locking mechanisms on both sides. ASRock lists support for up to an impressive DDR5-10133, which is the highest support we’ve seen on the platform. The Memory Overclock Shield feature is said to reduce electromagnetic interference (EMI) that may affect memory overclocking. The goal is to enhance stability and reliability during high frequency operations.
All of our kits ran up to DDR5-8200 without issue, but the kit the company sent to show off the board, the GSkill 2x24GB DDR5-9466 kit, ran at that speed and was stable enough to run AIDA64 bandwidth tests, but it couldn’t pass our stress test. As you’ll see below, we’ve downgraded the speeds to DDR5-9200. With some modifications, it may be possible to stabilize the kit, but we are probably close to the IMC limits using ambient cooling. However, anything beyond DDR5-9000 is ridiculously fast and is usually meant for… Performance measurement And extreme overclocking adventures.
Above and to the right of the DIMM slots are three (of seven) 4-pin fan connectors. Each connector supports PWM and DC controlled devices, most of which produce a significant amount of power. Outside of the CPU head, which can supply 1A/12W, the rest supports 3A/36W and automatically detects the type of connected device. The board can’t support everything at once at full capacity, but knowing what each head can handle is a good thing. Fan control is handled through the FAN-Tastic section of the A-Tune software or BIOS.
Rounding the corner and moving to the right edge, we see the first two (of four) three-pin ARGB connectors, a Dr.Debug display, a 24-pin ATX connector to power the board, and an additional 6-pin power for the graphics cards. Below are a front USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 (20Gbps) connector and two 19-pin USB 3.2 Gen 1 (5Gbps) connectors.
Between the edge of the board and the RAM are the overclockers, made up of five LED-backlit buttons, two simple buttons, and two switches. Rapid Overclock Buttons The top two (marked with + and -) quickly adjust the multiplier or BCLK, while the bottom three are custom profiles created by Nick Shih. There are then two switches for Slow Mode and two LN2 modes (both useful in extreme overclocking scenarios), followed by the Retry and Safe Boot buttons.
If you plan to use sub-surround cooling and significant overclocking, you’ll need powerful VRMs, and the Z890 Taichi OCF won’t disappoint. The 27-stage configuration allocates 22 of them to Vcore. Power comes from the 8-pin connector(s) down to the Renesas RAA229130 PWM controller, then to 22 Renesas R2209004 110A SPS MOSFETs in a group configuration. The available 2,420 amps are enough to push a 285K operating speed to its limits, regardless of cooling method.
At the bottom left there is a partially exposed audio section based on the flagship Realtek ALC4082 codec. Unlike the Taichi or Taichi Lite, it does not have the ESS branded DAC but is still a high-quality audio solution. There are also dedicated audio capacitors and audio separation line to reduce electromagnetic interference. Audio control is handled through the Nahimic3 utility.
In the middle of the board, three PCIe slots and six M.2 sockets (that’s not a typo!) take up the majority of the space at the bottom. Surprisingly, the top slot on this board (PCIE_1) is not dedicated to graphics but is an open 4x slot running at PCIe 4.0 x4 speeds from the chipset. The two full-length slots (PCIE_2/3) connect via the CPU with the graphics core (PCIE_2) running at speeds up to PCIe 5.0 x16, while the bottom slot runs at a maximum of PCIe 5.0 x8. It’s a better physical setup than most and good for not freezing the PCIe slot, as sometimes happens with long sub-region overclocking sessions.
Among the slots are the six M.2 sockets mentioned above. The top socket, which features a quick release and larger heatsink, hides a PCIe 5.0 x4 (128 Gbps) slot. Below that is a second M.2 socket connected to the CPU, which operates at PCIe 4.0 x4 (64Gbps) speeds. Below the large board’s heatsink are four more M.2 sockets connected to the chipset that run up to PCIe 4.0 x4. Two of them also support SATA-based M.2 modules for increased flexibility in your storage space. All sockets handle modules up to 80mm and support RAID0/1/5/10 modes for anyone who wants extra speed or redundancy.
Along the right edge is another 4-pin fan header, four SATA ports, and LED-lit power and reset buttons. Above the SATA ports is a convenient voltage readout point that covers 11 different voltages and has its own grounding point. Although software readings have improved, hardware results from multimeters are subpar, especially when pushing the limits and using ambient cooling solutions.
At the bottom of the painting there are several exposed vertices. You’ll find the usual, including additional USB ports, RGB headers, and more. The unique feature is the six keys located at the bottom. Each can hold and enable a different BIOS profile, which is great for testing overclocking, whether extreme or not. Below is the complete list from left to right.
The rear I/O area is relatively sparse, with a large area used for ventilation of the effectively cooled VRM heatsink. The black and gold theme returns here, along with gray stickers on the ports. Colors do not have the highest level of contrast and may be difficult to read in low-light situations.
Working from left to right, we see the BIOS switch and the Reset and Clear CMOS buttons, all of which are useful for overclocking. In the middle, we spy eight total USB ports (2x TB4 40Gbps and 1x 20Gbps Type-C, 4x 10Gbps and 1x 5Gbps Type-A). On top of that, there is a fast 5Gb port. Next to that are the standard Wi-Fi 7 connectors, the old-fashioned PS/2 ports for keyboard and mouse (also good for significant overclocking), and finally, the dual-connect audio stack (microphone and line out) with SPDIF.
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