ASRock X870E Taichi OCF Motherboard Review: The right formula for extreme AMD overclocking

ASRock’s X870E Taichi OCF is a purpose-built motherboard designed for extreme overclocking. All the buttons you see, the two-slot/1 DIMM-per-channel DRAM configuration, and the overbuilt power delivery are just some tools of the trade. Strap a liquid nitrogen pot on top, pour in some of that -196 degree Celsius goodness, and see if you can break some records (there’s more to it than that, but get the idea). And while that’s incredibly fun to do, people tend to use ambient cooling as their daily driver. But don’t worry, the Taichi OCF can do it all well.

Priced around $499 (ASRock has not confirmed pricing at this time), the board has a long list of features and specifications, so it’s not a pared-down racer either. The X870E Taichi OCF comes with six M.2 sockets (two PCIe 5.0 x4), fast networking with 5 GbE LAN and Wi-Fi 7, and a flagship-class audio solution with a DAC. I didn’t expect to see dual front panel USB Type-C headers (the Taichi doesn’t have them), but they’re here if you need them. The DIY-friendly M.2 socket (toolless SSD and heatsink) and EZ Release PCIe slot make swapping out storage and video cards easy, which is common when benchmarking is the rig's primary purpose.

Overall performance in our testing suite was right around average overall, with results varying by test. We again had to use our ‘backup’ DDR5-6000 kit, as the Kingston Fury Beast DDR5-6000 kit we use for baseline testing did not boot. We match the primary timings, but the sub timings are left to auto, which could explain some of the results, as they are looser. No results were out of whack, and in the end, we don’t have any concerns about them.

Below, we’ll examine the board's details and determine whether it deserves a spot on our list of the Best Motherboards. But before we share test results and discuss details, here are the board’s specifications from ASRock’s website.

Specifications of the ASRock X870E Taichi OCF

Inside the Box of the ASRock X870E Taichi OCF

Inside the box, ASRock gives you the basics and not much else. Included are two SATA cables, a Wi-Fi antenna, ARGB splitter cables, two thermistor cables, and a DRAM cooling fan. The latter is certainly helpful when dumping voltage into the DRAM as DDR5 (and its PMIC) can get wonky at higher temperatures. Otherwise, it’s typical motherboard extras.

Design of the Taichi OCF

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Hailing from the Taichi family, the X870E OCF features the familiar gear/cog aesthetic, a large, actively cooled VRM heatsink, and OC Formula branding on the other side. There are also yellow and silver diagonal accent lines running across all of them. A set of RGB lighting runs under the bottom, lighting up the entire chassis. All this sits on a black 10-layer, server-grade PCB. It’s a decent-looking motherboard, but the black-and-yellow combo is more of a love-hate thing for me. Still, it’s neutral enough to fit in with most any black build theme and looks spectacular on an open test bench!

Starting in the top left, the first feature is the beefy, heatpipe-connected VRM heatsinks, and where we spy the first RGB feature illuminating the Taichi cogs. We can also see the four vents to help the tiny integrated fan draw in and expel cooler air. Above that are two 8-pin EPS power connectors for the processor. The socket area is relatively clean, so it's easier to apply a conformal coating or a pliable eraser, to prevent moisture from reaching the PCB during sub-ambient overclocking sessions.

To the right of the socket are two DIMM slots with locking mechanisms to secure the sticks on both sides. With two slots, capacity is up to 128GB, with speeds listed at an incredible DDR5-10400 (when using 8000-series APUs). If you have a 9000 processor, it drops back to a still-fast 8400 MT/s (7000 series to 8000 MT/s). Outside of Mini-ITX boards, if you want to try to break records or just run your memory insanely fast, this is one of the boards that can do it.

Above the DRAM slots are the first three (of seven) four-pin fan headers. Each header supports PWM and DC-controlled devices. The CPU header outputs up to 1A/12W, while the rest support a more robust 3A/36W. Control over these headers is handled through the BIOS or through the A-Tune application.

Just off to the right are our first RGB headers — two (of three) 3-pin ARGB headers. The 4-pin RGB is located along the bottom edge, along with the third 3-pin. Control over these devices is handled through Polychrome RGB software.

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 2x2, 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.

• Front panel audio
• (2) 2-pin thermistor headers
• 4-pin RGB header
• 3-pin ARGB header
• TPM header
• (3) USB 2.0 headers
• (3) System fan headers
• 19-pin USB 3.2 Gen 1 header
• Power LED and Speaker header
• Front Panel header

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.

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