ASRock X99 Taichi Review

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How We Test

Each motherboard is explicitly set to 100 MHz BCLK with a fixed 35x multiplier for all performance benchmarks. Power consumption and heat generation are tested with one 140mm fan on the liquid cooling array set to 100% while all others are disabled. Speed Step and energy saving features are enabled where possible. Windows' default "Performance" power option preset is used for every test except idle power consumption, which uses "Balanced."

Test System Configuration

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CPU CoolerWaterblock - EK Supremacy Evo (Insert 2, Jet 3)Radiator - EK CE280 and PE360Fans - EK F3-140ER (2) and EK F4-120ER (3)Pump - D5 PWM G2Reservoir - EK XRES 140 Revo (200 mL)Tubing - 13/10 DuraClear
SoundIntegrated HD Audio
NetworkIntegrated Gigabit Networking
PowerAntec HCP-1200: ATX12V v2.3, EPS12V, 80 PLUS Gold
Software
OSWindows 10 64-bit
GraphicsCrimson 16.10.1 WHQL

Comparison Products
MSI X99A Gaming Pro Carbon
Gigabyte GA-X99P-SLI

Benchmark Suite

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Benchmark Settings
Synthetic Benchmarks & Settings
PCMark 8Version 2.7.613Home, Creative, Work, Storage, Applications (Adobe & Microsoft)
3DMark 13Version 4.47.597.0Skydiver, Firestrike, Firestrike Extreme Default Presets
SiSoftware SandraVersion 2016.03.22.21CPU Arithmetic, Multimedia, Cryptography, Memory Bandwidth
DiskSPD4k Random Read, 4k Random Write128k Sequential Read, 128k Sequential Write
Cinebench R15Build RC83328DEMOOpenGL Benchmark
CompuBenchVersion 1.5.8Face Detection, Optical Flow, Ocean Surface, Ray Tracing
Application Tests & Settings
LAME MP3Version 3.98.3Mixed 271MB WAV to mp3: Command: -b 160 --nores (160 Kb/s)
HandBrake CLIVersion: 0.9.9Sintel Open Movie Project: 4.19 GB 4k mkv to x265 mp4
BlenderVersion 2.68aBMW 27 CPU Render Benchmark, BMW 27 GPU Render Benchmark
7-ZipVersion 16.02THG-Workload (7.6 GB) to .7z, command line switches "a -t7z -r -m0=LZMA2 -mx=9"
Adobe After Effects CCRelease 2015.3.0, Version 13.8.0.144PCMark driven routine
Adobe Photoshop CCRelease 2015.5.0. 20160603.r.88 x64PCMark driven routine (light and heavy)
Adobe InDesign CCRelease 2015.4, Build 11.4.0.90 x64PCMark driven routine
Adobe IllustratorRelease 2015.3.0, Version 20.0.0 (64-bit)PCMark driven routine
Game Tests & Settings
Ashes of SingularityVersion 1.31.21360, DirectX 12, GPU-FocusedHigh PresetCrazy Preset
F1 20152015 Season, Abu Dhabi Track, RainMedium PresetUltra High Preset
Metro Last Light ReduxVersion 3.00 64-bitHigh QualityVery High Quality
The Talos PrincipleVersion 267252, 64-Bit, DirectX11High Preset, Max Render 1920x1080Ultra Preset, Max Render 1920x1080


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Eric Vander Linden
Eric Vander Linden is a Contributing Writer for Tom's Hardware US. He tests and reviews motherboards, specializing in high-end Intel chipsets.
13 Comments Comment from the forums
  • h0lymikes
    Hey I had a question,
    Does this motherboard support Dolby Digital Live? I would really like to hook up my pc to a Stereo Receiver for gaming in 5.1 surround.
    Reply
  • velocityg4
    20000919 said:
    Hey I had a question,
    Does this motherboard support Dolby Digital Live? I would really like to hook up my pc to a Stereo Receiver for gaming in 5.1 surround.

    No, it supports DTS.

    Reply
  • michael_732
    lolz... x-99... really? while x-99-ers have no real reason to go x-299 and their boards should still be good. for anyone without lga-2011-3... don't bother. ryzen 7 1700 and a motherboard can be had for less than the intel cpu with better performance and way lower thermals. only regret i had (only momentary) was not having the lovely quad channel memory. now i can wait for august and get a threadripper with 64 pcie lanes plus a motherboard for the same $1,000 that the x-299 cpu i'd be interested in would cost without a motherboard and with 20 fewer pcie lanes.
    i mean quad sli at x16 for all four, where the intel would have to drop gpu's to x8. puh-leeze, no contest.
    Reply
  • Malik 722
    219$ lovely, pity it's not available in my country.
    Reply
  • JamesSneed
    This board came out a year ago and now x299 is out. Does it seem like you wasted your efforts on writing this up? Did anyone really read this review?
    Reply
  • Kirk1975
    It is a well known fact that Broadwell-E has memory overclocking problems. Reference article: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/g.skill-trident-z-f4-3200c14q-32gtzkw-quad-channel-kit,4706.html

    It is my opinion that you were a little hard on this motherboard. Broadwell-E has been the bane of overclockers everywhere, regardless of the motherboard used.
    Reply
  • Kirk1975
    Memory overclocking has been an issue with Broadwell-E since it's inception. Please reference article: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/g.skill-trident-z-f4-3200c14q-32gtzkw-quad-channel-kit,4706.html

    It is my opinion that you were a little hard on this motherboard. Broadwell-E has been the bane of overclockers existence since it's inception.
    Reply
  • michael_732
    20004243 said:
    It is a well known fact that Broadwell-E has memory overclocking problems. Reference article: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/g.skill-trident-z-f4-3200c14q-32gtzkw-quad-channel-kit,4706.html

    It is my opinion that you were a little hard on this motherboard. Broadwell-E has been the bane of overclockers everywhere, regardless of the motherboard used.

    hard on the mobo? no, it's an excellent mobo.
    i'm hard on someone pitching x99 in the summer of 2017. X99 had been the only way to build a pc with a high core count and high ipc. it's not any more, in fact, the subset of people who must have quad channel (non ecc) memory is vanishingly small. ryxzen has changed all of that from a purely technical perspective. furthermore, while x299 may not be the way to go, at least now we have a superior alternative (as the regular ryzen has been kicking posteriors) for those who need quad channel, ECC or non-ecc motherboards for handling heavy multi-threaded workloads in Threadripper. hey don't get me wrong, i've been an intel guy for decades...it's just that AMD has won hedt, server (epyc), and consumer (ryzen) cpu architectures for this generation of products. intel will be back as soon as they fire some hangers-on and get back to the real work we all know they can do.
    Reply
  • Glock24
    Unless Broadwell-E CPU prices are rock-bottom cehap right now, I don't see the point of this review. Yes I know X299 has been a train wreck, but the "lower end" i7-7800X and i7-7820X are faster and cheaper than the Broadwell-E equivalents. And of course, Ryzen and Threadripper may be a better alternative for a lot of people with ECC support and more PCI-E lanes on X399.
    Reply
  • Kirk1975
    Micheal_732 My comments were directed towards the author of the article. I do not wish to get into an argument about which platform is better or worse than the other. I was just pointing out that the motherboard in question seems to be unfairly burdened with the brunt of what is historically a problem with Broadwell-E in it of itself.
    Reply