ASRock’s top-of-the-line motherboard within the Z690 series is once again its Taichi. Sure there’s going to be an Aqua at some point which we have already seen break some world records but it’s the Taichi that’s designed for true enthusiasts with its powerful VRM, cooling, feature-rich design. Like every generation, the latest Z690 Taichi stands out from the rest of the lineup, looking more premium than ever and rocking one of the best-looking Taichi designs to date.
The product is ASRock’s flagship product & is also priced at around $600 US so expect it to be spec’d out accordingly, the ASRock Z690 Taichi rocks a 20 Phase VRM with 105 Amp SPS Smart Power Stages. Power to the VRM and the CPU socket is provided through a dual 8-pin connector configuration.
ASRock Z690 Taichi Motherboard Features:
- Supports 12th Gen Intel Core Processors (LGA1700)
- 20 Phase SPS Dr.MOS Power Design
- Supports DDR5 6400MHz (OC)
- 2 PCIe 5.0 x16, 1 PCIe 4.0 x16, 1 PCIe 3.0 x1
- Graphics Output Options: HDMI, 2 Thunderbolt Type-C
- Realtek ALC1220 7.1 CH HD Audio Codec, ESS SABRE 9218 DAC, WIMA Audio Caps
- 6 SATA3, 1 Independent SATA3
- 2 Hyper M.2 (PCIe Gen4 x4)
- 1 M.2 (PCIe Gen3 x2 & SATA3)
- 2 Thunderbolt 4/USB4 Type-C
- 1 USB 3.2 Gen2x2 Front Type-C
- 2 Rear USB 3.2 Gen2 Type A
- 8 USB 3.2 Gen1 (4 Rear, 4 Front)
- 1 Independent USB 3.2 Gen1 Type-A Port
- Killer E3100 2.5G LAN, Intel Gigabit LAN
- Killer AX1675 802.11ax (WiFi 6E) + Bluetooth
- Lightning Gaming Ports
- ASRock Graphics Card Holder
The Z690 Taichi also features support for four DDR5 Rams with speeds of up to 6400+ MHz (OC) and a capacity of up to 128 GB. The board features 7 SATA III ports and a single USB 3.2 Gen 2 & triple USB 3.2 Gen 1 front-panel headers. Before we talk about I/O and expansion on this motherboard, let’s look at the design itself.
The Taichi theme has been carried out over to the Z690 series, rocking an all-black color scheme. The motherboard features a wide variety of heatsinks that cover the VRM, PCH, and M.2 slots while extended shroud designs are included on top of the I/O and audio PCB. ASRock is also using an active cooling solution on the motherboard which we will look into in detail. The design itself is a refinement of the Z590 Taichi which was a refinement of the Z490 Taichi. One of the more notable changes on the motherboard is the use of gold accents on the PCH and IO cover while the rotating gear from Z590 Taichi within the IO plate has been carried over to the Z690 Taichi.
Now coming to the expansion slots, the ASRock Z690 PG Veloctia motherboard features three PCIe slots (1 x Gen 5×16 & 1 x Gen 5×8 & 1 Gen 4×4), one PCIe Gen 3.0×1 slot, and three M.2 slots (2x Gen4x4, 1x Gen 3×2, 1 Gen 3×4), all of which are cooled by top-tier heatsinks.
For I/O, you get 2 Thunderbolt 4 Type-C ports, 2 USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports, 4 USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports, 2 USB 2.0 ports, one HDMI, dual 1G/2.5G Ethernet LAN ports, Intel WiFi 6E (BT 5.2) functionality, and an HD Audio jack and to top it all off, a button for flashing the BIOS.
