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Intel owns Rivet networks now, the company behind Killer NICs, so really, it’s all Intel. Networking duties are handled by Killer E3100G 2.5G and AX1675 Wi-Fi 6E controllers. We think six type-A ports is not enough for a high-end board, but the point is moot as ASRock includes a PCI bracket if you wish to add a couple more USB 2.0 ports via a header. These are joined by two 3.2 Gen 2 ports and four 3.2 Gen 1 ports. The highlight of the rear I/O features are the dual Thunderbolt 4 ports. Our VRM test, consisting of 20 minutes of Cinebench looping delivered a 53☌ VRM temp. Not that you should need to use them unless you have terrible case airflow.
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Should you require further cooling, ASRock bundles a tiny 30mm fan and a bracket for an optional 40mm fan. We’ll admit we didn’t even know it was there until after disassembling the system. The Taichi’s VRM heatsinks have less surface area than some, but note there is an internal fan adjacent to the I/O area. It seems likely that vendors designed the boards to cope with power guzzling AVX-512 loads, a feature that was subsequently removed. With its 20-phase 105A stages, even a heavily overclocked 12900K won’t stress it. As is the case with most high end Z690 boards, the ASRock has a very strong VRM solution.
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If you’ve read our Core i9-12900K review, you’d have read that under stock operation, it can pull a serious amount of power, and that’s before even thinking about overclocking. It may not be an issue for a typical gamer with a couple of M.2 drives and a SATA drive or two, but the Taichi does lack a little compared to some other boards in this price range, ones that support up to five M.2 drives. There are only three slots, with one of them supporting PCIe 3.0 x2 only. Perhaps the main feature weakness of the board is its M.2 complement. Does this help or hinder cable management options? It depends on your configuration, but it's worth considering when you put your build together. It’s worth noting is the location of two of the CPU fan headers, which are positioned above the primary M.2 slot. You also get a VGA holder bracket to prevent your GPU from sagging. Asrock says these can function as a protection from malware. There are a total of seven SATA ports, one of which (along with a single USB port) is independent from the others. Networking: Killer Wi-Fi 6E Killer E3100G 2.5G and Intel I219V 1G LANĪudio: Realtek ALC1220 7.1 Channel HD Audio USB: 2x Thunderbolt 4 Type-C Up to 1x USB 3.2 Gen2x2, 2x USB 3.2 Gen 2, 9x USB 3.1 Gen 1, 3x USB 2.0