The ASRock Z790 Taichi Lite: Flagship Features at a Mid-Range Price
I’ve been waiting for a budget Z-series motherboard to come along and knock Asus off its pedestal ever since the Asus ROG Z-Series Z390 Rascal appeared at the top of our best motherboard list. The Asus ROG Zenith Extreme is undoubtedly the best Z390 motherboard, but its price of $599.99 puts it out of reach for many. Thankfully, ASRock’s Z790 Taichi Lite changes the game, offering flagship-class hardware at a mid-range price of $379.99.
Despite its low asking price, the Z790 Taichi Lite still looks and feels like a premium motherboard. It feels every bit as good as the original Taichi, and even improves on certain aspects, such as the design. The Z790 Taichi Lite also packs plenty of extras and surprises, with dual Thunderbolt 4 Type-C ports, ample storage options, a high-quality audio solution, and more.
ASRock Z790 Taichi Lite Specs
Here are the specs of the ASRock Z790 Taichi Lite:
ASRock has clearly taken a different approach to the design of the Taichi Lite, with the usual stylish heatsinks replaced with stenciled cog shapes on the heatsinks and PCB, which looks a little more industrial. On the whole, I don’t think it looks as good as the original, and it gives the board a more budget vibe. I also feel that it’s missing the premium vibes I get from the Asus ROG Rampage IV Extreme and Maximus Extreme boards.
Inside the box, you’ll find the motherboard and a few accessories. You’ll get the basics such as screws for the CPU and GPU, a manual, and a driver disc, but there are a couple of surprises too. For example, there’s a PCIe riser cable and a three-way M.2 adapter to help you install the best NVMe SSD. ASRock’s Blazing M.2 Heatsink is also recommended for the latest PCIe 5.0 M.2 SSD modules, but I can’t help but feel it should be included.
The Z790 Taichi Lite has a matte-black 8-layer E-ATX PCB with oversized black heatsinks. The heatsinks themselves look a little different to the original, but they’re just as effective. There’s also a clear CMOS button, a POST code display, and a button to reset the BIOS.
There are plenty of fan headers on this motherboard, giving you the ability to custom watercool your CPU if required. There are eight 4-pin fan headers and six 3-pin fan headers for a total of 14 fans. This is a big number compared to other boards, and it’s good to see the two additional 4-pin headers for watercooling setups.
Under the heatsinks, you’ll find a 24-phase power delivery system for the processor, capable of handling overclocking and sub-ambient cooling methods. This is a step up from the 20-phase system of the original Taichi, and it should help you get the most out of your hardware.
The Z790 Taichi Lite has three full-length PCIe slots, five M.2 sockets, and a high-quality audio solution. The top two PCIe slots are reinforced and run at PCIe 5.0 x16 or x8/x8 speeds, while the bottom slot runs at PCIe 4.0 x4. This means you can use multiple AMD Radeon GPUs or a couple of the best gaming SSDs in the top slot for the best gaming rig possible.
There’s also a single M.2 slot that shares physical locations and lanes with two of the other M.2 sockets. This means you can’t use a PCIe SSD in this slot, but it does work with the ASRock AIC SSD2D4M, which can be used to add additional USB ports to the rear I/O.
The Z790 Taichi Lite supports AMD Crossfire, but it doesn’t support NVIDIA SLI. This is disappointing given that the original Taichi does support SLI, but it’s likely a decision to keep costs down.
For USB connectors, there are two USB 3.1 Gen2 ports, ten USB 3.1 Gen1 ports, and two USB 2.0 ports. There are also SATA ports, headers for additional USB ports, RGB, and power/reset buttons. The Z790 Taichi Lite supports RAID modes for both NVMe storage and SATA ports.
ASRock Z790 Taichi Lite Software
The ASRock Z790 Taichi Lite’s software is fairly basic, with a few handy features. For example, you’ll be able to control the RGB lighting via the ASRock RGB LED utility, but it’s a little basic compared to Asus’ software. You’ll also be able to control the power of the onboard audio chip via the Realtek ALC4082 software, but there’s nothing quite like Asus’ Crystal Sound 2 software on the Zenith Extreme.
ASRock Z790 Taichi Lite Pricing and Final Thoughts
The ASRock Z790 Taichi Lite is an incredible motherboard for the price.
