Z390 is finally amongst us and the CPU details
are still out there in the wild
so we'll have to wait on those,
but in particular in this review
I can't talk about any of those CPU details as just yet.
But I can't say one thing and that is
I did test out a particular CPU that puts out a lot of heat
to stress this VRM for this review.
And so what we've got here
is the Z390 Taichi Ultimate from ASRock
which is essentially a step up from the Z370
i7 Professional Gaming Series
even though it features a similar set,
they've gone with the Taichi Ultimate to implement
that 10 gigabit NIC for example
as well as adding two additional USB ports on the back
and then beefing things up on the motherboard.
For instance, they're giving you
eight PWM fan controller outs as well as
an additional four pin power feed for the CPU.
But on that note of VRMs
and everything else with this motherboard
let's go in-depth and take a look for you guys.
♪ I wish that I was a mad man ♪
♪ That maybe I would fall ♪
Welcome back to Tech Yes City
and here we have the Z390 Taichi Ultimate
which is ASRock's flagship board
for this chipset in particular.
Previously it was the Professional, as I said in the intro,
Z370 Gaming i7 Professional motherboard.
They are pretty similar in terms of their
12 phase VRM designs, feature 12k capacitors from Nichicon,
60 amp chokes, as well as Texas Instrument's NexFETs.
These are FETs that are true and tried in the industry
and they did a phenomenal job of keeping
a particular CPU under wraps when it came to overclocking.
When it wasn't overclocked we're looking at about 79 degrees
on that motherboard and then 44 degrees on the heatsink.
The heatsink they are using weighs in at about 250 grams.
But I will say one thing with this VRM,
it did handle the particular CPU absolutely fine,
nothing to worry about, even with no VRM cooling.
But in terms of efficiency, the Maximus Hero 6
did do an ever so slight edge
in getting better efficiency numbers
so maybe ASRock will want to think
about in the next and implementations of their motherboards
moving over to Vishay Siliconix MOSFETs.
Moving over to memory overclocks,
this is 32 hundred megahertz XMP profiles
matched to overclock at manually to 3,700 megahertz,
same as the Maximus Hero.
So the memory over clocks,
at least in my experience with this motherboard,
aren't going to be limited by the motherboard itself,
more so your memory.
Moving down the motherboard we've got three NVME solutions.
Here the bottom one featuring a heat sink
and this heatsink does work and it works pretty well,
dropping temperatures over 20 degrees.
So when we had the heatsink on
we saw 72 degrees in the software itself
doing a 100 gigabyte file transfer,
58 degrees on the heatsink.
Then with the heatsink off, 94 degrees on the PCB
and then 97 degrees with it off.
Keep in mind I am doing my readings
at particular points in the test
and that I'm comparing it apples to apples
in that same particular test.
So in other motherboard reviews you may see the results
differ a little bit.
Moving through to PCI solutions,
they've got steel-reinforced slots on the 16x slots
even though one of them is only a true 16x slot,
the one below that is 8x and then the one below that 4x.
So if you are getting two RTX 2080 tis
then you may wish to step it up to the X299
or go with AMD solutions for their motherboards
because you will be limited to two 8x slots
when it comes to putting those motherboards in NV link,
which I haven't tested yet but it may be cause for concern.
Since the 8-speed slot may just limit the RTX 2080 ti
I haven't tested it yet so I can't confirm.
Then moving through other features,
we've got power and reset buttons
as well as a doctor debug LED readout.
Your front USB Type-C out as well as front USB 3 out
and eight SATA ports onboard so a lot of connectivity
as well as, as we mentioned before eight PWM fan controllers
that can be controlled via software.
There's also RGB lighting at the top-left heatsink
and also the bottom right Taichi Ultimate heatsink
that can be controlled via the Polychrome RGB sync software,
as well as having an additional four pin and three pin outs
for connecting different devices
and controlling it via the motherboard itself.
And now looking at ASRock's on board audio solution,
they called the Purity Sound 4,
it is phenomenal for an onboard audio solution.
Below seven Hertz we saw a drop off there
just like the upcoming ASUS review,
you'll see that the onboard audio solutions are phenomenal
and we saw that like literally maximum
was like a two decibel drop-off below seven Hertz.
After that we saw the frequency response curve
being pretty much perfectly flat
the whole way through those frequencies
that your ears will definitely need
for a nice natural sound.
Under 80 decibels of crosstalk,
however after a volume level of 90,
there is a little bit of audio leaking
over from the left channel to the right channel.
So if you are using the Realtek 1220 onboard audio solution
for headphones or speakers via analog output
then in my opinion you will want to keep
that volume level at 90 or below.
The balance of the left and right channels
compared to each other was within 0.1 decibel spec
which is phenomenal again
and looking at the onboard mic in or the ADC,
we've got here 192 kilohertz 24-bit.
As well as on that note, the audio out supports
up to 192 kilohertz 32-bit depth,
so you've got a lot of play room there.
Though with the mic in itself we've got a hundred level
plus 30 DB and there is noise suppression,
this is visible when we were doing a faux recording
just from the mic in line itself via no microphone.
You can see that it's perfectly flat,
though when you do change sometimes you can identify
a little boost while it's changing the decibel levels.
That's essentially noise suppression kicking in
heavier the more you raise the volume.
So for professional recordings with this onboard audio
you'd only want to use the line in
but the mic in will be fine
for talking to your mates, playing games,
and keeping things noise free.
Also one notable thing with the audio out
is the volume levels have been raised,
especially when I compared to that of the Z370.
Also covering some last-minute things with this motherboard,
you've got dual band AC Wireless
with an included antenna which is an external device.
Me personally, I do prefer the antennas,
I think they're more mobile and less clutter on your desk.
But of course the module seems to be a way
where the higher end flagship boards are going.
And looking at the back of the board I must say,
you've got a lot of different connectivity here.
Eight USB ports, one of those a 3.1, one of those a Type-C,
as well as six of those being 3.0.
Display port and HDMI outs as well as
two one gigabit per second NICs,
one of those being a 219 V and the other being a 211 AT.
And then you've got an equator 10 gigabit NIC
which in speed tests did a phenomenal job.
And also on that note, testing the USB 3 speeds
they showed no slowdowns whatsoever.
You've also got a clear CMOS button
and a manual 5.1 analog out for your surround sound
or an optical out and I love those optical outs,
especially if you're using something
like the Z906 surround sound,
which I'm using and I absolutely love it
and I do rely on those optical outs,
so please, never get rid of them.
And touching on the UEFI BIOS,
you've got a simple and advanced mode.
Of course, I'm so used to advanced mode
going through the features here has everything I'd want,
especially for air and water overclockers.
Nothing is really changed up here
compared to previous generations of ASRock motherboards,
at least specifically the Z370 or the Z200 series.
It has all the features I'm looking for
when it comes to overclocking CPU control
as well as voltage, case ratios, DDR4 RAM speeds,
as well as having presets there too,
but one thing I will point out
is maybe it could use an aesthetic boost.
I think the competitors are starting to update their BIOSes.
I would like to see a little bit of a fresh update,
but one thing I didn't find,
the Polychrome RGB software control in this particular BIOS
but keep in mind this is a pre-release sample
though there is the option to automatically update it
if you've got an internet connection
coming in via your router.
You can also save overclocking profiles individually
and control each of the PWM fan headers
automatically or manually.
And now we're a conclusion time with
the Z390 Taichi Ultimate
and as always ASRock do a phenomenal job
I guess of bringing value into flagship.
This does come in cheaper than the competitors options
or at least with the Ultimate,
since you're getting the 10 gigabit NIC,
it comes in around the same as the competitors solutions
which are their flagship motherboards.
If you take away the Ultimate and just get the Taichi
then you do save quite a bit of money
and it is my recommendation to go
with the normal Z390 Taichi
that should be released with the same specs,
minus one of those 10 gigabit NICs.
And so I've recommended this in the past,
just grab yourself a 10 gigabit NIC if you need it
and then port that over to build to build.
Since you do get that four speed PCI slot down at the bottom
which let's face it, no one's going to be going
with 3-way SLI in 2018 or 2019 unless you're
going for crazy overclocked battles.
But even then, they're only using two cards.
But currently the Z370 Taichi in Australia
comes in around 280 Aussie,
in America it's a lot cheaper as well.
So coming into the great price point,
the Ultimate, as I said before,
does add around about 70 to 100 Aussie dollars.
I don't have official pricing just yet,
I will update the description below.
But basically for a flagship board,
it definitely ticks all the boxes I would want
and you would want to go with the Taichi Ultimate
if you see yourself using this for say the next five years
and you do utilize 10 gigabits per second solutions
for the NIC itself, so you do have that on board,
you won't have to worry about getting any add in cards.
So that is the option ASRock are offering
and it is a solid board through and through,
from anything from the VRM to the overclocking
to the BIOS features and to the onboard audio.
But more importantly it can handle CPUs
that do put out a lot of heat
with overclocks that are very high.
I have confirmed with a colleague of mine
who lives up in Brisbane about these overclockings
and this board specifically
and he was able to get much better numbers than I was
through high-end custom overclocking water cooling
and he said that the VRM on this particular board as well
handled the particular CPU that puts out a lot of heat
absolutely fine.
Anyway guys, hope you enjoyed this review, stay tuned,
I will have the Maximus Hero 6 coming out as well.
Hope you enjoyed this one,
if you did then be sure to hit that Like button,
let me know in the comment section below
what you think about Z390
and more specifically the Z390 Taichi Ultimate.
Love reading your thoughts and opinions as always
and I'll catch you on the next tech video very soon.
Peace out for now, bye.
(electronic music)