Product On Review: X670E Taichi Carrara
Manufacturer: ASRock
Street Price:
US: $529.00
UK: £599.99 (inc. V.A.T.)
AUS: $879
AMD will be launching a swathe of new Ryzen 7000-series CPUs in the coming months, bringing with them the 3D V-CACHE technology last seen on the Ryzen 7 5800X3D, but the fundamentals for their desktop computing platform will remain unchanged. The 600-series motherboards - supporting Socket AM5, PCIe 5.0 and DDR5 RAM - won’t be going anywhere, offering a range of features across a wide budgetary range alongside compatibility for the entire 7000-series (UEFI BIOS updates notwithstanding).
ASRock’s X670E Taichi Carrara operates within the context of this reality. It’s the highest positioned 600-series in ASRock’s AM5 motherboard range, featuring the most comprehensive feature set available from the Taiwanese company and a design that aims to satisfy both enthusiast overclockers and gamers with an eye to aesthetics.
The landscape of 600-series motherboards starts at a hair under $200 for B650 design, pushing up to $300 for B650E boards that support both PCIe 5.0 graphics and NVMe storage (rather than just storage, and that optionally). X670 boards from $300 offer only PCIe 4.0 graphics but PCIe 5.0 storage and the full suit of ancillary I/O offered by the X670 dual-chipset approach, whereas $350+ X670E is the deluxe design with PCIe 5.0 Graphics and NVMe storage alongside a full I/O options.
As an X670E motherboard this SKU supports the full suite of next generation technologies: DDR5 DRAM, PCIe 5.0 Graphics and PCIe 5.0 M.2 NVMe storage. Furthermore, the motherboard also has access to dual graphics operation through two PCIe x16 slots wired for x16 or x8/x8 operation, a feature that’s becoming increasingly rare in even enthusiast models. However it’s true claim to excellence is a power delivery system that almost stretches credulity: a 24+2+1 VRM design that will immediately peak the interest of overclockers assuming it can live up to its billing.
A single M.2 PCIe 5.0 slot for cutting edge storage is supported by three PCIe 4.0 slots (one of which is in a very unorthodox location), while networking is provided by KILLER WiFi 6E and 2.5G Ethernet controllers from Intel. Two USB 4 40Gbps Type-C ports are highlights of the integrated I/O options, backed up by ample USB 3.2 Gen2 and Gen1 ports on both rear and front panel I/O, while as many as eight SATA III 6Gbps drives are also supported depending on system configuration. Plus, a surfeit of managed RGB connections are also provided for personal customisation.
Despite this wide selection of features the ASRock X670E Taichi Carrara is far from the most expensive of X670E on the market. At over $500/AUD$879 it’s still a very considered purchase, but it comes in under flagships from ASUS, ROG, GIGABYTE and MSI. It’s also available as an all-black X670E Taichi variant if that’s more to your aesthetic tastes. Nonetheless it comes in well over $250 more than the much more affordable ASRock X670E Steel Legend, so it has a lot to prove to justify its premium status.
