ASRock B550 Taichi Review: The $300 B550 Motherboard with Chutzpah
by Gavin Bonshor on August 21, 2020 3:30 PM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
- AMD
- ASRock
- Taichi
- AM4
- Ryzen 3000
- Ryzen 3700X
- Ryzen 4000
- B550
- B550 Taichi
Board Features
The ASRock B550 Taichi is an ATX motherboard that is based on AMD's AM4 socket and positions itself as one of the most premium B550 models on the market. It uses a Ryzen 3000 processor to provide its PCIe 4.0 capabilities via the top full-length PCIe 4.0 x16 slot, a PCIe 4.0 x8 slot, and the top PCIe 4.0 x4 M.2 slot. The Taichi's other slots include a full-length PCIe 3.0 x4 and two PCIe 3.0 x1 slots. Located at the bottom of the board is a single PCIe 3.0 x4 M.2 slot, with plenty of SATA ports with a combined total of eight. Four of the SATA ports are driven by the chipset and support RAID 0, 1, and 10 arrays, while the other four SATA ports are controlled by an ASMedia ASM1061 SATA controller. The Taichi also has solid memory capability with support for up to DDR4-5000 memory, with a maximum capacity of up to 128 GB across four memory slots.
ASRock B550 Taichi ATX Motherboard | |||
Warranty Period | 3 Years | ||
Product Page | Link | ||
Price | $300 | ||
Size | ATX | ||
CPU Interface | AM4 | ||
Chipset | AMD B550 | ||
Memory Slots (DDR4) | Four DDR4 Supporting 128 GB Dual Channel Up to DDR4-5000 |
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Video Outputs | 1 x HDMI 2.1 1 x DisplayPort 1.4 |
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Network Connectivity | Intel I225-V 2.5 GbE Intel AX201 Wi-Fi 6 |
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Onboard Audio | Realtek ALC1220 TI NE5532 Amplifier (Front panel) |
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PCIe Slots for Graphics (from CPU) | 1 x PCIe 4.0 x16 1 x PCIe 4.0 x8 |
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PCIe Slots for Other (from PCH) | 1 x PCIe 3.0 x4 2 x PCIe 3.0 x1 |
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Onboard SATA | Four, RAID 0/1/10 (B550) Four (ASMedia) |
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Onboard M.2 | 1 x PCIe 4.0 x4 1 x PCIe 3.0 x4 |
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USB 3.1 (10 Gbps) | 1 x Type-A Rear Panel 1 x Type-C Rear Panel 1 x Type-C Front Panel (ASMedia) |
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USB 3.0 (5 Gbps) | 4 x Type-A Rear Panel 1 x Type-A Header (2 x ports) |
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USB 2.0 | 2 x Type-A Rear Panel 2 x Type-A Header (4 x ports) |
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Power Connectors | 1 x 24-pin ATX 2 x 8pin CPU |
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Fan Headers | 1 x CPU (4-pin) 1 x CPU/Water Pump (4-pin) 5 x System (4-pin) |
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IO Panel | 4 x USB 3.1 G1 Type-A 1 x USB 3.1 G2 Type-A 1 x USB 3.1 G2 Type-C 2 x USB 2.0 Type-A 1 x Network RJ45 2.5 G (Intel) 5 x 3.5mm Audio Jacks (Realtek) 1 x S/PDIF Output (Realtek) 2 x Intel AX201 Antenna Ports 1 x USB BIOS Flashback Button 1 x Clear CMOS Button 1 x DisplayPort 1.4 Output 1 x HDMI 2.1 Output |
The ASRock B550 Taichi has a premium networking selection that consists of an Intel I225-V 2.5 GbE Ethernet controller and an Intel AX201 Wi-Fi 6 interface which also supports BT 5.1 devices. Also located on the rear panel is one USB 3.2 G2 Type-C, one USB 3.2 G2 Type-A, four USB 3.2 G1 Type-A, and two USB 2.0 ports. Users looking for more USB connectivity can make use of the front panel headers with a single USB 3.2 G2 Type-C, two USB 3.2 G1 Type-A ports which allow for four ports, and two USB 2.0 headers which adds a further four USB 2.0 ports.
Test Bed
As per our testing policy, we take a high-end CPU suitable for the motherboard that was released during the socket’s initial launch and equip the system with a suitable amount of memory running at the processor maximum supported frequency. This is also typically run at JEDEC subtimings where possible. It is noted that some users are not keen on this policy, stating that sometimes the maximum supported frequency is quite low, or faster memory is available at a similar price, or that the JEDEC speeds can be prohibitive for performance. While these comments make sense, ultimately very few users apply memory profiles (either XMP or other) as they require interaction with the BIOS, and most users will fall back on JEDEC supported speeds - this includes home users as well as industry who might want to shave off a cent or two from the cost or stay within the margins set by the manufacturer. Where possible, we will extend out testing to include faster memory modules either at the same time as the review or a later date.
While we have been able to measure audio performance from previous Z370 motherboards, the task has been made even harder with the roll-out of the Z390 chipset and none of the boards tested so far has played ball. It seems all USB support for Windows 7 is now extinct so until we can find a reliable way of measuring audio performance on Windows 10 or until a workaround can be found, audio testing will have to be done at a later date.
Test Setup | |||
Processor | AMD Ryzen 3700X, 65W, $329 8 Cores, 16 Threads, 3.6 GHz (4.4 GHz Turbo) |
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Motherboard | ASRock B550 Taichi (BIOS 1.10) | ||
Cooling | ID-Cooling Auraflow 240 mm AIO | ||
Power Supply | Thermaltake Toughpower Grand 1200W Gold PSU | ||
Memory | 2x8GB G.Skill TridentZ DDR4-3200 16-16-16-36 2T | ||
Video Card | ASUS GTX 980 STRIX (1178/1279 Boost) | ||
Hard Drive | Crucial MX300 1TB | ||
Case | Open Benchtable BC1.1 (Silver) | ||
Operating System | Windows 10 1909 |
Readers of our motherboard review section will have noted the trend in modern motherboards to implement a form of MultiCore Enhancement / Acceleration / Turbo (read our report here) on their motherboards. This does several things, including better benchmark results at stock settings (not entirely needed if overclocking is an end-user goal) at the expense of heat and temperature. It also gives, in essence, an automatic overclock which may be against what the user wants. Our testing methodology is ‘out-of-the-box’, with the latest public BIOS installed and XMP enabled, and thus subject to the whims of this feature. It is ultimately up to the motherboard manufacturer to take this risk – and manufacturers taking risks in the setup is something they do on every product (think C-state settings, USB priority, DPC Latency / monitoring priority, overriding memory sub-timings at JEDEC). Processor speed change is part of that risk, and ultimately if no overclocking is planned, some motherboards will affect how fast that shiny new processor goes and can be an important factor in the system build.
61 Comments
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dromoxen - Tuesday, August 25, 2020 - link
How do you connect your endpoints directly ? I would like 2.5gb for my next purch but lack of cheapish switches is a stumbling block ... 2500K needs retiring ..Or do I wait for ??Gigaplex - Wednesday, August 26, 2020 - link
My file server has 2 ethernet ports. I connect my desktop to my file server directly with an ethernet cable using the 2.5G port, and use the other ethernet port on the server to the rest of my network. The network connections are bridged on the server, so the desktop can see the rest of the network.Spunjji - Monday, August 24, 2020 - link
"Why 2.5GbE" - because some people keep their boards a long time, 1GbE is pretty slow for NAS storage needs and the kind of person spending $300 on a motherboard probably isn't going to use their ISP's router as their main switch?Most ISP routers aren't WiFi 6 yet either, so it's weird that you think *that* makes sense but not the 2.5GbE.
You've arbitrarily stated a "maximum price" for B550 that seems more appropriate for B520.
xrror - Monday, August 24, 2020 - link
Of all of the possible things to complain about, you pick having onboard 2.5GB NIC?I mean, it just seems a strange choice as a complaint?
TheinsanegamerN - Tuesday, August 25, 2020 - link
By that argument most motherboards shouldnt even have gigabit, but rather fast ethernet 100 Mbps.seamonkey79 - Sunday, August 23, 2020 - link
This is as stupid as paying $100 extra for a AIO with a screen on the waterblock.Greys - Wednesday, August 26, 2020 - link
CoolOxford Guy - Wednesday, August 26, 2020 - link
Yes, it’s cool to parlay a midrange chipset at a premium price point.Why? Who knows!
Everett F Sargent - Thursday, August 27, 2020 - link
"Yes, it’s cool to parlay a midrange chipset at a premium price point.Why? Who knows!"
Try this B550 board ...
https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/B550-AORUS-MA...
If I wanted a 16-phase Voltage Regulator AND an MSRP below $300US ($280US) this looks like a pretty good option. I also am not into OC or gaming, so that I am fine with a very cheap graphics card running 8X and three M.2 PCIE 4.0 SSD's in RAID0 and a 3950X running stock. I'll also use ECC memory as this thing will be running all 32-threads 247 for weeks on end.
Plugin two (or one) additional PCIE 4.0 M.2's, the GPU is set to x8 instead of x16
So the question is, is there anything out there (AMD) that is available for a lower MSRP cost that has, at a minimum, a 16-phase Voltage Regulator? TIA
Oh and if you have a better solution for whatever reason(s) that would also be most useful.
I think the MB vendors know what they are doing, there appears to be no MSRP price overlap for comparable feature sets. Still trying to find an X570 that will do all that this MB can do at a lower MSRP price point.
I'm thinking of using this MB as a sort of test bed for my own numerical modelling codes (do I really need RAID 0 for I/O, RAM requirements and possibly some OC (depends on % improvement and temperatures, but gaining only a few percent seems to be rather pointless. which appears to be the current situation, I need more threads not a small % MHz improvement).
Oxford Guy - Tuesday, September 1, 2020 - link
I already said the VRM marketing pitch falls flat because these CPUs shouldn't even be overclocked.It's a gimmick and it flunks.