ASRock presented its next-generation Intel motherboards at COMPUTEX highlighting the return of the Taichi series as the flagship motherboard series of the brand. As stated on ASRock’s pre-COMPUTEX press release, ASRock will be repositioning the Taichi line as the flagship high-end series which will now be merged with the Formula OC and AQUA product lines. We visited the ASRock booth and took a closer look at the next-generation Intel and AMD motherboards. These motherboards feature ASRock's new innovations and support for the latest standards such as the CAMM2 memory modules, WiFi 7, and more.

ASRock EZ Release

Motherboard brands have been using their innovation to create a quick-release mechanism for the PCIe X16 slot to allow easy removal of graphics cards. ASUS and GIGABYTE use a button for such purpose, ASRock on the other hand opted for a sliding latch to release installed graphics cards on the PCIe X16 slot. The EZ Release mechanism can be seen present in several motherboard models, particularly the higher-end models.

Next-Gen Intel Motherboards

At COMPUTEX, ASRock presented the next-generation Taichi motherboards along with the Phantom Gaming, Steel Legend, Livemixer, and PRO Series models. ASRock now has five Taichi motherboard models for the next-generation Intel Core processors. ASRock's lineup at COMPUTEX is just the initial batch of motherboards and may be expanded in the future.

While There Be Another Taichi Carrara?
As for the Taichi Carrara motherboard model, Edwin from ASRock explains that the Taichi Carrara was a limited-edition model in celebration of the brand’s 20th anniversary. There won’t be a Taichi Carrara model for the next-generation Intel processors.

Next-Generation ASRock Taichi AQUA

For now, the top-end model appears to be the Taichi AQUA which is optimized for liquid cooling. Unlike the first AQUA motherboard, ASRock Z690 AQUA, the next-gen Taichi AQUA does not come with a CPU water block. Edwin from ASRock explains that it aims to give users the freedom to choose their CPU water block for the motherboard. The Taichi AQUA features a silver and white colour scheme. The Taichi AQUA comes equipped with a 33-power phase design and comes with a total of 6 M.2 slots, two of which are PCIe Gen5x4 M.2 slots.

Alphacool Waterblock

ASRock collaborated with Alphacool for the M.2/VRM waterblock which passes through the top PCIe Gen5x4 M.2 slot and the VRM. Alphacool appears to have plans to create a monoblock for the next-gen Intel ASRock Taichi AQUA motherboard which is to be sold separately.



The Taichi AQUA has a rather odd rear I/O having ten USB-C ports and no USB-A ports. While the description says the motherboard has dual Type-C ports, the Taichi AQUA comes with more than that. ASRock is positioning the Taichi AQUA for the next-gen peripherals and connectivity having this many USB-C ports. ASRock will be including USB-C to USB-A adapters with the motherboard to support USB-A peripherals. The Taichi AQUA will come with WiFi 7 and dual LAN ports having 10GbE and 5GbE ports.

Next-Gen ASRock Taichi OCF and Taichi OCF CAMM2

The Taichi OCF and Taichi OCF CAMM2 are designed to be the overclocking-oriented Taichi models that inherit the DNA of the ASRock OC Formula Series. The Taichi OCF only comes with two DDR5 DIMM slots just like most overclocking-oriented motherboards from other brands. The Taichi OCF CAMM2 model features support for the DDR5 CAMM2 modules that are being pushed this year. Both motherboards also feature WiFi7 and a single 5GbE LAN port.

Next-Gen ASRock Taichi and Taichi Lite

The next-gen Intel ASRock Taichi motherboard would be the mid-end Taichi model, sporting a 25 power phase design, six M.2 slots with only one PCIe Gen5x2 M.2 slot. The Taichi Lite motherboard model started last year with the ASRock Z790 Taichi Lite. Designed to be the affordable Taichi model, the Taichi Lite features smaller heatsinks, fewer RGB lighting zones, no EZ Release mechanism, and no steel-reinforced DDR5 DIMM slots.

Still, ASRock retained some helpful essential features in the Taichi Lite motherboard such as the onboard power and reset buttons and debug display. The Taichi and Taichi Lite have identical specifications, both having a 25-power phase design, dual LAN with 5GbE and 2.5GbE ports, Wi-Fi 7, and the same number of M.2 slots.

ASRock X870E Taichi

Also at the ASRock booth is the ASRock X870E Taichi for the next-generation AMD 9000 Series processors. It also features the EZ Release mechanism for graphics cards and a distinct VRM heatsink design that differentiates it from the Intel Taichi motherboard. Like the Intel motherboards, the next-gen ASRock X870E Taichi will come with WiFi 7.