Introduction

Over the past two years the line between HEDT and mainstream consumer platforms has grown smaller and smaller. This change is in large part due to the enormous success of AMD's Ryzen family of processors. As consumer CPU core counts go up, the market for HEDT shrinks. In light of this changing market, Intel has opted to offer their refreshed Core-X series processors with a huge price cut over the previous generation. This is a huge win for the community, putting the Intel Extreme processors back in reach of many consumers who couldn't justify the nearly US$2,000 price tag top offerings previously commanded.

Of course, that isn't what you're here to see. Today, we will be turning back to AMD, who have set about redefining what High End means in the HEDT market. It seems inevitable—since the Red brand has been pushing the core count envelope in their desktop CPU line, their HEDT and server families need to go further to maintain good product segmentation. The 24-core 3960X I am testing with today is impressive already and doesn't even have half the cores of the upcoming flagship 3990X, which leaves me with an important question to answer: What kind of boards could handle a 64-core monster, let alone overclock one?

For one, the ASRock TRX40 Taichi featuring a 16-phase VRM with powerful 90 A power stages and a massive VRM heatsink with active cooling. The ASRock TRX40 Taichi also features the same modernized features and premium build quality I have praised since the X570 Taichi launched—from the integrated rear I/O shield to the 2.5 Gb/s LAN or intricate cog and gear motif. The ASRock TRX40 Taichi also features WiFi 6 support, offering the best wireless connectivity available. ASRock has kept all of this in a standard ATX form factor, which is an impressive feat.

The same great style on a brand new platform, the TRX40 Taichi has a lot going for it, but is the performance able to match the hype?

Specifications

Packaging and Contents

The front of the ASRock TRX40 Taichi box is split, with the left side hosting a brushed gray background and the right side featuring the trademark Taichi cogs and gears. "TRX40 Taichi " is in the bottom left, with brand badging below it along the bottom-left edge. "ASRock" is in the top-left corner. The front of the box opens up to show a window with the board visible beneath and some of the stand-out features on the flap.


The back of the box has all the highlights: a top-down shot of the board, several panels detailing prominent features, a diagram outlining the rear I/O, and the specifications list. The box design is well executed and matches the board well.


Opening the box, the board is nestled in a cardboard tray encased in high-density foam. The accessories sit in their own box underneath the board. No anti-static bag for the ASRock TRX40 Taichi, a feature I do not miss. ASRock continues the tradition of zip-tying the board to a foam surround for shipping, which holds it in place very securely.


The accessories are pretty standard. Notably absent is any kind of rear I/O shield because the shield is integrated into the board. Additionally, ASRock has included a Torx screwdriver for the M.2 heatsink.


The centerpiece is of course the Hyper Quad M.2 card. This actively cooled, single-slot PCIe x16 expansion card offers an additional four M.2 slots to compliment the two already on board the ASRock TRX40 Taichi.

The full list of accessories includes:

• Manual and support DVD
• Post card and software setup guide
• 4x SATA 6 Gb/s cables
• 1x Hyper Quad M.2 card
• 6x M.2 mounting screws
• TR8 driver
• WiFi antenna

Board Layout

ASRock has made a big effort to modernize their aesthetic over the past year. This started with the introduction of the Phantom Gaming family of products and has been carried over into the Taichi line. The cog and gear theme is more evident than ever, and in a much more intricate implementation.

While the PCB is a matte black, not much of it is visible. A large heatsink covers the entire bottom half of the board and features a very intricate cog and gear motif over the chipset. The rear I/O shield also features reflective gears. Attention to detail with regards to hardware design and build quality is something ASRock has long excelled at, and it shows with the TRX40 Taichi.


The CPU socket is quite crowded, as I suspect most TRX40 boards will be. Between the massive CPU socket, eight DIMM slots, and the absolutely huge VRM heatsink, there really isn't much board vendors can do to create more open space. ASRock has continued the trend from their recent X570 Phantom Gaming ITX of casting the rear I/O cover as part of the VRM heatsink. No longer just for show, the I/O cover adds quite a bit of mass and surface area for extra cooling capacity.


There are just two M.2 slots on the ASRock TRX40 Taichi; one below the first PCIe x16 slot and another between the second and third PCIe x16 slots. ASRock has separated the heatsink for the bottom slot so that the drive can be changed out without removing the GPU.


The reason for the missing slot is an altered chipset cooler design. The chipset cooler no longer has a thermal pad connecting it to the M.2 heatsink. Instead, a finned design with a heat pipe runs into the space where a third M.2 slot would fit.


Of course, there are also the four slots provided by the Hyper Quad M.2 Card included with the TRX40 Taichi.


The Hyper Quad M.2 has four slots positioned at an angle on the PCB, with a fan on the far right side of the card.


A set of four switches on the bottom can be used to manually disable a slot, and another switch near the fan cable is there for toggling the fan speed.


The ASRock TRX40 Taichi offers three PCI Express 4.0 x16 slots, all encased in steel armor, as well as one PCI Express 4.0 x1 slot. As HEDT boards go, the ASRock TRX40 Taichi's approach is pretty sparse. The sacrifice ASRock made to maintain both a robust high output VRM and a standard ATX form factor was to limit the space for PCIe slots.

The ASRock TRX40 Creator makes the opposite sacrifice: only 8 of the 90 A power stages (vs. 16) for the VRM, but with much better PCIe support. While I appreciate ASRock making these standard ATX offerings, I would love to see what the ASRock design team could do with a larger form factor, perhaps in a limited run.

The board has a total of eight SATA 6 Gb/s ports, the first six are on the side angled 90 degrees from the board. The last two are along the bottom of the board, next to the POST code display.


The ASRock TRX40 Taichi has a decent rear I/O offering that includes BIOS Flashback, as well as an optical S/PDIF out port. However, I would have expected more USB options on a productivity oriented board. The Type-C port that uses USB 3.2 Gen2x2 and supports up to 20 Gb/s of bandwidth and the two USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports are a good start, but four or so more USB ports of any variety would have placed the TRX40 Taichi in a much stronger position as a productivity powerhouse.

• 2x Antenna ports
• BIOS Flashback button
• 4x USB 3.2 Gen1 Type-A ports
• PS/2 keyboard/mouse combo port
• 2x USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-A ports
• USB 3.2 Gen2x2 Type-C port
• 2x RJ-45 LAN port
• Optical SPDIF out port
• 5x 3.5 mm audio jacks

Networking on the ASRock TRX40 Taichi is handled by an Intel I211AT as well as a Realtek RTL8125AG for 2.5 Gb/s LAN. WiFi 6 is provided by an Intel 802.11ax module.