ASRock Z270 Taichi Motherboard Review

Packaging and Overview

The box for the Z270 Taichi shows off the Ying Yang theme and color scheme of the motherboard. Packaging is excellent and really protects the motherboard from the elements.

The accessory package includes four SATA6Gb/s cables, two WIFI antenna, SLI HB bridge, SLI bridge, IO shield, M.2 screws, case badge, manuals, post card, and driver DVD.

The Z270 Taichi offers a total of five headers. All headers are hybrid DC/PWM mode headers, and the system fan headers can auto sense. The CPU header circled in red is rated 1A but doesn't offer auto sensing, so it's best to install a PWM fan into this header. The two headers circled in blue are optional/pump headers and offer up to 1.5A. The two headers circled in orange are 1A auto sensing chassis fan headers.

The motherboard's PCH heat sink looks really cool as its white section matches up perfectly with that of the PCB silk screen. The ebb and flow of the motherboard are unique, and I don't think there is anything quite like it outside of the Taichi series. The back of the motherboard does have a few ICs, so handle the motherboard with extra care when installing it.

The rear IO panel features a clear CMOS button, PS/2 keyboard/mouse, four USB 3.0 ports, WIFI ports, DisplayPort, HDMI, two Gbit LAN, USB 3.1 type-A, USB 3.1 type-C, and 7.1 gold plated audio outputs with S/PDIF out.

There are three metal reinforced x16 slots, and they are all hooked up to the CPU and operated as x16/x0/x0, x8/x8/x0, x8/x4/x4. The single x16 slot that isn't reinforced with metal is routed x4 PCI-E 3.0 to the PCH. The single x1 PCI-E 3.0 slot is also routed to the PCH. There are six SATA6Gb/s from the PCH itself, four of those can act as two SATA, and then there are four extra SATA6Gb/s ports from two ASMedia controllers. Some of the SATA ports from the PCH also share bandwidth with the M.2 slots.

The motherboard features three PCI-E 3.0 x4 32Gb/s M.2 slots that also support SATA devices. Two of them share x2 lanes with two SATA ports, and one will take one SATA port if a SATA based M.2 SSD is installed.

Two USB 3.0 internal headers sit under the 24-pin connector as does a USB type-A port. At the top of the motherboard is an XMP enable switch.

The motherboard features one RGB LED header at the bottom of the motherboard right below the POST code display. The motherboard also features three USB 2.0 internal headers, a ThunderBolt 3.0 GPIO header, and clear CMOS header.

Heatsinks are all screwed into the motherboard and make excellent contact with the motherboard.