ASRock Z890 Taichi Aqua Motherboard Review – Incredible IO Capabilities With 10 Type-C Ports & Water-Cooling For High-End Enthusiasts

ASRock Z890 Taichi Aqua Unboxing & Close Up Inspection

The ASRock Z890 Taichi Aqua motherboard comes in a large cardboard package. The front features a large Taichi logo. The packaging also lists down a few features such as WIFI7, & Thunderbolt along with Core Ultra Series 2 support.

The backside of the package lists the specifications and special features of the motherboard, such as the 28+1+2+1+1 SPS power system, Dual Thunderbolt 4 Type-C ports, the water cooling block & the USB Type-C array on the rear IO.

Inside the package is another box that contains the accessories and is located right below the box holder for the board itself. You get:

• 4 x SATA Data Cables
• 1 x USB 2.0 Bracket
• 1 x ASRock WiFi 2.4/5/6 GHz Antenna
• 1 x ARGB Splitter Cable
• 3 x Thermistor Cables

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With all the accessories done, it's time to put that box aside and take the motherboard out of its package.

The ASRock Z890 Taichi Aqua motherboard is an eATX offering that measures 305 x 274 mm. The motherboard carries a the Taichi theme and utilizes a premium white/silver aesthetic with the PCB that is also coated in white.

ASRock's Z890 Taichi Aqua is an enthusiast-grade motherboard built for high-end PC builders and overclockers. It's a really good-looking motherboard & the company has put a lot of work into nailing the Taichi & Aqua design over the generations.

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The board uses the LGA 1851 socket to support Intel Core Ultra 200S "Arrow Lake" processors. At launch, the LGA 1851 socket will only support the Arrow Lake CPUs, though we can expect a brand new family in the coming years.

Next to the socket are four DDR5 DIMM slots that can support up to 256 GB of dual-channel (24/48/64 GB modules) memory.

These slots are rated to support XMP profiles up to 9600 MT/s (OC Plus). Each slot is labeled, making it easier to install DIMMs in the proper orientation. DDR5 memory comes with a different latch position, so forcing a DDR4 module into a DDR5 slot will cause permanent damage. Each slot is also combined with a reinforced design to make sure signal integrity remains good while keeping the slots durable for long-term usage.

The full QVL list can be found here. The motherboard supports 5600 MT/s natively and 6400 MT/s for Arrow Lake K CPUs. The 9600 MT/s applies to 1DCP (1 Rank) configurations. The memory signals also integrate a new PCB design feature called "Memory OC Shield", which reduces EMI and offers enhanced memory overclocking and stability, especially at higher frequencies.

The ASRock Z890 Taichi Aqua motherboard features a 28+1+2+1+1 (VCore/ VccGT/VccAUX)  phase SPS VRM power delivery that utilizes the Renesas RAA 229130 PWM controller, and R2209004 HBD (110A) stages for the VCore. All capacitors are labeled with 20K "1000B E19 & 270C D49" ratings. The PLL features RAA 220075R0 stages.

The VRMs and power delivery solution are scattered around the LGA 1851 socket. The board uses an 10-layer server-grade PCB with 2oz thickened copper in a low-loss design, retaining signal integrity for stable CPU and memory operations.

For the VRM cooling, ASRock has gone with a fully embedded water block solution from Alphacool, which makes use of a detachable heatsink design, which is useful since the same block also cools a Gen5 SSD.

The CPU is supplied power through an 8+8-pin power connector configuration. This will feed the CPU with up to 600 Watts of power. Intel's Arrow Lake "Core Ultra 200S" Desktop CPUs can sip up to 250W of power by default.

Even without water cooling, the heatsink block is very strong, making use of hefty aluminum pieces that should provide ample cooling in default and even some overclocked workloads.

Underneath the VRM heatsink are 9W/mK Thermal pads, which transfer heat from the VRMs to the heatsink.

The IO cover also features a nice design with Taichi gears and logos, while the motherboard label is etched on top of it. The IO cover also comes with embedded RGB LEDs.

Expansion slots include two PCI Express x16 (1 x Gen 5.0 x16 & 1 x Gen 4.0 x4) and six  M.2 slots.

CPU:

• 2 x PCIe 5.0 x16 Slots (PCIE1 and PCIE2), support x16 or x8/x8 modes

Chipset:

• 1 x PCIe 4.0 x16 Slot (PCIE3), supports x4 mode
• 1 x M.2 Socket (Key E), supports type 2230 WiFi/BT PCIe WiFi module

The motherboard utilizes a full metallic slot, and ASRock also implements its Graphics Card EZ release mechanism, which allows easy removal of graphics cards without having to release the PCIe lock manually.

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The motherboard also has a vast array of M.2 slots, all of which are featured under dedicated M.2 XXL M.2 heatsinks.

One of the larger heatsinks also works as a cover plate for the motherboard's lower portion. It has a glossy silver finish, and underneath, you can find dual-sided thermal pads. You need to remove the plastic sticker from the thermal pads before installing a new SSD for proper heat transfer.

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Two of the slots (1x Gen5 and 1x Gen4) come with an EZ-Release heatsink, making for a toolless design. As mentioned above, the Gen5 heatsink is water cooling through the same block that is used by the VRMs while the Gen4 slots feature passive-cooled heatsinks.

Following is the full list of M.2 ports and their details on the ASRock Z890 Taichi Aqua motherboard:

CPU:

• 1 x Blazing M.2 Socket (M2_1, Key M), supports type 2280 PCIe Gen5x4 (128 Gb/s) mode
• 1 x Blazing M.2 Socket (M2_2, Key M), supports type 2280 PCIe Gen5x4 (128 Gb/s) mode
• 1 x Hyper M.2 Socket (M2_3, Key M), supports type 2280 PCIe Gen4x4 (64 Gb/s) mode

Chipset:

• 1 x Hyper M.2 Socket (M2_3, Key M), supports type 2230/2242/2260/2280 SATA3 6.0 Gb/s & PCIe Gen4x4 (64 Gb/s) modes

Chipset:

• 1 x Hyper M.2 Socket (M2_4, Key M), supports type 2280 PCIe Gen4x4 (64 Gb/s) mode
• 1 x Hyper M.2 Socket (M2_5, Key M), supports type 2280 PCIe Gen4x4 (64 Gb/s) mode
• 1 x Hyper M.2 Socket (M2_6, Key M), supports type 2242/2260/2280 SATA3 6.0 Gb/s & PCIe Gen4x4 (64 Gb/s) modes
• 4 x SATA3 6.0 Gb/s Connectors

The Z890 PCH is housed beneath a large heatsink.

The motherboard offers a single RGB accent zone, and that is the IO cover. These can be turned off or can be customized using ASRock's Polychrome Sync software. There's also a single RGB header & an ARGB Splitter cable to expand the lighting capabilities for your PC.

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Storage options include four SATA III ports rated to operate at 6 GB/s. These can support 4 different storage devices at once. There are also 2 USB 3.2 Gen2x2, four USB 3.2 Gen1 Type-A and 4 USB 2.0 ports for fthe ront panel.

ASRock uses a 5.1 CH HD audio design with the latest Realtek ALC4082 CODEC with WIMA audio capacitors and ESS SABRE9219 DAC for rear panel audio, providing up to 130 dB SNR. There is a large selection of connectors on the motherboard, such as the Power On/Off, Reset buttons, a DEBUG LED, and more.

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The full list of connectors on the motherboard is as follows.

• - 3 x Thermistor Cable Headers
• - 1 x SPI TPM Header
• - 1 x Power LED and Speaker Header
• - 1 x RGB LED Header
• - 3 x Addressable LED Headers
• - 2 x CPU Fan Connector (4-pin) (Smart Fan Speed Control)
• - 4 x Chassis Fan Connectors (4-pin) (Smart Fan Speed Control)
• - 1 x AIO Pump Fan Connector (4-pin) (Smart Fan Speed Control)
• - 1 x Water Pump Fan Connector (4-pin) (Smart Fan Speed Control)
• - 1 x 24-pin ATX Power Connector (Hi-Density Power Connector)
• - 2 x 8-pin 12V Power Connectors (Hi-Density Power Connector)
• - 1 x Front Panel Audio Connector (15μ Gold Audio Connector)
• - 2 x USB 2.0 Headers (Support 4 USB 2.0 ports)
• - 2 x USB 3.2 Gen1 Headers (Support 4 USB 3.2 Gen1 ports)
• - 2 x Front Panel Type C USB 3.2 Gen2x2 Headers (20 Gb/s)
• - 1 x Dr. Debug with LED
• - 1 x Power Button with LED
• - 1 x Reset Button with LED

ASRock is using the latest WIFI 7 Module to power wireless connectivity with a 320MHz channel bandwidth and Bluetooth 5.4. In terms of Ethernet, there are dual LAN ports including 5GbE & 2.5GbE.

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The motherboard comes with the following I/O connectors:

• - 2 x Antenna Ports
• - 1 x Optical SPDIF Out Port
• - 2 x Thunderbolt 4 Type-C Ports (40 Gb/s for USB4 protocol; 40Gb/s for Thunderbolt protocol)
• - 4 x USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-C Ports (10 Gb/s)
• - 4 x USB 3.2 Gen1 Type-C Ports (USB32_TC_56 support Ultra USB Power.)
• - 2 x RJ-45 LAN Ports
• - 1 x Clear CMOS Button
• - 1 x BIOS Flashback Button
• - 1 x Line Out Jack (Gold Audio Jack)
• - 1 x Microphone Input Jack (Gold Audio Jack)

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