ASRock X299 Taichi CLX ‘$400 US’ Motherboard Review With Intel Core i9-10980XE CPU – Taichi Rebuilt For 10th Gen X-Series

Four years ago, Intel was the undisputed leader of the high-end desktop market. Intel's Extreme Edition processors were the top of the line chips that people could buy and their accompanying platform was unrivaled in the industry.

However, we can't say the same in 2019. Intel's HEDT has seen no major change in the last two years. We get the same platform and the same underlying architecture with no increase in core and thread count. Even the platform remains unchanged and Intel's AIB partners are to take credit for their efforts to make the X299 platform still feel refreshing.

Technically, Intel's 10th Gen X-series lineup isn't anything to get excited about aside from a slight clock speed bump but what's noteworthy is the pricing. Intel's latest pricing strategy was to make 10th Gen X-series processors more competitive in performance per dollar by slashing off major $$$ from their lineup. Intel claimed up to 2.09x better performance per dollar on the new X-series line compared to Skylake-X. Here, Intel is simply comparing their Core i9-7980XE, a $1999 US CPU with their $979 US Core i9-10980XE.

But since Intel announced their 10th Gen X-series parts, AMD introduced the Ryzen 9 3950X. A 16 core chip with Zen 2 cores for a price of $749 US. The processor is supported by the mainstream AM4 platform which means that the cost of building a 16 core PC is now cheaper than Intel's line. That may also explain why the lineup launching today is missing a 16 core part, but existed in the previous 7th Gen and 9th Gen X-series lineup.

AMD Threadripper vs Intel Core - More Than Just Core Wars

Before I start this review, let's take a quick recap of the core wars that's been going on since the beginning of 2017 between AMD and Intel. Prior to 2017, the industry was used to the annual 4 core mainstream and 8/10 core high-end desktop refreshes that Intel produced. Intel was also on top of the game since AMD's Bulldozer (and its various iterations) didn't pose a major threat and Zen was still under development.

So how did Intel go from the leader of the HEDT space to being crushed by AMD's mainstream chip platform? You are expecting me to blame Intel's reliance on 14nm for this issue and while it is a factor, it isn't as big as some other bad decisions that went into Intel's HEDT lineup, starting with the 7th Generation Core-X series. You see, back in 2017, there was no AMD HEDT lineup and Intel was considered to be the bleeding-edge HEDT offerer in the market space. While AMD had started pushing Intel to offer more cores in the mainstream segment (e.g. four cores flagship on Kaby Lake vs 6 cores flagship on Coffee Lake), they weren't expecting or rightly put, weren't in the mood to innovate their HEDT lineup any time soon.

Then 1st Gen Threadripper happened and we all know how AMD caught Intel with their pants down. The problem wasn't that Intel didn't have the platform to compete against AMD, it's more to do with their laziness on how they wanted to continue offering 10 cores / 20 thread chips as flagship HEDT parts for years to come. You see, Intel had the technology to offer 12 cores and 24 threads back in their Ivy Bridge generation, 18 cores and 36 threads in the Haswell generation and same in the Skylake generation. However, knowing they dominated the market, the didn't see the reason to innovate the HEDT space anytime soon.

HEDT & Mainstream Segment Core/Thread Count Race:

Year	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020
AMD HEDT	N/A	16 / 32	32 / 64	32 / 64	64 / 128
Intel HEDT	10 / 20	18 / 36	18 / 36	18 / 36 28 / 56 (Xeon W-3175X)	18 / 36 28 / 56 (Xeon W-3175X)
AMD Mainstream	8 / 8	8 / 16	8 / 16	16 / 32	16 /32
Intel Mainstream	4/8	6 / 12	8 / 16	8 / 16	10 / 20

So what do you when your darkest nightmare comes true? Rush to rebadge Xeon parts which could've been done early on and don't give partners enough time to evaluate your new chips on their products, resulting in a botched launch. Intel's first Core-X lineup was a mess and that is why it took Intel 3 generations just to fix the problems of their first X-series lineup.

The 3 years of Threadrippers have also been building up to this moment. While Intel was fixing their X-series lineup, AMD was gaining on both fronts, the market and mind share. You have to sacrifice margins for market share gains and word of mouth to spread before you start hiking up prices for higher profits.

AMD's Threadrippers are repurposed EPYC chips just like how Intel's Core X processors are repurposed Xeon chips that couldn't pass the server-level qualifications. This was another factor, which if Intel could've considered earlier on, wouldn't get their HEDT lineup into so much trouble. AMD was willing to cut the profit margins offering the same core counts of their EPYC lineup on the Threadripper parts. Intel might have downplayed the fact that in the coming years, AMD's Ryzen Threadripper core count would match the EPYC lineup. This is a superb game played by AMD where their first-generation Threadripper had half the core count of EPYC Naples and only the second generation that launched a year later offered the full 32 cores. This is changing with 3rd generation as the Threadripper 3990X will be carrying 64 cores, same as the top-end EPYC chip.

Intel HEDT Processor Families:

Intel HEDT Family	Gulftown	Sandy Bridge-E	Ivy Bridge-E	Haswell-E	Broadwell-E	Skylake-X	Skylake-X	Skylake-X	Cascade Lake-X
Process Node	32nm	32nm	22nm	22nm	14nm	14nm+	14nm+	14nm+	14nm++
Flagship SKU	Core i7-980X	Core i7-3960X	Core i7-4960X	Core i7-5960X	Core i7-6950X	Core i9-7980XE	Core i9-9980XE	Xeon W-3175X	Core i9-10980XE
Max Cores/Threads	6/12	6/12	6/12	8/16	10/20	18/36	18/36	28/56	18/36
Clock Speeds	3.33/3,60 GHz	3.30/3.90 GHz	3.60/4.00 GHz	3.00/3.50 GHz	3.00/3.50 GHz	2.60/4.20 GHz	3.00/4.50 GHz	3.10/4.30 GHz	3.00 / 4.80 GHz
Max Cache	12 MB L3	15 MB L3	15 MB L3	20 MB L3	25 MB L3	24.75 MB L3	24.75 MB L3	38.5 MB L3	24.75 MB L3
Max PCI-Express Lanes (CPU)	32 Gen2	40 Gen2	40 Gen3	40 Gen3	40 Gen3	44 Gen3	44 Gen3	44 Gen3	44 Gen3
Chipset Compatiblity	X58 Chipset	X79 Chipset	X79 Chipset	X99 Chipset	X99 Chipset	X299	X299	C612E	X299
Socket Compatiblity	LGA 1366	LGA 2011	LGA 2011	LGA 2011-3	LGA 2011-3	LGA 2066	LGA 2066	LGA 3647	LGA 2066
Memory Compatiblity	DDR3-1066	DDR3-1600	DDR3-1866	DDR4-2133	DDR4-2400	DDR4-2666	DDR4-2800	DDR4-2666	DDR4-2933
Max TDP	130W	130W	130W	140W	140W	165W	165W	255W	165W
Launch	Q1 2010	Q4 2011	Q3 2013	Q3 2014	Q2 2016	Q3 2017	Q4 2018	Q4 2018	Q4 2019
Launch Price	$999 US	$999 US	$999 US	$1059 US	$1700 US	$1999 US	$1979 US	~$4000 US	$979 US

AMD is also taking Intel's position, becoming the leader of the HEDT market but at the same time, not let this platform become stagnant. AMD is aware that eventually, Intel will have a response which is the next topic I want to shed light on, so they want to stay on the high-ground whenever Intel tackles them, but also try to maximize profits when there is no competition which we can get a slight hint of from the 3rd Gen Threadripper prices. AMD is easing up on the prices and only Intel themselves is to blame. You can read our review of the AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3970X here.

As for this review, I will be taking a look at the Intel Core i9-10980XE on ASRock's brand new X299 Taichi CLX motherboard. The Core i9-10980XE retails for $979 US as of today while the ASRock X299 Taichi CLX has a retail price of $399 US. This is a slightly higher price than the $289.99 US X299 Taichi and the $299.99 US X299 Taichi XE which we have also reviewed previously in their respective links listed below:

• ASRock X299 Taichi Motherboard Review
• ASRock X299 Taichi XE Motherboard Review

The Intel X299 continues as the chipset of choice for Intel's enthusiast platform. The Intel X299 platform has continued for 3 good years and now enters its fourth. The X299 platform has seen many launches, the first-gen existed of the Skylake-X and Kaby Lake-X lineup with the latter being discontinued last year. The second-gen saw the release of Skylake-X refresh and this year, we are getting the Cascade Lake design for X299.

Intel X299 PCH Features

Intel’s new X299 chipset supports all LGA 2066 socketed Core-X processors. The X299 platform will be centered around the LGA 2066 socket which will be compatible with at least three generations of processors. In specs, the X299 chipset offers up to 24 PCIe Gen 3.0 lanes. The chip also offers up to quad-channel memory with speeds up to DDR4-2933 MHz (native).

Intel X299 has full support for CPU overclocking which is a bonus. While that's a plus, independent testings performed prior to our review revealed that the chips don't feature in chip soldering and use the thermal paste as a layer that connects the die with the heat spreader. This may result in higher temperatures but we have to find that our in our own tests.

The Basin Falls PCH also offers a maximum of 14 USB ports (10 USB 3.0 Max), 8 SATA 3.0, and Intel LAN (Jacksonville PHY) controllers. The chipset can also drive three M.2 drives with Intel RST tech. Additional features include Enhanced SPI, SPI, LPC, SMBus and HD audio which are integrated underneath its hood.

Intel X299 Chipset Features:

Chipset	Intel X79 “Patsburg”	Intel X99 “Wellsburg”	Intel X299 "Basin Falls" With KBL-X	Intel X299 "Basin Falls" With SKL-X
SKU Focus Segment	Enthusiast Desktop	Enthusiast Desktop	Enthusiast Desktop	Enthusiast Desktop
CPU Support	Sandy Bridge-E / Ivy Bridge-E	Haswell-E / Broadwell-E	Kaby Lake-X	Skylake-X / Cascade Lake-X
CPU Core Options	4, 6	6, 8, 10	4	6, 8, 10, 12, 14,16, 18
Max Chipset PCI-E Lanes	8	8	24	24
Max CPU PCI-E Lanes	Up To 40	Up To 40	Up To 16	Up To 44
Memory Type	DDR3	DDR4	DDR4	DDR4
Memory DIMMs	Quad Channel (8)	Quad Channel (8)	Dual Channel (4)	Quad Channel (8)
Overclocking	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Intel Turbo Boost 2.0 Support	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Intel Turbo Boost Max 3.0 Support	No	No	No	Yes
Intel Optane Technology	No	No	Yes	Yes
Intel Rapid Storage Technology	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Intel Rapid Storage Technology For PCIe Storage Drive Support	No	No	Yes	Yes
RAID 0,1,5,10	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Intel Smart Response Technology	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Integrated LAN	Yes	1 GbE	Integrated MAC	Integrated MAC
Total USB Ports (Max USB 3.0)	N/A	6	10	10
Total USB Ports (Max USB 2.0)	14	14	14	14
Max SATA 6 Gbps Ports	6 (2 Rated at Full 6 Gbps)	10	8	8
TDP	7.8W	6.5W	6.0W	6.0W

Intel LGA 2066 Socket - Now With Cascade Lake-X Support

Since nothing on the platform has changed, the LGA 2066 also continues on as the socket of choice for Intel's HEDT platform. All Core-X processors are compatible with the LGA 2066 socket but some motherboard makers have only listed support for 9th and 10th Gen Core-X processors due to BIOS limitations on certain motherboards.

The LGA 2066 socket features 2066 pins which support Cascade Lake-X and Skylake-X CPUs but doesn't allow compatibility with Intel Xeon processors. The Intel Xeon class processors that are part of the Skylake-SP family will be featured on the much different LGA 3647 socket which is huge compared to LGA 2066.

Cooler Compatibility With LGA 2066 Socket

The socket hasn't changed so you won't have any trouble with compatibility on the new boards. Even older LGA 2011 socket retention brackets are compatible with LGA 2066 so you are pretty much good with any cooler you bought in the last 5 years or so.

As for a cooler recommendation, I would personally advise users to go for a liquid cooling option since the Core-X processors are heat spitting monsters at full load. You need good cooling to hit good temperatures.

The Intel 10th Gen X-series lineup consists of four SKUs, an 18 core, a 14 core, a 12 core, and a 10 core processor. All are fully unlocked for overclocking, are hyperthreading enabled and feature the company’s latest Turbo Core 3.0 technology.

The new lineup is still based on the Skylake-X microarchitecture and the 14nm process, however, the company has taken steps to make the 10th generation significantly more competitive in the market which includes:

1- Significantly lower pricing per core vs the 9th generation Core X family.
2- Higher single and all-core turbo clock speeds vs the 9th gen family.
3- Support for Intel Performance Maximizer, 2.5G Intel i225 Ethernet and Wi-Fi 6.

There are various technologies that are featured on Skylake-X processors that lead to better performance and efficient CPU functioning. Upgrades such as the new Mesh architecture interconnect and Turbo Boost MAX 3.0 have already been detailed, more details on them can be found in the links below:

• Intel Skylake-X Processor - Mesh Interconnect Architecture
• Intel Skylake-X Processor - Turbo Boost Max 3.0 Frequency

Intel Core i9-10980XE Processor

Priced at $979 (you are paying $54.38 per core) and featuring the Cascade Lake architecture, the Core-i9 10980XE is the first 18 core processor from Intel priced under $1000 US. It packs 8 cores and 36 threads. It features a base clock of 3.3 GHz as well as a Turbo Boost Max 3.0 of 4.8 GHz. An all-core boost of 3.8 GHz is specced for this processor. The 18 MB of L2 cache is complimented by 24.75  MB of L3 cache and features quad-channel DDR4-2933 memory. The Core i9-10980XE has a TDP of 165W (PL1) and 198W (PL2).

Intel Core i9-10940X Processor

Priced at $784 (you are paying $56.00 per core) and featuring the Cascade Lake architecture, the Core-i9 10940X packs 14 cores, and 28 threads. It features a base clock of 3.3 GHz as well as a Turbo Boost Max 3.0 of 4.8 GHz. An all-core boost of 4.1 GHz is specced for this processor. The 14 MB of L2 cache is complimented by 19.25 MB of L3 cache and features quad-channel DDR4-2933 memory. The Core i9-10940XE has a TDP of 165W.

Intel Core i9-10920X Processor

Priced at $689 (you are paying $57.41 per core) and featuring the Cascade Lake architecture, the Core-i9 10920X packs 12 cores, and 24 threads. It features a base clock of 3.5 GHz as well as a Turbo Boost Max 3.0 of 4.8 GHz. An all-core boost of 4.3 GHz is specced for this processor. The 12 MB of L2 cache is complimented by 16.50 MB of L3 cache and features quad-channel DDR4-2933 memory. The Core i9-10920XE has a TDP of 165W.

Intel Core i9-10900X Processor

Priced at $590 (you are paying $59.00 per core) and featuring the Cascade Lake architecture, the Core-i9 10900X packs 10 cores, and 20 threads. It features a base clock of 3.7 GHz as well as a Turbo Boost Max 3.0 of 4.7 GHz. An all-core boost of 3.8 GHz is specced for this processor. The 10 MB of L2 cache is complimented by 13.75 MB of L3 cache and features quad-channel DDR4-2933 memory. The Core i9-10980XE has a TDP of 165W.

Intel 10th Gen Core i9 'Cascade Lake' X-Series CPU Lineup

CPU Name	Cores / Threads	Base Clock	Single Core Turbo	All Core Turbo	L3 Cache	TDP	Price
Intel Core i9-10980XE	18/36	3.0 GHz	4.8 GHz	3.8 GHz	24.75 MB	165W	$979
Intel Core i9-10940X	14/28	3.3 GHz	4.8 GHz	4.1 GHz	19.25 MB	165W	$784
Intel Core i9-10920X	12/24	3.5 GHz	4.8 GHz	4.3 GHz	16.50 MB	165W	$689
Intel Core i9-10900X	10/20	3.7 GHz	4.7 GHz	3.8 GHz	13.75 MB	165W	$590

The ASRock X299 Taichi CLX takes the helm of the flagship X299 motherboard that ASRock has to offer for 2019. It's the third revision of the X299 Taichi series and the best one to date.

The third iteration of the X299 Taichi which is purely designed for Cascade Lake-X processors is so awesome that it makes you forget the last 2 outings. The motherboard features a black and silver color design with a massive overhaul to the heatsinks and VRMs. The motherboard features Intel's LGA 2066 socket which supports 7th, 9th and 10th Gen X-series processors. It comes with a strong 13 Phase and 720A VRM design which is powered by dual 8-pin connectors. The motherboard has 8 DDR4 DIMM slots that support up to 256 GB of (non-ECC) capacities with speeds of up to 4200 MHz (OC+) or up to 1 TB of (RDIMM). The latter support would be enabled through an upcoming BIOS update.

ASRock X299 Taichi CLX Motherboard Features:

• Supports Intel Core X-Series Processor Family
• 13 Power Phase Design, Dr. MOS
• Supports DDR4 4200+(OC)
• 4 PCIe 3.0 x16, 1 PCIe 3.0 x1
• NVIDIA 3-Way SLI., AMD 3-Way CrossFireX.
• 7.1 CH HD Audio (Realtek ALC1220 Audio Codec), Supports Purity Sound. 4 & DTS Connect
• 10 SATA3, 2 Ultra M.2 (PCIe Gen3 x4 & SATA3), 1 Ultra M.2 (PCIe Gen3 x4)
• 1 USB 3.2 Gen2x2 20Gb/s Type-C
• 1 USB 3.2 Gen2 10Gb/s Type-C (Front)
• 6 USB 3.2 Gen1 (2 Front, 4 Rear)
• Realtek 2.5 Gigabit LAN, Intel Gigabit LAN
• Intel Wi-Fi 6 802.11ax (2.4Gbps) + BT 5.0
• ASRock Polychrome SYNC
• Hyper BCLK Engine III

For expansion, the motherboard offers four PCIe 3.0 x16 slots, a single PCIe 3.0 x1 slot & triple M.2 slots which are covered by a large aluminum-based cover heatsink. All four PCIe 3.0 x16 slots feature metal bracing for durability. Storage includes 10 SATA III ports along with a single front-panel USB 3.2 header and a USB 3.2 front panel connector. The chipset is covered by a large aluminum heatsink that features ASRock's iconic Taichi gear design and Polychrome SYNC RGB technology.

As for the I/O ports, the motherboard houses a ton of them which include one USB 3.2 Gen 2, 4 USB 3.2 Gen 1, 2 USB 2.0 ports, a 7.1 channel HD Audio jack powered by Realtek ALC1220 Codec, a 2.5G Ethernet LAN port (Dragon RTL8125AG), a 1G Ethernet LAN port (Intel I219V), PS/2 port, two antenna slots, and a Clear CMOS button. The motherboard has an official retail price of $399 US.

ASRock X299 Taichi CLX Product Gallery:

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The ASRock X299 Taichi CLX motherboard comes inside a large, rectangular-shaped cardboard box. This package is very heavy compared to some normal motherboards but it shows that ASRock has packed a lot of goodies aside from the board inside the box.

The Front has various marketing logos. The board name is listed boldly on the front along with the company title "ASRock". There are other marketing logos that include Intel X299 Inside, Intel Core-X series, NVIDIA SLI, AMD Crossfire, RGB LED and Intel Optane Memory support. The whole box has a mechanical gear theme that reflects the symbol of Taichi.

The back of the box contains all the marketing details along with product specifications. Most of the marketing tags have already been detailed by us in the “Features” section above. As can be seen, this board is loaded in features. Some important highlights include Dual Intel LAN, 13 Phase Power, and DR.MOS, Hyper BCLK Engine II, Triple Ultra M.2, and Polychrome SYNC RGB.

The motherboard and accessories are packed in separate containers. The accessories box includes two compartments, each of which has different accessories.

There's a good list of accessories included in the ASRock X299 Taichi package. These range from physical to software support disks. All of them are listed below:

- Quick Installation Guide, Support CD
- 4 x SATA Data Cables
- 1 x ASRock SLI_HB_Bridge_2S Card
- 1 x ASRock WiFi 2.4/5 GHz Antenna
- 1 x ASRock Screwdriver
- 3 x Screws for M.2 Sockets
- 3 x Standoffs for M.2 Sockets

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Out of the box, the motherboard has a very unique design and layout. The motherboard sticks to the ATX form factor regardless of all the features and additions that ASRock has made to its high-end X299 product.

The ASRock X299 Taichi CLX is the third iteration of Taichi and is ready for the new X-series CPUs. Everything about this board feels very premium and the design choice used here is solid from top to bottom. Even for the number of features, it packs, the board still rocks an ATX form factor which is impressive.

ASRock's X299 Taichi CLX is a solid board on the first inspection. The design and layout have been vastly improved by ASRock from the second iteration of Taichi. The design scheme is also updated to the latest Taichi design which we first saw on the new X570 Taichi motherboard but can now be seen on their TRX40 lineup too.

The board uses the LGA 2066 socket to support the Intel Core-X series processors. The socket is compatible with both Intel Skylake-X and Cascade Lake-X processors. The socket LGA 2066 is super-easy to use. You open two latches as pointed on the socket itself, align the processor with the two notches on the sides while facing the triangle marking with the one on the socket and that's it. Then proceed to close the two latches, starting with the one you previously opened and you have successfully installed the processor.

The motherboard comes in at a price point of $400 US price and has a ton of features to talk about so let's get started.

The motherboard packs a 13 phase Digi Power phase design to power the CPU. The motherboard is outfitted with ASRock's DR.MOS design that features the latest SPS (Smart Power Stage) technology. It’s optimized for monitoring current and temperature of each phase, thus delivering smoother and neater power to the CPU with enhanced performance and OC capability.

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The CPU is supplied power through dual 8 pin power connectors. This will feed the CPU with up to 300 Watts of power. Most Intel CPUs will be shipping with TDP’s of 140W but that changes when users overclock, which changes the power limit based on applied voltages and clock speeds. This was a much-needed change that was highlighted on the initial X299 motherboards that had stability and power issues when it came to supporting the higher-end Core-X processors.

The 8 Layer PCB comes with 4 sets of 2-ounce copper inner layers, providing stable signal traces and power shapes and delivering lower temperature and higher energy efficiency for overclocking. Other quality features include Premium 65A power chokes, Nichicon 12,000 black capacitors, and a high-density glass fabric PCB. The power design allows for up to 720A and 1300W support.

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The VRMs are cooled by an updated XXL Aluminum Alloy heatsink. The heatsink is colored silver and is very beefy and has a metallic silver "X299" logo etched in the middle. The heatsink is fitted with a heat pipe design that ensures effective heat dissipation from the MOSFETs. It is one of the biggest changes alongside the power system compared to the older X299 Taichi.

The motherboard has a total of eight DDR4 DIMM slots which can support up to 256 GB (Quad Channel) memory. These slots are rated to support XMP profiles up to 4200 MHz (O.C) MHz. Each slot is labeled, making it easier to install DIMMs in the proper orientation. ASRock has a new BIOS update rolling out soon which will enable support for up to 1 TB RDIMM.

Expansion slots include four PCI-Express 3.0 x16, a single PCI-Express 3.0 x1, and triple M.2 slots. The board can support 4-Way multi-GPU (CrossfireX / SLI). The M.2 slots are rated to support NVMe PCI-e Gen3 x4 and Intel Optane series memory. Only a CPU that offers 48 or 44 lanes can deliver full x16 operation on two SLI or Crossfire configured discrete GPUs.

• If you install CPU with 48 lanes, PCIE1/PCIE2/PCIE3/PCIE5 will run at x16/x8/x16/x8. If an M.2 PCI Express module is installed on M2_1 or M2_2, PCIE2 will downgrade to x4 mode. If M.2 PCI Express modules are installed on M2_1 and M2_2, PCIE2 will be disabled.
• If you install CPU with 44 lanes, PCIE1/PCIE2/PCIE3/PCIE5 will run at x16/x4/x16/x8. If an M.2 PCI Express module is installed on M2_1, PCIE2 will be disabled.
• If you install CPU with 28 lanes, PCIE1/PCIE2/PCIE3/PCIE5 will run at x16/x4/x8/x0. If an M.2 PCI Express module is installed on M2_1, PCIE2 will be disabled.

ASRock has featured their Steel Slot technology on the expansion slots. Not only do these slots offer a solid cover plate for high-end cards but it also prevents from any sort of signal interference.

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The supported types for the M.2 socket are 22110, 2280, 2260, 2242 and 2230. M.2 slots offer up to 32 GB/s link speed compared to just 6 GB/s on SATA 3 bus. All M.2 slots can operate at full x4 (32 GB/s) speeds, provided that enough PCIe lanes are available. Otherwise, users will have the choice to select from PCIe and SATA 3 modes.

• If M2_3 is occupied by a SATA-type M.2 device, SATA3_7 will be disabled.
• M2_2 is only supported with CPU with 48 lanes.

All M.2 slots can operate at full x4 (32 GB/s) speeds, provided that enough PCIe lanes are available. Otherwise, users will have the choice to select from PCIe and SATA 3 modes. All three slots are featured under a front cover which acts as an aluminum heatsink with thermal pads located underneath it.

The X299 PCH is housed beneath a metallic heatsink with ASRock logo and label embedded on it. There are some key features of this heatsink when it comes to design. It is reminiscent of a mech gear and blends in nicely with the PCB theme. The PCH heatsink also emits RGB LED which can be controlled manually through ASRock's RGB LED software.

Storage options include 10 SATA III ports rated to operate at 6 GB/s. These can support 10 different storage devices at a single time.

Following is a list of all internal connectors on the motherboard:

• - 1 x Virtual RAID On CPU Header
• - 1 x SPI TPM Header
• - 1 x Power LED and Speaker Header
• - 2 x RGB LED Headers
• - 2 x Addressable LED Headers
• - 1 x CPU Fan Connector (4-pin)
• - 1 x CPU/Water Pump Fan Connector (4-pin) (Smart Fan Speed Control)
• - 5 x Chassis/Water Pump Fan Connectors (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)
• - 1 x Thunderbolt AIC Connector (5-pin)
• - 2 x USB 2.0 Headers (Support 4 USB 2.0 ports) (Supports ESD Protection)
• - 1 x USB 3.2 Gen1 Header (Supports 2 USB 3.2 Gen1 ports) (Supports ESD Protection)
• - 1 x Front Panel Type C USB 3.2 Gen2 Header (ASMedia ASM3142)
• - 1 x Dr. Debug with LED
• - 1 x Power Button with LED
• - 1 x Reset Button

In terms of audio, the ASRock X299 Taichi CLX is equipped with the latest Purity Sound 4 system that comes with the Realtek ALC1220 Audio Codec offering 7.1 CH HD Audio with Content Protection. Features of the Purity Sound 4 include Nichicon Fine Gold Series Audio Caps, 120dB SNR DAC with Differential Amplifier, TI NE5532 Premium Headset Amplifier for Front Panel Audio Connector (Supports up to 600 Ohm headsets), Pure Power-In, Direct Drive Technology, PCB Isolate Shielding, Impedance Sensing on Front Out port, Individual PCB Layers for R/L Audio Channel, Gold Audio Jacks, and 15μ Gold Audio Connector.

One thing you will note is that the X299 Taichi CLX has a plastic cover over the audio PCB which was excluded from the X299 Taichi XE but once again featured on the X299 CLX.

The motherboard comes with a single USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C and USB 3.2 Gen 1 front panel headers. The CMOS battery is situated right above the SATA ports.

The I/O on the motherboard includes the following ports:

• - 2 x Antenna Ports
• - 1 x Optical SPDIF Out Port
• - 2 x USB 2.0 Ports (Supports ESD Protection)
• - 1 x USB 3.2 Gen2x2 Type-C Port (20 Gb/s) (ASMedia ASM3242) (Supports ESD Protection)
• - 4 x USB 3.2 Gen1 Ports (Supports ESD Protection)
• - 2 x RJ-45 LAN Ports with LED (ACT/LINK LED and SPEED LED)
• - 1 x Clear CMOS Button
• - HD Audio Jacks: Rear Speaker / Central / Bass / Line in / Front Speaker / Microphone (Gold Audio Jacks)

ASRock X299 Taichi CLX Polychrome SYNC Gallery:

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For this review, I was provided the Core i9-10980XE from Intel themselves. The X299 TAICHI CLX motherboard was provided by ASRock while the rest of the equipment was sent by their respective manufacturers. The test setup configuration can be found in the chart below.

MSI X299 Creator & Intel Core i9-10980XE Test Platform:

Processors Used	AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2990X AMD Ryzen Threadripper 1950X Intel Core i9-10980XE Intel Core i9-7980XE Intel Core i9-9900KS AMD Ryzen 9 3950X AMD Ryzen 9 3900X AMD Ryzen 7 3700X
Motherboards Used	MSI X299 Creator (Intel 10980XE) Z390 AOURS Master (Intel 9900KS) ASUS ROG Zenith Extreme Alpha (AMD 2990WX) ASRock X399 Taichi (AMD 1950X) MSI MEG X570 Unify (AMD 3950X) ASRock X570 Taichi (AMD 3900X, 3700X)
Memory	G.SKILL Trident Z RGB Series 32 GB (4 x 8GB) CL16 3600 MHz
Video Cards	MSI GeForce RTX 2080 Ti Lightning Z
Power Supply	ASUS ROG THOR 1200W
Cooling Solutions	Corsair H115i Pro AIO Liquid
Solid State Drive	Samsung SSD 960 EVO M.2 (512 GB)
BIOS Used	7B96v10 (MSI X299 Creator)
OS	Windows 10 64-bit

The Intel Core i9-10980XE is a very power-hungry chip and as such, overclocking was very limited for my sample. The Intel Core i9-10980XE hit a maximum of 4.7 GHz across all cores at a voltage of 1.20V. With the settings, we booted and stress-tested the processor for 1 hour in Prime 95 which ran stable.

3DMark Time Spy CPU Performance

3DMark Firestrike is the widely popular video card benchmark test for Windows that is designed to measure your PC’s gaming performance. While the overall benchmark is great, the utility also provides a good indication of the CPU performance.

Blender

Blender is the free and open source 3D creation suite. It supports the entirety of the 3D pipeline—modeling, rigging, animation, simulation, rendering, compositing and motion tracking, even video editing and game creation.

Cinebench R20

Cinebench is a real-world cross-platform test suite that evaluates your computer’s hardware capabilities. Improvements to Cinebench Release 20 reflect the overall advancements to CPU and rendering technology in recent years, providing a more accurate measurement of Cinema 4D’s ability to take advantage of multiple CPU cores and modern processor features available to the average user.

Cinebench R15

CINEBENCH is a real-world cross-platform test suite that evaluates your computer’s performance capabilities. CINEBENCH is based on MAXON’s award-winning animation software CINEMA 4D, which is used extensively by studios and production houses worldwide for 3D content creation. MAXON software has been used in blockbuster movies such as Iron Man 3, Oblivion, Life of Pi or Prometheus and many more.

Geekbench 5

Geekbench 5, the latest major upgrade to Primate Labs’ easy-to-use cross-platform benchmark, is now available for download. Geekbench 5 allows you to measure your system’s power more accurately than ever before.

HandBrake

HandBrake is a tool for converting video from nearly any format to a selection of modern, widely supported codecs.

PCMark 10

PCMark 10 is a complete PC benchmarking solution for Windows 10. It includes several tests that combine individual workloads covering storage, computation, image and video manipulation, web browsing and gaming. Specifically designed for the full range of PC hardware from netbooks and tablets to notebooks and desktops, PCMark 10 offers complete Windows PC performance testing for home and business use.

POV-Ray

The POV-Ray package includes detailed instructions on using the ray-tracer and creating scenes. Many stunning scenes are included with POV-Ray so you can start creating images immediately when you get the package.

SuperPI

Super PI is used by many overclockers to test the performance and stability of their computers. In the overclocking community, the standard program provides a benchmark for enthusiasts to compare “world record” pi calculation times and demonstrate their overclocking abilities. The program can also be used to test the stability of a certain overclock speed.

WinRAR

WinRAR is a powerful archive manager. It can backup your data and reduce the size of email attachments, decompresses RAR, ZIP and other files downloaded from the Internet and create new archives in RAR and ZIP file format.

7-Zip

7-Zip is free software with open source. It can backup your data and reduce the size of email attachments, decompresses RAR, ZIP and other files downloaded from the Internet and create new archives in RAR and ZIP file format.

X264 HD Encode Benchmark

This benchmark measures the encoding performance of the processor. It offers a standardized benchmark for the clip as well as the encoder used is uniform.

Ashes of The Singularity

Stardock's Ashes of the Singularity RTS title is a new take on the historical genre. The game incorporates several things that many pc gamers have been curious about and anxious to try for themselves such as Explicit Multi-Adapter Support and full Asynchronous Compute under DirectX 12 API. We tested the game at 1440P with 4x MSAA on Crazy Settings under DirectX 12.

Battlefield V

Battlefield V brings back the action of the World War 2 shooter genre. Using the latest Frostbite tech, the game does a good job of looking gorgeous in all ways possible. From the open-world environments to the intense and gun-blazing action, this multiplayer and single-player FPS title is one of the best looking Battlefields to date. The game was tested at max settings at 1440p.

DOOM

In 2016, Id finally released Doom. My testing wouldn’t be complete without including this title. It's a hell fest featuring fast-paced FPS action and tons of demons to kill. The latest title is based on both Vulkan and OpenGL APIs that take advantage of the latest multi-core and multi-GPU upgrades.

GTA V

GTA V is one handsomely optimized title for the PC audience. It's scalable across various PC configurations and delivers an impressive frame rate. Rockstar did an amazing job with the PC build of GTA V and it comes with a large array of settings that can be configured by PC gamers. We tested the title at 1440P with everything set to Ultra and 4x MSAA.

Mass Effect Andromeda

Being a huge fan of the Mass Effect series, I was highly anticipating the arrival of Andromeda to store shelves. Now that it’s here, I put the fastest gaming card to the test. Using Frostbite, the latest Mass Effect title looks incredibly gorgeous and the open-world settings on the different planets immerses you a lot.

Metro Exodus

Metro Exodus continues the journey of Artyom through the nuclear wasteland of Russia and its surroundings. This time, you are set over the Metro, going through various regions and different environments. The game is one of the premier titles to feature NVIDIA’s RTX technology and does well in showcasing the ray-tracing effects in all corners. The game was tested at Ultra setting with RTX settings turned off at 1440p.

Shadow of The Tomb Raider

Sequel to The Rise of the Tomb Raider, Shadow of The Tomb Raider is visually enhanced with an updated Foundation Engine that delivers realistic facial animations and the most gorgeous environments ever seen in a Tomb Raider Game. The game is a technical marvel and really shows the power of its graphics engine in the latest title.

Sid Meir's Civilization VI

Civilization VI is the pinnacle of the series. It's featured huge, sweeping changes, and nothing was left out. Everything has found a purpose, they all work together in tandem but also have a reason to stand alone. It uses a more fleshed out engine that now supports DirectX 12 capabilities. We tested the game with every setting maxed out (4x MSAA, 4096x4096 shadow textures) at 1440P in DirectX 12.

Watch Dogs 2

Watch Dogs 2 once again takes us on a hacking tour, but this time in the city of San Francisco. Using a very evolved version of the OPUS engine the developers should have a better grasp of things this go around than they did with Watch Dogs. The new engine incorporates several NVIDIA Gameworks technologies and is seen as one of the most graphics-intensive titles to launch this year. We tested the game on a mix of Ultra and high settings at 1440P (Temporal Filtering Disabled).

When it comes to power consumption, there are a few things we should take note of. First of all, Intel has focused on efficiency for several years but as we have seen, they are starting to loose rapidly at this front. The Intel Core-X processors are based on a revised 14nm process while the competition has moved to 7nm.

All Intel Core-X "Cascade Lake-X" chips are rated at 165W. Intel states that the higher TDP not only compensates for higher frequencies but should also provide stable overclocking performance. The latter was true in our testing but we saw higher figures when we ran overclocking. Regardless, you can see the entire system power consumption numbers in the chart below:

The Core-X series processors don't only consume higher power, they also release huge amounts of heat. It's well known that Intel is using a TIM based solution between the IHS and die rather than a proper soldered solution like AMD uses on Ryzen. Intel used properly soldered designs on their last generation HEDT processors but they have done away with it. This will lead to poor heat that results in higher temperatures. I used the Corsair H115i Pro for testing.

In my initial review of the Intel Core i9-10980XE, I was fairly disappointed with the Cascade Lake-X lineup which offers little to no gain over the existing 7th Gen and 9th Gen X-series parts while AMD has brought a bigger reason to upgrade from their previous 32 core and 16 core processors to the newest ones. With that said, there are still users who eye Intel's higher HEDT frequencies and over-all overclocking capabilities along with the fine-tuned IMC which would lead some enthusiasts to go the Intel HEDT route.

With the recent release of the 10th Gen parts, ASRock released their X299 Taichi CLX, the third and last revision to their LGA 2066 Taichi series lineup. It comes in at a price point of $399.99 US which has seen a spike since the original X299 Taichi which retailed at $289.99 US or the XE variant which retailed for $309.99 US. But ASRock has taken into account user feedback from their previous-gen Taichi products and applied them to the CLX.

ASRock X299 Taichi CLX Design

The design has seen a major update over the previous two Taichi X299 boards. Since I have had the chance of testing the previous Taichi board too, the CLX comes with more modern aesthetics that were featured on the recent TRX40 and X570 motherboards. The Taichi X299 CLX rocks a fantastic design, if you are an RGB enthusiast, you would be a little let down with the onboard Polychrome Sync RGB features since that mostly covers the PCH heatsink and the underside of the PCB but if you're fine without the extra bling, that's a good thing for you.

If you are more interested in the usefulness of the design, then you should be delighted to know that this board rocks a new aluminum heatsink with a solid heat pipe solution for better cooling than the previous variant. Best of all, the motherboard doesn't break barriers and ships within an ATX form factor allowing for easy compatibility.

ASRock X299 Taichi CLX Features

When it comes to the feature set, ASRock has a lot to offer at a price of $400 US. I must say that the only thing this board lacks over the much expensive X299 Creator model is the 10GbE LAN. Other than that, you get 10 SATA ports which are enough for storage heavy users, tons of USB 3.2 Gen 2 & Gen 1 connectivity, and wireless (Wi-Fi 6 802.11ax (2.4Gbps) + BT 5.0) capabilities. You also get dual LAN ports for GbE networking, one powered by Intel GbE (1Gb) and the other powered by a Realtek 2.5Gb LAN controller.

Since the Cascade Lake-X CPUs are equipped with 48 CPU PCIe Gen 3 lanes, the ASRock X299 Taichi CLX can support up to two x16 and two x8 links simultaneously for use with multiple GPUs or add-in cards. Also, each M.2 port is coupled with a heatsink which is part of the front cover that hides the electrical components next to the PCH. Talking about M.2 slots, these are wired to the second PCIe 3.0 x16 (x8 electrical) slot so if you're using a single M.2 slot, the x16 slot would operate at x4 mode and will be disabled if both M.2 slots are populated. It's not a big deal since you're still left with three full-length PCIe slots. The audio performance from the Realtek ALC1220 is standard and does the job well for an onboard audio controller.

ASRock X299 Taichi CLX Performance

I have to credit to ASRock for producing a very solid, rounded up board that performs well in terms of BIOS optimization and various hardware solutions that produce better results. The higher VRM count does affect the overclocking performance by boosting clock speeds. It's a beast with an over-build 720A VRM.

The design of the motherboard is super impressive, it packs all the bells and whistles of a high-end desktop motherboard. It supports fast memory, fast storage and houses a solid 13 phase VRM that let me overclock the 10980XE to 4.7 GHz across all cores. The VRM temps were under 60C at full load and even with overclocking, seeing them under 65C was impressive considering the previous X299 motherboards shot past 80C when the CPU was overclocked.

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The board has a 13 phase VRM design that is supplied power through a dual 8 pin connector. It may seem fine at first but this delivers 300W of power which allows the processors to run without throttling due to power/thermal limitations. ASRock has also made subtle improvements to their BIOS design, now offering more intuitive features such as deeper overclocking options and fan-tuning settings.

ASRock has also stated that they will soon be releasing a BIOS update for their X299 Taichi CLX and X299 Creator motherboards, allowing support of RDIMM with up to 256 GB DDR4 capacities. This will allow up to 2 TB memory support with 7th, 9th and 10th Gen X-series processors which is very impressive for the Intel HEDT platform. In a preview, ASRock's in-house overclocking legend, Nick Shih, showed 1 TB of LRDIMM memory running on an X299 Taichi CLX along with a Core i9-7900X processor with memory running at frequencies of 3471.8 MHz (CL 20-24-24-56). We will keep you updated when the BIOS rolls out.

ASRock X299 Taichi CLX Pricing and Conclusion

The ASRock X299 Taichi CLX is the third and last revision to ASRock's X299 Taichi family and its the best one yet. Offering modern aesthetics, the latest feature set which includes USB 3.2 Gen 2 / Gen 1, 2.5GbE LAN, 10 SATA ports, lots of expansion options and a solid VRM which offers up to 720A to the 10th Gen X-series processors, the X299 Taichi CLX for $400 US is a little on the steep side when it comes to pricing but is one impressive motherboard for the list of feature it packs. If you're eyeing a pure Intel HEDT setup, the X299 Taichi CLX is an option that is well worth the price and designed with Intel's 10th Gen CPUs in mind.

 

The post ASRock X299 Taichi CLX ‘$400 US’ Motherboard Review With Intel Core i9-10980XE CPU – Taichi Rebuilt For 10th Gen X-Series by Hassan Mujtaba appeared first on Wccftech.

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