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ASRock Refreshes Z790 Motherboard Lineup: Taichi Lite, Nova, PG Riptide WiFi7, and LiveMixer

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ASRock gave its Socket LGA1700 motherboard lineup, specifically those based on the Z790 chipset, a mid-lifecycle refresh with the introduction of four new motherboard models. These include the new Z790 Taichi Lite, Z790 Phantom Gaming Riptide WiFi7, Z790 Nova WiFi7, and the Z790 LiveMixer. The Z790 Taichi Lite heralds a new sub-brand in ASRock's motherboard product stack. This provides the core feature-set of the top Taichi, such as CPU VRM and overclocking capabilites, but tones down on the aesthetic, and some I/O connectivity. Interestingly, the Taichi Lite sticks with older WiFi 6E connectivity, besides a Killer 2.5 GbE + Intel 2.5 GbE wired network. The onboard audio solution is fairly slick, featuring a Realtek ALC4082 codec, an ESS Sabre 9218 DAC for the front-out, and WIMA audio capacitors.

In related news, ASRock also extended the Taichi Lite brand to the AMD platform, by debuting the B650E Taichi Lite, with a powerful CPU VRM that's comparable to that of the X670E Taichi, and a nifty I/O that includes WiFi 6E, Killer 2.5 GbE wired networking, and the same exact onboard audio solution as the Z790 Taichi Lite. The Z790 Phantom Gaming Nova is intended to be the most premium Phantom Gaming series motherboard in the product stack, although positioned a notch below the Z790 Taichi (although above the Z790 Taichi Lite on account of its features). You get the most powerful CPU VRM solution among the company's Phantom Gaming motherboards, a neat, illuminated common heatsink for M.2 drives other than the topmost Gen 5 (which gets a chunkier heatsink), and plenty of overclocker-friendly features. It has a more advanced set of network connectivity than the Taichi series, with 5 GbE wired networking, and the latest WiFi 7. Interestingly, the onboard audio is simpler, with just the ALC4082 handling all channels (no ESS DAC).



The Z790 PG Riptide WiFi7 is a mid-range motherboard designed to succeed the Z790 PG Riptide WiFi (that offers WiFi 6E). As part of the refresh, you get not just the more advanced WiFi7, but also 5 GbE wired networking. The onboard audio solution uses the reasonably spec'd ALC1220 HDA codec. The Riptide features a 16+1+1 phase CPU VRM, compared to the 20+1+1 phase of the PG Nova and Taichi Lite, Lastly, there's the Z790 LiveMixer. This is a spruced up entry-mid segment product. You get swanky looking heatsinks for the CPU VRM, chipset, and M.2 slots, but the rest of the feature set is rather slim: there's no WLAN, only a Realtek 2.5 GbE wired networking interface, and the onboard audio solution uses the entry-level ALC897 codec. There's an M.2 E-key slot so you can add your own WLAN module, though. ASRock plans to launch these motherboards as we get closer to Intel's "Raptor Lake Refresh" processor launch, some time in 2H-2023.

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I always like the aesthetic of Taichi series. I wanted the X370 Taichi so bad when I build my PC 6 years ago, but I could not get it because of availability.
 
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POST codes!! Want to see prices on these when available.
 
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POST codes!! Want to see prices on these when available.
You an me both, I heard a rumour about the B650E one and I was getting a taichi more than likely so I am loitering to see what price the 'lite' attracts.

Doesn't seem very lite on features compared to the models they're replacing...
 
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With all these Z790 refresh boards, I wonder - are Intel keeping this socket past 13th gen??
 
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With all these Z790 refresh boards, I wonder - are Intel keeping this socket past 13th gen??

No. Meteor Lake-S is maxing out at 6P+8E, and isn't a suitable replacement for Raptor Lake-S at the desktop class. Raptor Lake Refresh may or may not be marketed as 14th Gen, and it may or may not be released at the i7 and i9 segments. I find both unlikely. My personal take is that we are probably going to see 13th Gen Core i5-13505, i5-13605K, i7-13705K with buffed clocks come soon (i7-13705K matching the 13900K's clock speed targets but with the i7-13700K's hardware configuration), with the i9-13900K and 13900KS being left at the top, I have a really hard time believing that Intel can improve on the i9 SKUs' clock speeds without an extreme impact in their power consumption, you usually won't get much more than 300 MHz out of a liquid cooled 13900KS for daily usage and that will shoot power into the 400 watt range, so 6 GHz all-core plus any kind of boost/TVB in this refresh is something I would personally rule out entirely unless Intel is willing to release - and guarantee - a 450W CPU.
 
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