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