A number of weeks again at Computex, Asrock unveiled a pair of attention-grabbing motherboards: The Z790 Taichi Lite and the B650E Taichi Lite. As of at the moment they’ve been formally introduced. And I for one am pleased to see them.
The concept behind the Lite sequence is easy. They’re in any other case equivalent to their current Taichi counterparts, however with a less complicated aesthetic. At Computex 2023, an Asrock rep advised me the sophisticated cogs and wheels heatsinks of current Taichi boards had been fairly costly to make, and swapping these out for one thing easier allowed it to promote the identical motherboard at a less expensive value. Hoorah!
I’ve reviewed many Taichi boards, together with the Z690 Taichi and B550 Taichi Razer Version. I imagine the primary one I reviewed was the X99 Taichi in 2016 or 2017. This was through the period of extreme RGB and ‘gamification’ of total product traces. Including the phrase gaming to a board supposedly made it extra interesting. The Taichi was a refreshing change.
On the time the Taichi actually stood out with its mix of affordability, comparatively easy non-gamer black and white aesthetic and stable characteristic set. In recent times, Asrock has elevated the Taichi model, and it is now its flagship sequence, aside from restricted version fashions just like the Aqua. Taichis are usually superb boards, however their enchantment has diminished a bit as a result of extreme pricing
The identical will be mentioned of all excessive finish motherboards although. Irrespective of the rationale, whether or not its part shortages, electrical complexity, characteristic creep, or the necessity for greater revenue margins, excessive finish motherboards are too costly. After all you possibly can nonetheless purchase low-cost motherboards, however what I would prefer to see is much less emphasis on flashy designs, accent bundles and an ‘all the pieces plus the kitchen sink’ method.
I would like to see extra ‘lite’ motherboards. For starters, ditch the sculpted heatsinks that function little greater than glorified ads. M.2 and chipset cooling is often hidden beneath a graphics card anyway. Make heatsinks purposeful with a big floor space (E.g. fins) whereas conserving a robust VRM able to dealing with Ok CPUs and their quickest turbo modes. Give me half a dozen quick USB ports, a few M.2, two SATA, 2.5G LAN and WiFi. Bang, I simply saved a few hundred {dollars}. Generally much less actually is extra.
So long as such a board has good BIOS help, you can set up a 14900K and let it do its turbo factor for the following 5 years. When you shut your case you’d by no means know you do not have a flagship board, it will simply be one with out superfluous costly crap.
Should you should have a board with Thunderbolt 4 or twin 10G LAN or an SSD add-in card, the makers can be all too pleased to promote them to you, as they do now. However as a client, why cannot I’ve the choice to purchase a excessive finish motherboard with an entry degree bundle?
It will by no means occur in fact. The explanations are apparent. Cash, earnings and margins. Motherboard makers need you to purchase costlier boards. Capitalism! Yay.
The DIY PC market is struggling, and compelling customers to spend ever extra on excessive spec gaming motherboards is not conducive to a wholesome ecosystem. Given there are already tons of of various motherboards in the marketplace, there may be room for an unconventional motherboard product with a want checklist like mine above, however will one of many producers step up with such a product? It is uncertain. However one can hope.
I applaud Asrock’s choice to launch the Taichi Lite sequence, although their pricing hasn’t been introduced. I hope they promote nicely and we see extra merchandise like them sooner or later.