ASRock’s X870 Taichi Creator is a good, sub-$320 AM5 motherboard. Its strong all-around performance and creator-focused features - like 10 GbE, ample slot spacing/dual PCIe 5.0 slots, and numerous USB ports - make it a top mid-range option, but it is pricey for X870.
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Since the X870 chipset release in mid-2024, we’ve covered several ASRock boards for Intel and AMD, including the Taichi. That name was used solely for the company’s flagship model until recently, when it released the AM5-based Taichi OCF (designed for overclocking), and now the X870 Taichi Creator. The latest iteration of the Taichi, as its name implies, is designed for creators (think visual media, broadcasters, audio creators, streamers) and, as ASRock says, the board delivers precise performance, stable power, and advanced connectivity to empower workflows with reliability and style.
At $319.99 , it’s decidedly a mid-range board and getting well into X870E territory. For the money, the Taichi Creator gives you dual LAN ports (10 and 5 GbE) and Wi-Fi 7, two full-length PCIe 5.0 slots (three total), 12 USB ports on the rear IO (two USB4/40 Gbps), capable power delivery, and a high-quality audio solution. On top of that, its all-black PCB and heatsinks feature a gold accent line, while clear plexi covers on the chipset and VRM heatsinks give it a unique color scheme and premium (though somewhat plain) appearance that’s sure to look good in any black chassis.
The board’s performance was good across most of our testing suite, even though we, yet again, were forced to use our alternate DDR5-6000 set as our primary kit, which isn’t compatible with the latest batch of ASRock AM5 boards (and their new BIOSes) we’ve reviewed. This usually results in some memory-intensive tests running slightly slower than they would on the other kit with tighter tertiary timings (we set primary/secondary to match). Still, it did well in our benchmarks, including gaming. But oddly, this kit worked with all the company’s boards at launch, then suddenly stopped being compatible.
Below, we’ll examine the details and determine whether it deserves a spot on our list of the Best Motherboards . But before we share test results and discuss details, here are the specifications from ASRock’s website.
Specifications of the ASRock X870 Taichi Creator
Swipe to scroll horizontally Socket AM5 (LGA 1718) Chipset X870E Form Factor ATX Voltage Regulator 21 Phase (18x 80A SPSMOSFETs for Vcore) Video Ports (1) HDMI (v2.1)
(2) USB 4 (Type-C Displayport) USB Ports (2) USB 4.0 (40 Gbps) Type-C (4) USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10 Gbps)
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