PCB and connectors:
Tools for clocking:
Let’s start with the elements inserted on the PCB, which can prove to be interesting tools for overclockers. There are plenty of them on this model, and of course we’re not disappointed. This confirms its position as an XOC board dedicated to overclocking. Let’s start with a tour of the tools, from top to bottom.
- ” + ” and ” – “: to overclock directly on the fly and thus increase the frequency of your overclocking. We’ll check whether it’s the BCLK frequency or the ratio that is affected.
- Profile 1, 2 and 3 buttons: one-click activation of overclocker Nick Shis’s predefined OC profiles.
- Debug Led: displays a code corresponding to the component responsible for the boot error. These are now displayed on the OLED screen, and the list of codes can be found in the manual.
- LN2 Mode: avoids the problems encountered with liquid nitrogen cooling.
- Slow Mode: allows you to boot with a coefficient of 16x and, once in the OS, to reset the coefficient chosen in the bios. In cold conditions, if you want to reach 6GHz at 60x100MHz, activate Slow Mode to boot at 16×100 and then return to 60×100 in the OS. This is mainly for max screens.
- ReTry Button (RTY_BTN1): during cold tests, sometimes the OS freezes and a reset doesn’t restart the motherboard: the only solution is to hold down the START button for 6 or 7 seconds. With the ReTry button, it restarts immediately.
- Safe Boot (BFG_BTN1): restarts the board even if the parameters set in the bios do not allow boot. This avoids the need to perform a CMOS Clear to reboot and thus lose your encoded parameters.
- The power button: powers up the motherboard.
- The reset button: restarts the motherboard in the event of failure. They are located in a lower position so as to be easily accessible for testing under liquid nitrogen with the insulation provided around the socket.
- ProbeIT : for measuring voltages with a multimeter directly on the PCB.
- OC switches: use OC switches to automatically load your OC profiles at start-up.
- CMOS CLR: clears BIOS settings to return to default. Found with external connectors.
- BIOS switch: allows you to choose between the first or second BIOS, and is also available with external connectors.
Last but not least, this ASRock Taichi Z890 OCF features a 13-pin OCP1 connector, enabling you to plug in ElmorLabs’ OC Panel. Currently, only the APEX Encore Z790 and APEX Z890 motherboards were compatible. We have a copy of this OC Panel at our disposal, so it will be a plus for our overclockingsessions .
PCB:
Our ASRock Taichi Z890 OCF is based on a 22 (Vcore) 2 (VccGT) 1 (VccAUX) 1 1 phase power supply. The 22 phases of the Vcore are placed in parallel, so there are actually 11 of them. The controller is a Renesas RAA 229130 chip.
The 22 mosfets are all 110A Renesas R2209004s grouped in parallel by phase, enabling them to be duplicated without the need for a doubler. The mosfets in the power stages generate the most heat, as they are responsible for voltage conversion and delivery to the CPU from the 12-volt EPS connector.
Connectors :
The ASRock Taichi Z890 OCF comes with a full range of connectors. First of all, the Clear CMOS and the button for flashing the BIOS from a USB key. One of the board’s special features is its two PS/2 slots for connecting a keyboard and mouse. But why are we still using this type of connector in 2021? Quite simply because some benchmarks perform better under XP (Super Pi), and the use of non-USB peripherals makes OS installation much easier.
Finally, there are two Thunderbolt 4 Type-C Ports (40 Gb/s), a USB 3.2 Gen2x2 Type-C Port (20 Gb/s), four USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-A Ports (10 Gb/s), a USB 3.2 Gen1 Port, the two Wi-Fi antennas and the various audio outputs.
See you in a few days for our first tests with this ASRock Taichi Z890 OCF!
