With the launch of Intel’s Core i7 “Broadwell-E” processors, ASRock has introduced two new X99 motherboard. They are the X99 Taichi and the Fatal1ty X99 Gaming i7. We will start with the X99 Taichi which has a very interesting design. It features a black PCB with a white gear painted on the board and a white I/O and audio cover. It is a really cool look and if you want to do a black and white build this would be the perfect board for it.
As far as features you have a 12 phase power design, 3 PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slots that are reinforced, dual Ultra M.2 slots, dual USB 3.1 ports (Type-A / Type-C), dual Intel Gigabit LAN, 802.11ac WiFi, a water cooling pump header, ASRock’s Purity Sound 3 audio solution. The board will retail for $219.
ASRock is incorporating that “gear” design into the BIOS of the board as well as the box art. Again, I have to say it looks pretty cool.
The ASRock Fatal1ty X99 Gaming i7 has pretty much the same features and design as the X99 Taichi, except that it is Fatal1ty-themed. So you have a black PCB with a black cover over the I/O and audio with red and white accents throughout the board. Instead of the Purity Sound 3 audio you have Creative SoundBlaster Cinema3 Audio. The board also has the Fatal1ty Mouse Port, Key Master software and comes with a 3-month XSplit3 license. It will retail for $259.
