ASRock X299 Taichi is probably one of the best choices for those who are looking for a technologically strong and visually pleasant motherboard. It is easy in both installation and usage. With this motherboard you get not only smart and attractive design, but a safe option, which pretends your device from overheat. Lots of words can be said about ASROCK X299 Taichi, but the only way to convince you is to present you all the advantages.


Packaging and Appearance


The very second you look at the ASRock X299 Taichi box, you already know that something special is waiting for you inside. The box itself has nothing to do with usual carton sets you’ve seen before. The new design of it makes its content more protected from any kind of damages.


Unboxing this motherboard reminds me my childhood, when I had to unpack a present with a number of colorful paper. To get your new device out of the box you are to rіp оff the оutеr shеll, flіp оpеn thе tоp tо thе innеr …

ASRock is known for developing high-quality hardware components for a relatively affordable price. Thence, its latest Z170A-X1/3.1 ATX mainboard is not an exception, since its price tag does not go beyond $100. In order to cheapen the prime cost, the manufacturer backed away SATA Express & M.2 connectors, limiting the PCB by six SATA III 6 Gb/sec ports.



To add, instead of a modern 8-channel audio controller it incorporated a well-known Realtek ALC892 item. The other boons of modernity remained unchanged. Thus, ASRock took Intel Z170 top chipset as the basis for the motherboard. The chipset is targeting the latest Intel Skylake CPUs for Socket LGA1151. The PCB accommodates 4 DIMM slots for dual-channel DDR4-3466 MHz RAM (up to 64 GB max. capacity).


Graphics facilities are ensured thanks to a pair of PCI Express 3.0 x16 slots, although there are three more PCI Express 3.0 x1 slots for the connection of other items. Network options are entrusted to gigabit Intel I219V LAN …

Enermax Technology Corp. has voiced good news about the appearance of its new chassis Hoplite ST in the European market. The basic destination of Hoplite ST model is the creation of gaming PCs of the entry and middle level. The chassis is developed in midi-tower form factor and is compatible with motherboards of micro-ATX and ATX standards. Hoplite ST is delivered in two colors: models with black casings were codenamed ECA3261-B, while models with white casings – ECA3261-W.



The casing is made of SECC steel and has got rather convenient framework. The chassis contains four external 5.25 inch bays and six internal ones destined as for 3.5 inch drives, so for 2.5 inch drives. It is also equipped with seven expansion slots, and ready to accommodate graphics cards of up to 403 mm in length, as well as, CPU coolers of 167 mm in height.


The nominal delivery kit of Hoplite ST chassis involves two 120 mm fans. The frontal fan goes with LED lighting; the other fan is located at …