The Taichi is a great mobo man. And with this X870E Taichi Lite, AsRock has done users a big favor imho, because it is 100% the same board as the normal Taichi minus the RGB bling, which nobody serious enough cares about anyway. Very clever move by AsRock imho, this shaves ~100 euros off the Taichi's original price which is great, as it is still a premium board but in a price much closer to the upper mid-range mobos.
I will again suggest the 7950X and not the 7900X or XT or XTX if you can afford it. Not only is the base clock much higher, 4.5ghz vs 3.7ghz of the 7900X and 16 cores, but as weird this may sound, it is more easily cooled, because it consists of two identical 8core chiplets which is not the case for the 7900X 12 cores as they are split on the die between an 8 core and a 4core chiplet. This makes distribution of heat sort of uneven for the 12 core cpu, thus efficient cooling is more consistent on the 7950X although it is more power consuming thus producing more heat. With that said, this is not a "deal breaker", either cpu will perform nicely according to their spec.
Cheers
PS: I own a 7900X btw.

 

i appreciate your comment man

I wait for a answer from the asrock support, what they tell me about the TB4 compatibility.
and i also think that the 7950x is in the basket
We definitly need the highest clock speed per core.

 

in order to achieve higher clock speeds, you can disable hyperthreading and also some CPU cores in BIOS, which would make 7950X basically a "higher quality" 7900X so to speak

 

Hi, I have presonus quantum which is thunderbolt 2. I'm using it with thunderbolt 3 converter connected to asus thunderboltex.
I know that some of new assua mainboards are compatible with thunderboltex, but what options are to use quantum without thunderboltex? Which motherboard can be used with TB2 interface with TB3 converter?

 

Asrock answered me, that the X870E Taichi is not TB4 compatible.
Just USB4. I’m also a bit curious.

I don't know what to buy. Strange world.
Crosshair X670E Hero AMD or we go with i9 14. And overclock it.

 

Asus made a downgrade tool so thunderbolt 2 devices could work on thunderbolt 4 motherboards. Asus have now deleted that tool from their website. I am curious if the integrated thunderbolt 4 on the new Intel Ultra CPU's works with thunderbolt 2 devices. Hope somebody can test this soon. Maybe some thunderbolt 3 add on cards could work on new motherboards so you can use thunderbolt 2 devices. But as a general rule thunderbolt 2 devices will not work on thunderbolt 4 (only on Mac)

Any reason you will not buy Intel Ultra which seems to be the most secure when it comes to thunderbolt?

 

Last edited: Nov 27, 2024

Originally I suggested him the Ultra 7. But the 8x 3.9 ghz im not sure if they´re enough.

 

maybe some Thunderbolt 4 Dock with integrated hub - such as Caldigit TS4 Plus - would be able to bridge & "downgrade" legacy TB2 ?

 

it worked as a workaround until Intel upgraded the firmware on regular thunderbolt 4. That is why I'm curious if the integrated thunderbolt 4 on the Intel Ultra CPU's is more like the Mac implementation

maybe Intel Core Ultra 9 285K then

 

I'm speechless. Wtf hahaha. If someone from AsRock replied this they either must know something that escapes me, or they 're there to sweep the floors and occasionally answer emails lol, because:
I did build on a X670E Taichi in early 2023. Bios v. 1.08 i think was the latest at the time and the board was just fine working with a UAD Apollo X4 which is a TB3 interface. Although i haven't laid my hands on a X870E Taichi board yet or any other X870E board, i find it hard to believe the successor to that mobo to be incompatible with Thunderbolt 4/3. Unless every mobo manufacturer has fucked up with implementing USB4 on X870E mobos, because everyone seems to use the exact same chip from ASMedia with a newer firmware. So, don't just take my word for it, to cut it short:
Thunderbolt compatibility for the Taichi x670E confirmed here: https://www.club386.com/asrock-x670e-taichi-motherboard-review-the-enthusiast-choice/
Thunderbolt compatibility for the X870E Taichi & Lite confirmed by nerds' favorite Level1 Techs' pc guru Wendell here, just skip to 2:00

 

Last edited: Nov 28, 2024

Edit:
https://www.asus.com/motherboards-components/motherboards/accessories/thunderboltex-4/

What do you guys think about this combi?
A Asus X670E Plus Mainboard and this "official intel super mega certified" TB Addon card?



Long bla bla here: :D
jaa, super crazy everything.
The Problem is, i read many things about USB Dropouts.
Sure, some people write, that they got TB Devices to run on a x670 Mainboard.
I see some AMD Mainboards with Thunderbolt drivers from 2022.
Then i read a thread, that a guy made a BIOS Update and then the Thunderbolt was erased from the device manager and replaced with USB4.

The problem is: My friend has a 3000€ UAD Soundcard and will buy a 2500€ PC :D
That´s much money.
But i also know, that the lastest Gen Intel CPUs AND the latest Gen AMD Mainboards just sucks.

He should definitly wait for next year.
On the other side we can give back the PC when it´s not working.

And Ableton still can´t handle the modern Intel Hybrid CPUs.
So we basically have just 8 cores. No matter what we do.
The Ultra 7 and the i9 14900k we could bring to stable 4.8 ghz i think. But yeah, just 8x
Crazy

 

Last edited: Nov 28, 2024

I told you on first reply..

Get an x670E MoBo,
should be compatible with Ryzen 7000 series..

Some suggested the Hero, the Plus is alright too,
I'd go for the ProArt just because..

If the TB/USB implementation on the mobo is incompatible with the UAD Apollo interface,
you can always get the Thundeboltex4 and cross fingers..


Meanwhile you could try to verify Thunderboltex4 and Apollo are gonna like each other..

maybe other users have tried it before?
maybe UAD support knows/can tell you about Thunderboltex4 compat/performance in general?

 

And what about Gigabyte Mobos?
What type of TB/USB4 implementation do they have?

 

"compatibility with Thunderbolt peripherials" and "PCIe tunneling over USB" (an optional USB4 feature) is what he says, and that is not equal to Thunderbolt

 

haha, ja you´re definitly right
All my way leads to Asus now.

Will have a look at their x670 Mainboards with Thunderbolt certification.
They write that they have the "official" intel certified Thunderbold connectors. Onboard and/or via the TB4 Card.

I try my best not to support Intel !!!

 

It is sort of typical, the newer driver to replace the older one. Just because the new one doesn't mention TB doesn't mean it shouldn't work. Panicking never leads to good things really. Yes TB support is sort of non typical for most AMD mobos, manufacturers have found a way to implement TB through USB4 in a -sort of- hush hush way, without the need of paying a premium to Intel for licensing. There are exceptions. Thunderbolt 4 implementation on AMD goes as back as the Asus ProArt B550 which has two ports labeled as Thunderbolt 4 ports. Thunder logo and the likes hehe. But this is an AM4 board.
Also a quick look at Taichi X670E official driver downloads reveals a Thunderbolt driver. I wouldn't be so positive if i hadn't built working studio pcs with those mobos. Potential users/system builders just have to know what gives with the controller chip that provides USB-C 40gbps and supposedly TB4.
The Asus X670E ProART Creator mobo and other mobos like the mentioned X670E Taichi, have two 40gbps USB-C provided by the Intel JHL8540. This controller is actually Intel's Maple Ridge Thunderbolt 4 controller (also on Intel boards too up to 14th gen) which doubles as USB4 and not the other way around. Even so, the mobo's spec sheet refers to it as a USB4 controller which is a semi false statement. What they do is circumvent Intel's IP of Thunderbolt to silently implement TB3/4 compatibility. When they do it that is. Plus it would absurd to use such an expensive controller just for USB4, which is the actual case with X870E boards, please read on.
Summarizing, for socket AM5, Asus X670E ProArt Creator and Crosshair Hero and ASRock's X670E Taichi all work just fine with TB3/4 devices as they all rely on Intel's Maple Ridge controller for TB functionality. You can add Msi's X670E Godlike to this list but at 1500+ it's just a no no.

Errr yes and no? Because "properly implemented" Thunderbolt, which means the correct hardware controller on a mobo, correct electrical implementation, right cables etc., can transmit various protocols which among others are, DisplayPort, HDMI, USB aaaand PCI Express over a single cable. So, if the latter is not pci-e tunneling over USB-C, which btw is how all TB audio interfaces work, i am prepared to be schooled at what it actually is, np. Not to get lost in the depths of written speech but to be frank, how would you explain such a connection and protocol transfer please.
It has also become very apparent to me that all X870E boards have switched from using the Intel MapleRidge in X670E to an ASMedia controller for USB4 and supposedly TB4/3? I don't know what gives with this controller and until a video or a real review appears showing TB4/3 peripheral devices working with an X870E mobo, i would be cautious.
Cheers
EDIT: I intentionally left out Gigabyte's X670E Aorus series and Asus X670E TUF Gaming as they all rely on an add-on card with the same Intel Maple Ridge controller but the implementation is cumbersome, especially in cold boots, reboots etc, so i 'd leave them out of the fully compatible equation as they work, until they "decide" not to hehe, leading to much frustration etc.

 

Last edited: Nov 28, 2024

Thank you so much for this very detailed Answer
I also found this chip to be a candidate for real Thunderbolt.
But we decided to give the Ultra 7 265k a chance.
The problem is, that it's not my computer and I'm honest. I'm not so brave to test it and I don't have experience.
So we go the way with Intel.

I will update you with the performance in Ableton.

But I appreciate your post and will have it in mind when I need to build a Thunderbolt AMD next time

 

Just be sure to update the latest bios, chipset, thunderbolt drivers and Windows 11

 

There also came up news, that they provide fixes now:
https://www.allround-pc.com/news/2024/intel-update-soll-gaming-leistung-von-arrow-lake-cpus-steigern
https://wccftech.com/intel-big-chan...age-frequency-behavior-in-next-cpu-microcode/

I definitly don´t like intel and i´m more than happy with my recent AMD Build. But now i´m also a bit curious/interested. These are the latest Gen Intel CPUs with TB5. So with this we´re safe for UAD.
But i also think, that the software developers need to update their softwares too, to make use of the cores. Especially Ableton needs to provide better multicore support. I read many articles about Ableton and Hybrid cores. Some other DAWs Cubase for example officially support Hybrid cores

Now i can sleep again. And when my buddy ordered this machine and we finally opened his Projects we will see

At this time i really appreciate all your comments and support.
I think, i learned a lot what happened the last 8 years on the market.
USB4 with TB3 Support is definitly a good step in the right direction.

 

Np by me. I am just trying to clear the landscape, so to speak, as to what works, what sort of works, and what doesn't. When i have enough time on my hands that is hehe. I really like Intel's new cpus, it's been too long since they had an innovative cpu series out. The -sort of- older switch to big/little cores didn't do them much good, imho. This time they seem to have got it sort of right, at least as far as TB implementation and multi-threaded workloads are concerned.
The embedded on the cpu TB4 controller, as correctly @Daskeladden pointed out, makes possible "cheap" mobos to offer TB4 connectivity out of the box, which to me is the most welcome aspect of it all, especially for those who already invested on an expensive UAD, Antelope etc interface. In my weekly supplier's mobo listing, i see a ton of Z890 mobos starting from 215 euros with certified TB4 onboard. It remains to be tested of course.
As i have no personal experience with this brand new platform, there is also Thunderbolt 5 in the form of a discrete controller on Z890 mobos. I read TB5 is reportedly back compatible with TB4/3 so i guess you won't have a hard time setting the system up. As to the 8 usable cpu cores for Ab.Live, well... let's hope Ableton techs fix this soon, it's been too long for fuck's sake haha.
Personally, i would wait for the Ryzen 9 9950X3D to appear, supposedly it will be released around late January. If it is anything as good as the 9800X3D is, it will probably kill all competition in DAW workloads, especially for those who make heavy use of sample instruments like Kontakt.
Again, remains to be seen and tested.
So best of luck with your build mate. Do us a favor and keep us notified of how the build went if you can.
Cheers
EDIT: Your mate might have luck with a second VST host that can support Intel's Efficiency cores and will run alongside Ableton Live, to split cpu loads. Things like this ie., Rewire, i haven't done in a really longtime tbh, but theoretically it should be possible.

 

Last edited: Nov 29, 2024