Board Layout

The ASRock X470 Taichi Ultimate has a gunmetal and black color scheme, and the cog/gear theme is prominently featured as part of the PCB graphic, as well as with the chipset heatsink. The neutral coloring will be easy to match in a build, and the quality of the finish is excellent. The ASRock X470 Taichi Ultimate has a large rear I/O shield and a second smaller shield below it; these appear to be one piece at first glance, but are separate. As a top-tier board, the ASRock X470 Taichi Ultimate packs a lot of extra features, and the layout is unsurprisingly crowded in appearance. ASRock has done an excellent job here—the layout is intelligently designed.

The back of the Taichi Ultimate is a uniform black that is broken only by the backplate for the cooler, the screws for the heatsinks and I/O shields, and a few components that wouldn't fit on the front. As with the front, the fit and finish here is excellent.


Despite the shortage of real estate on the ASRock X470 Taichi Ultimate, the area around the CPU socket is quite open, and cooler clearance should not be an issue. The four DIMM slots are a little closer to the socket than on some boards, so users with especially large air coolers may want to double check for clearance.


There are two M.2 slots on the ASRock X470 Taichi Ultimate, and both are in what are quickly becoming the standard locations. The first is immediately underneath the CPU socket and above the first PCI slot, underneath an attractive black aluminium heatsink. The second is between the second and third PCI Express x16 slots. While not entirely necessary, the inclusion of an M.2 heatsink is a worthwhile addition both aesthetically and practically.


The ASRock X470 Taichi Ultimate has two PCI Express 3.0 x16 slots wrapped in metal for added rigidity and durability, as well as one PCI Express 2.0 x16 slot and two PCI Express 2.0 x1 slots. The Taichi Ultimate sports no less than 8 SATA3 6.0 Gb/s connectors. The first six are supported by the chipset while the last two are supported using an ASMedia ASM1061 controller.


The ASRock X470 Taichi Ultimate has a predictable rear I/O offering with the notable addition of a 10 Gigabit LAN port. The full list includes:

• 1x PS/2 keyboard and mouse combo connector
• 2x Antenna ports
• 1x HDMI port
• 6x USB 3.1 Gen1 ports
• 2x RJ-45 LAN ports
• 1x USB 3.1 Gen2 Type-A port
• 1x USB 3.1 Gen2 Type-C port
• 1x Optical SPDIF out port
• 5x 3.5 mm audio jacks
• 1x Clear CMOS button

The LAN on the ASRock X470 Taichi Ultimate is controlled by an Intel I211AT controller, while the 10 Gigabit LAN is controlled by an Aquantia AQC107 controller. Wireless LAN is supported by an Intel 802.11ac WiFi module.