Board Layout

The ASRock Z490 Taichi retains a mostly neutral theme that is easy to match to a wide variety of components. With a predominantly black and silver theme accented with a touch of gold over the chipset, the Taichi follows the same design as its predecessors.


The CPU socket is open enough for most air coolers. The VRM features a large, finned heatsink with not one or two, but three fans for active cooling. ASRock isn't playing around when it comes to power delivery.


The first two VRM cooling fans sit on top of the finned section of the heatsink. These are designed to push air down through the fins of the heatsink. The third VRM fan sits under a nicely finished aluminium plate.


There are technically four M.2 slots on the ASRock Z490 Taichi; two above the first PCIe x16 slot, another below the first PCIe x16 slot, and the last between the second and third PCIe x16 slot. The top two slots are facing each other; one supports PCIe 4.0 (on future-generation CPUs) and the other only supports PCIe 3.0.


The ASRock Z490 Taichi offers 3 PCI Express 3.0 x16 slots, all of which are encased in steel armor, as well as two PCI Express 3.0 x1 slots. The top two x16 slots are PCIe 4.0 ready, featuring a clock generator to ensure a clear signal. While this feature is not supported by 10th Gen Intel Core processors, it is expected to be supported in future launches. The board has a total of eight SATA 6 Gb/s ports on the side, angled 90 degrees from the board.


The ASRock Z490 Taichi has a good I/O offering that includes an optical S/PDIF out port as well as a BIOS flashback button and a USB 3.2 Gen2x2 Type-C port.

• 2x Antenna ports
• HDMI port
• DisplayPort 1.4 port
• 5x USB 3.2 Gen1 Type-A ports
• PS/2 keyboard/mouse combo port
• 2x USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-A port
• USB 3.2 Gen2x2 Type-C port
• 2x RJ-45 LAN port
• Optical SPDIF out port
• 5x 3.5 mm audio jacks
• BIOS flashback button

Networking on the ASRock Z490 Taichi is handled by an Intel I219V as well as a Realtek RTL8125AG for 2.5 Gb/s LAN and an Intel 802.11ax for WiFi support.