Conclusion

I am sure many of you are as eager as I am to see just how well this new generation of Intel Core processors stacks up to the Red competition. 10 months is a long wait to see the Blue team's counter to Ryzen 3000 and unfortunately, the wait isn't quite over yet. While the independent benchmark and performance embargo remains in place, keep an eye on our feed for the latest news and more board previews coming soon!

ASRock has positioned the ASRock Z490 Taichi to be their top of the line mainstream Z490 board. It takes the best elements of previous Taichi iterations, such as the large and stylish M.2 heatsink and the intricate cog and gear motif, and adds a robust finned and actively cooled heatsink to the mix. A solid rear I/O and good networking options round out this Taichi feature set.

I look forward to putting the Taichi's new VRM cooling solution to the test! Does a 14 phase VRM really need active cooling? Stay tuned for performance testing, overclocking, and VRM torture tests in my full review of the ASRock Z490 Taichi.