I do some photo-video editing, graphics programming, and gaming on my home computer. I had specific requirements for a motherboard when the Z590 platform came around and I was considering an upgrade.
First, I want one x16 PCIE Gen4 slot for a graphics card.
Second, I need a x1 and a x4 slots for a sound card and a video capture card.
Third, I want two M.2 slots for Gen4 NVMe drives and configured to RAID0.
Fourth, I want a Thunderbolt port for testing external PCIE devices. This could be done via onboard connectors or an add-in card.
Furthermore, I want no PCIE lanes are shared among all above devices.
Other expectations include:
An Intel CPU with integrated GPU for UHD Bluray playback,
8x8 PCIE support for dual graphics card,
Wifi and Bluetooth,
Integrated IO shield for better ESD protection on a testbench-style case.
I skipped the Z590 platform because I didn't find a single motherboard that met the major requirements. For the Z690 platform, the Asrock Taichi is the only one that meets the requirements. I preordered it when the order was open. It's still on preorder. But I never looked at other boards. It seems it might take me a long time to finally finish the build because of the shortages.