NZXT N7 Z490 review: By far the best-looking Intel motherboard
Source: Rich Edmonds / Windows Primal
Motherboard reviews are interesting since virtually of the options bachelor for PC building today are practiced plenty for most people. They're also largely the same, bated from a few ports here and there, which can make reviewing a motherboard tough to make a compelling read. Luckily for me, NZXT decided to make quite the compelling motherboard, which made my job a whole lot easier.
The N7 is a series of Intel motherboards from the U.S.-based PC hardware maker and pre-build supplier. The latest iteration is version iii, rocking Intel's latest Z490 chipset. Unfortunately, for NZXT, breaking into the motherboard market place isn't easy, and the showtime two boards (Z370 and Z390 chipsets) weren't received well. And so, how does the Z490 hold up? Is information technology 1 of the best motherboards?
This review will run you through the design of the motherboard, what features NZXT has implemented, and all the improvements (if whatsoever) since the N7 Z390. If you're looking for a unique motherboard to act as the foundation for your next PC build and have your sights on an N7, read on to find out whether information technology's worth your money.
Amazing Design
NZXT N7 Z490 Motherboard
Bottom line: NZXT proved that it's possible to make a gorgeous motherboard without going over-the-top. In that location aren't whatsoever RGB lighting, nor are there any "gamer" accents. Just elementary aesthetics for a clean-looking PC foundation. The best office? You can customize it as you lot see fit and bask great Intel operation.
The Practiced
- Interchangeable metallic shroud
- Amazing blueprint
- Stone-solid performance
- Hefty VRM passive cooling
- Intel Wi-Fi G.ii menu
The Bad
- No PCIe 4.0
- Just four SATA ports
- Chipset incompatible with older Intel CPUs
- No M.2 slot heat pads
NZXT N7 Z490 Specs
Source: Rich Edmonds / Windows Central
NZXT'due south latest motherboard comes rocking the Z490 chipset from Intel, allowing it to exist used with either 10th Gen or 11th Gen processors. There's plenty to similar here with the specifications canvass, including four DDR4 DIMM slots that can hold up to 128GB RAM with speeds of upwards to 4266MHz.
There are two Thou.2 slots, four SATA ports, two full-size PCIe x16 expansion slots, and a further 3 PCIe x1 slots. Whether yous have the latest RTX 30 serial GPU or a few older models in a multi-GPU configuration, you'll exist able to install everything on the N7 Z490. In that location's even a pre-installed Wi-Fi G.2 carte du jour, which tin later exist upgraded if you desire faster wireless.
| Category | NZXT N7 Z490 |
|---|---|
| Size | ATX |
| CPU | 10th and 11th Gen Intel |
| Socket | LGA1200 |
| RAM | 4x DDR4 DIMM (up to DDR4 4266) |
| Chipset | Intel Z490 |
| Expansion | 2x PCIe x16 slot (dual at x16/x4) 3x PCIe x1 slot |
| Storage | 4x SATA (6Gbps) 2x M.2 (x4/x2 SSD support) |
| Audio | Realtek ALC1220 |
| Rear ports | 1x HDMI 2x SMA antenna connectors (2T2R) 2x USB two.0 1x USB 3.ii Gen two port 1x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C port 2x USB 3.two Gen 1 ports 1x ii.5Gb 1x Due south/PDIF 5x audio jacks |
| NVIDIA SLI | - |
| AMD CrossFire | ✓ |
| Launch price | $230 |
In that location'south a host of ports for hooking up all your accessories on the rear of the motherboard, including USB 3.2 Gen two, USB 3.two Gen ane, and even USB two.0. The 2.5Gb LAN port is ideal if yous're non a fan of wireless connectivity for your gaming rig, offering back up for upwards to 250MB/due south.
Packaging-wise, NZXT does a solid job with its hardware range, and this motherboard is no different. It'south tightly packed with plenty of padding effectually the board itself to make certain it arrives in ane piece. Bundled with the motherboard is the necessary Wi-Fi antennas, SATA cabling, and a transmission to become y'all started.
NZXT N7 Z490 Features and design
Unremarkably, a motherboard's appearance isn't the most critical factor in choosing ane to purchase, but one has to take a pace back and applaud NZXT for its pattern with the N7 series. These motherboards look incredible. I'm not talking RGB lighting either, since there are none on the lath itself (strange for NZXT, right?).
The NZXT N7 Z490 is ane of the best-looking Intel motherboards around.
The highlight of the design is the metallic shrouding that covers large portions of the board. Instead of being able to encounter the PCB — which is a more highly-seasoned blackness— you'll see a white metal shroud that covers all the capacitors and other electric components. The all-time part is this shroud can be removed with just a few screws on the board'southward underside.
It tin can be painted any color you similar, allowing the motherboard to lucifer the PC build'due south color scheme every bit a whole. And while I'k on the topic of removing metal from the mainboard, the massive VRM cooling solution can also be extracted and painted. This massive heatsink has contact with the hot power delivery organisation with heat transfer padding and plenty of expanse.
Back to the removable shroud apace. The all-time part is you tin can use custom designs NZXT releases like the first-class Fallout edition. You will demand to make sure it'due south compatible with the newer N7 Z490, however, since this motherboard uses the new screws, instead of (awful) plastic caps.
The M.ii slots are located above the GPU and beneath the secondary x16 PCIe slot. They're both covered by removable metallic plates held on by plastic clips, though you won't detect whatsoever heat padding underneath, which is a shame. Even if y'all accept Thousand.2 slots populated, RAM installed, as well every bit a GPU and bulky CPU cooler, it'southward easy to create a clean look with the N7.
Referring to the specification sheet, we're looking at just four SATA Iii ports to join the two 1000.2 slots for storage. Most motherboards come up with at least six SATA ports, which pouts the N7 at a slight disadvantage if you take more than iv SATA drives. There are positives, however, including the Intel Wi-Fi adapter in the form of the AX200NGW with support for Wi-Fi 6.
For the Z490, NZXT teamed upwards with ASRock as the vendor for the motherboard. This provides owners of the motherboard with a far better BIOS experience than the Z390 and prior. I'll go over some of the overclocking capabilities and other features of the board presently, but it'southward clear the board'south performance was a priority in its development.
Compared to the Z390, at that place are a scattering of other improvements. While at that place'south one fewer header for example fans, the CPU, AIO, and fan headers have been bumped to 2A each. There'south also meliorate back up for RGB products, and not just those made and sold by NZXT, which should please anyone with an existing lighting setup.
Then you accept the newer Z490 chipset and LGA1200 socket for Intel tenth and 11th Gen CPU back up.
NZXT N7 Z490 Performance
To test the N7 Z490, I put together a test rig using an NZXT H710i instance, Intel Core i7-10700K CPU, 16GB of speedy RAM, RTX 2060 SUPER from ZOTAC, and an M.2 SSD. The Cadre i7-10700K should provide enough headroom for overclocking, so we tin see simply how far it'due south possible to push the motherboard without affecting system stability.
This entire review was written upwardly using the N7 motherboard in this configuration. For overclocking, I was able to achieve five.0GHz at 1.35V without encountering any form of crashing. The BIOS is like shooting fish in a barrel-to-employ and offers plenty of options to configure how the arrangement performs and what functionality you'd like to take enabled.
Synthetic benchmarking put the N7 Z490 organisation at 6,979 for PCMark 10, and 5,698 and 581 for CPU-Z on single- and multi-core tests, respectively. Compared to the Gigabyte Z490 AORUS ULTRA, this is pretty good stuff, considering that the AORUS motherboard retails for $300.
To examination the configuration in gaming, I fired upwardly Path of Exile, Tomb Raider, GTA V, and Ashes of a Singularity. Results were in line with other motherboards using the same processor and GPU, which is great news for those who liked the NZXT N7 blueprint only weren't fans of how the lath performed with previous chipsets. The Z490 seems stone-solid.
The synthetic and game testing shows NZXT learned from its two previous attempts to create a motherboard for the masses and the N7 Z490 is a leap in the right direction. Priced a little more than aggressively without losing much in the procedure, bated from a few USB iii.0 ports on the rear, I tin can meet this motherboard existence vastly more appealing to system builders.
Performance is cardinal at the end of the day, regardless of how beautiful the motherboard pattern may be to gaze at. Thankfully, we've got a good mix of both here. Thermals are good too with the VRMs making full use of that large surface area for dissipation.
The N7 includes some of the features yous'd find in NZXT's RGB and Fan controller, so it'south non quite absent of RGB lighting, but information technology's only there if yous desire to utilize it. Upwardly to four RGB channels can be created, as well as seven fan channels, using CAM software to manage everything. Combine the N7 with an NZXT case, lighting accessories, and smart PSU, and you lot'd have quite the CAM experience.
Thank you to using standard headers, lighting equipment from other vendors are supported by the N7 Z490. And then you tin can absolutely bring your own lighting (BYOL).
NZXT N7 Z490 Things I didn't like
Source: Rich Edmonds / Windows Central
The N7 Z490 is an fantabulous lath from NZXT and ASRock. The ii companies got far more correct than incorrect with the design and implementation. The motherboard isn't perfect, nonetheless. Very few are unless you're spending the big bucks. Firstly, in that location'southward no PCIe iv.0 support here.
While Intel won't officially back up PCIe iv.0 until 11th Gen CPUs, some board vendors are working in back up alee of the launch. Unfortunately, NZXT didn't add such functionality, then if you eventually use an 11th Gen Intel CPU with the M7 Z490, information technology won't support PCIe 4.0. This isn't anywhere close to a deal-breaker, honestly, just is something worth bearing in mind.
Tertiary time's a charm, and the N7 Z490 is by far NZXT'southward all-time motherboard.
There are merely four SATA III ports for hooking up HDDs and SSDs. Information technology's practiced that NZXT added two Grand.ii slots, but you may observe these ports limiting if you have more than four drives to connect. While nosotros're on the bailiwick of One thousand.2 slots, oddly enough, the brackets covering the two slots practice not make whatever contact with the Chiliad.2 SSDs. This is strange as it would offer improve heat dissipation using the metal shroud.
Lastly, and this may have been limited to the review sample we received, but the protection strip that covers the rear I/O was a pain to remove, largely due to it being applied below the two antenna ports. Intendance should be taken when removing information technology to note crusade damage through brute strength.
NZXT N7 Z490 Should y'all buy?
Who it'due south for
- If yous need a gorgeous-looking Intel motherboard
- If you plan on using a 10th or 11th Gen Intel CPU
- If you want a motherboard that tin can handle overclocking
Who it isn't for
- If you need PCIe iv.0
- If you desire a platform with the lowest ability consumption
- If yous desire to continue using an older Intel CPU
The N7 Z490 is the motherboard NZXT should take released initially. It's difficult to go into the motherboard business. Later on a few valiant attempts, NZXT has successfully designed and built (with the help of ASRock) one compelling motherboard for use in modernistic Intel systems. If you want something a little dissimilar from your mainboard, this is now a solid choice.
For the price, the NZXT N7 Z490 is difficult to fault for creating a unique PC build.
The blueprint is exceptional in its execution. It'south unique, simplistic, but beautiful to wait at. Today, at that place are plenty of builds that focus on aesthetics, and NZXT has done a stellar chore to tap into this market with the N7. The master metal shroud that covers near of the lath tin be hands removed and customized as you lot run across fit.
The VRM cooling is more than than adequate, and so, besides, is the array of fan headers for building a powerful, yet well-cooled PC. And it doesn't stop there as performance is right up there with other motherboards at this toll. Using an Intel Core i7-10700K, it was possible to overclock it up to a point with stable results and savour a butter-smooth gaming feel.
This is the best motherboard NZXT has come out with to-engagement by a country mile, and it'll be exciting to see where the visitor goes next. Of course, we'd like to run into an X570 offering since AMD processors are both performing and selling well. If, however, you're all about Intel, yous should strongly consider this motherboard for your next PC build.
Amazing Pattern
NZXT N7 Z490
The best-looking motherboard for custom Intel builds
If looks matter as much every bit performance, requite the N7 Z490 from NZXT a browse for your next PC build. The unique design makes it possible to create some truly breathtaking builds, and the rock-solid ASRock foundations let for considerable performance.
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Source: https://www.windowscentral.com/nzxt-n7-z490-review
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