The NZXT N7 Z490 Motherboard Review: From A Different Direction
by Gavin Bonshor on October 7, 2020 10:30 AM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
- Intel
- ASRock
- NZXT
- Z490
- Comet Lake
- Intel 10th Gen
- i7-10700K
- N7 Z490
Board Features
The NZXT N7 Z490 is an ATX-sized motherboard which slots directly into the mid-ranged Z490 portion of the market offering. The main target market is system builders looking to add a bit of flair with its plastic full-cover across the majority of the PCB. It features much of what a board in the $200-250 price point should have, with dual PCIe 3.0 x4 M.2 slots, four SATA ports with support for RAID 0, 1, 5, and 10 arrays, and a premium Realtek ALC1220 HD audio codec. It has two full-length PCIe 3.0 slots that operate at x16/+x4, with three PCIe 3.0 x1 slots. The N7 Z490's memory capabilities include support for DDR4-4266, with a maximum capacity of up to 128 GB across four available memory slots. For cooling, the N7 includes a total of seven 4-pin headers, with one for a CPU, one designated for an AIO pump, and five for regular chassis fans.
| NZXT N7 Z490 Motherboard | |||
| Warranty Period | 3 Years | ||
| Product Page | Link | ||
| Price | $230 | ||
| Size | ATX | ||
| CPU Interface | LGA1200 | ||
| Chipset | Intel Z490 | ||
| Memory Slots (DDR4) | Four DDR4 Supporting 128 GB Dual-Channel Up to DDR4-4266 |
||
| Video Outputs | 1 x HDMI 1.4b | ||
| Video Inputs | N/A | ||
| Network Connectivity | Realtek RTL8125BG 2.5 GbE Intel AX200 Wi-Fi 6 |
||
| Onboard Audio | Realtek ALC1220 | ||
| PCIe Slots for Graphics (from CPU) | 1 x PCIe 3.0 x16 | ||
| PCIe Slots for Other (from PCH) | 1 x PCIe 3.0 x4 3 x PCIe 3.0 x1 |
||
| Onboard SATA | Four, RAID 0/1/5/10 (Z490) | ||
| Onboard M.2 | 1 x PCIe 3.0 1 x PCIe 3.0 x4/SATA |
||
| Thunderbolt 3 | N/A | ||
| USB 3.2 (20 Gbps) | N/A | ||
| USB 3.2 (10 Gbps) | 1 x USB Type-C (Rear panel) 1 x USB Type-A (Rear panel) |
||
| USB 3.2 (5 Gbps) | 2 x USB Type-A (Rear panel) 2 x USB Type-A (One header) |
||
| USB 2.0 | 2 x USB Type-A (Rear panel) 6 x USB Type-A (Three headers) |
||
| Power Connectors | 1 x 24-pin Motherboard 1 x 8-pin CPU 1 x 4-pin CPU |
||
| Fan Headers | 1 x 4-pin CPU 1 x 4-pin AIO 5 x 4-pin Chassis |
||
| 1 x HDMI 1.4b Output 1 x USB 3.2 G2 Type-A 1 x USB 3.2 G2 Type-C 2 x USB 3.2 G1 Type-A 2 x USB 2.0 Type-A 1 x RJ45 (Realtek) 2 x Wi-Fi 6 Antenna (Intel) 5 x 3.5 mm audio jacks (Realtek) 1 x S/PDIF Optical output (Realtek) 1 x Clear CMOS button |
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The NZXT N7 Z490 includes a single Realtek RTL8125BG 2.5 GbE port, with Wi-Fi 6 and BT 5.0 connectivity provided by an Intel AX200 CNVi interface. On the rear panel is a very basic set of input and output, with just two USB 3.2 G2 ports (Type-A and Type-C, two USB 3.2 G1 Type-A, and two USB 2.0 ports. Further capability is available for the use of internal headers, with one USB 3.2 G1 header (two ports), and three USB 2.0 headers which can add a further six USB 2.0 ports. For users looking to use Intel's UHD integrated graphics, there is a single HDMI 1.4b video output, while a handily located clear CMOS button is present on the rear panel.
Test Bed
As per our testing policy, we take a high-end CPU suitable for the motherboard that was released during the socket’s initial launch and equip the system with a suitable amount of memory running at the processor maximum supported frequency. This is also typically run at JEDEC subtimings where possible. It is noted that some users are not keen on this policy, stating that sometimes the maximum supported frequency is quite low, or faster memory is available at a similar price, or that the JEDEC speeds can be prohibitive for performance. While these comments make sense, ultimately very few users apply memory profiles (either XMP or other) as they require interaction with the BIOS, and most users will fall back on JEDEC supported speeds - this includes home users as well as industry who might want to shave off a cent or two from the cost or stay within the margins set by the manufacturer. Where possible, we will extend out testing to include faster memory modules either at the same time as the review or a later date.
| Test Setup | |||
| Processor | Intel Core i7-10700K, 125 W, $374 8 Cores, 16 Threads 3.8 GHz (5.1 GHz Turbo) |
||
| Motherboard | NZXT N7 Z490 (BIOS P1.10) | ||
| Cooling | Thermaltake Riing 360mm AIO | ||
| Power Supply | Corsair HX850 850 W 80 PLUS Platinum | ||
| Memory | G.Skill TridentZ DDR4-2933 CL 14-14-14-34 2T (2 x 8 GB) | ||
| Video Card | MSI GTX 1080 (1178/1279 Boost) | ||
| Hard Drive | Crucial MX300 1TB | ||
| Case | Corsair Crystal 680X | ||
| Operating System | Windows 10 1909 inc. Spectre/Meltdown Patches | ||
Readers of our motherboard review section will have noted the trend in modern motherboards to implement a form of MultiCore Enhancement / Acceleration / Turbo (read our report here) on their motherboards. This does several things, including better benchmark results at stock settings (not entirely needed if overclocking is an end-user goal) at the expense of heat and temperature. It also gives, in essence, an automatic overclock which may be against what the user wants. Our testing methodology is ‘out-of-the-box’, with the latest public BIOS installed and XMP enabled, and thus subject to the whims of this feature. It is ultimately up to the motherboard manufacturer to take this risk – and manufacturers taking risks in the setup is something they do on every product (think C-state settings, USB priority, DPC Latency / monitoring priority, overriding memory sub-timings at JEDEC). Processor speed change is part of that risk, and ultimately if no overclocking is planned, some motherboards will affect how fast that shiny new processor goes and can be an important factor in the system build.
| Hardware Providers for CPU and Motherboard Reviews | |||
| Sapphire RX 460 Nitro | MSI GTX 1080 Gaming X OC | Crucial MX200 + MX500 SSDs |
Corsair AX860i + AX1200i PSUs |
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| G.Skill RipjawsV, SniperX, FlareX |
Crucial Ballistix DDR4 |
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Noctua Coolers |
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45 Comments
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Woomn 44 - Monday, October 19, 2020 - link
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mrvco - Sunday, October 11, 2020 - link
RGB powa I expect.SlashZerov - Friday, October 9, 2020 - link
My system has2x USB keyboards one gaming and one for typing
1x USB mouse
1x USB headset Logitech g430
2x USB occulus rift sensors
1x USB data to USB for moving data on/off drives
I also have a couple phone chargers hanging off so yes 6 isn’t enough for the average person.
YB1064 - Wednesday, October 7, 2020 - link
Nobody is going to buy this board at the listed price. I'd pay $75-90 for it, tops. 4 layer PCB? Man this aint 1990.Operandi - Wednesday, October 7, 2020 - link
Wrong platform.Also, those heatsinks have very little surface area, more like heatbanks.
Also, also there is clean design and then there is boring. These are boring.
s.yu - Thursday, October 8, 2020 - link
I call this a clean design, half-assed clean is what's boring, this is actually so refined that the issue is getting other hardware to match them.Tomatotech - Friday, October 9, 2020 - link
For all its many fault, I do like the clean design. Reminds me a little of the various Mac Pro designs. Would be suitable for an exposed mobo mod project.I personally would prefer an even more clean look, for example removable coverings over the unused PCIe slots, both for aesthetics and to keep dust out. This mobo was made to be on display and not all mod projects use enclosed cases.
Polaris198321 - Wednesday, October 7, 2020 - link
Looks good. however no 6 SATA data ports for fully taking advantage of 2 laptop HDDs and desktop HDDs here. needs buttons for CMOS and bios resetting on io panel found on many Asus high end for the mobo and specially made self-recharging materials and censor on the chips for built-in ups battery backup for 30 minutes in case of blackouts to run in the energy-saving mode for basic needs like the internet and phone usage on a desktop and laptop. 4g LTE - 6g is a must as well if you decide to ditch cable internet for an alternative with both of them soon having yearly cable and internet/phone plans.wireless PSU ports on the mobo from the PSU might be tested for ditching the nightmare of cable management in such pc powers here once the light beam mirroring bounce and data/power reception effect is perfected without frying the PSU and mobo that both self-heal and self cool like the DPU and CPU and GPUs to come and ssds and HDDs doing the same thing with fans also on the side like on the haf x tower for vertical GPU mounting for the RTX 3090 and CPU fan mount that also rotate to go vertical to give a bigger CPU fan more breathing space to properly cool an RTX 3090 and intel i9 11 gen desktop CPU/AMD ryzen x3950 CPU with custom DDR 5/ssds from intel at 1 TB each for the ram slots here for hybrid custom video sound music creation editing and data science and gaming at 8k going foward as the bios uefi needs to have the ability for multiboot os for macOS windows OS Linux OS and chrome/andriod OS and iOS here for seamless easy file transfers to and from said devices and for network and usb/microsd backups of the mobo and oses from the mobo bios itself. tb 4 ports for any module CPUs from AMD or ryzen to boot up a dead pc for recovery on the i/o panel with 8k 2.1 HDMI ports and display ports are needed as well for connection to an lg/sony 8k tv theater system with sound systems that can handle live music/video/audio editing and recordings like seen and found on many movie and music recording stations.
firewrath9 - Wednesday, October 7, 2020 - link
watOperandi - Wednesday, October 7, 2020 - link
Huh...... don't do drugs I guess?