The NZXT N7 Z490 Motherboard Review: From A Different Direction

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.

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.

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
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