Review NZXT N7 Z890

It can be overdue at a party, but the recent NZXT motherboard trio brings a refreshing recent look on Intel and AMD platforms, which will certainly appeal to those who want to match the motherboard to the rest of the equipment. N7 Z890 looks very similar to the N9 Z890, which is the flagship motherboard Intel NZXT for Core Ultra 200 processors, but if you think about hitting a wallet for $ 500 is not your idea for fun, then N7 Z890 is much cheaper for $ 350.

Aesthetically, two boards at first glance seem very similar with enormous shields and thermals covering most PCB and, like the flagship, N7 Z890 is also available in black or white. Both also support the processing. However, during closer control there are some significant differences. These covers on the lower SSD M.2 slots are plastic and unlike more steep siblings, there is no RGB lighting at all.

Fortunately, however, if you are sold on aesthetics, the equipment underneath offers almost everything that it does it more steep N9 Z890, including a decent sound, Thunderbolt 4, lots of USB ports and a few useful tools for overclocking and testing. However, one or two other things are missing.

First of all, it is worth noting that ASRock actually creates a motherboard, as you can see EFI, which has a known style, layout and somewhat archaic character of other ASRock boards that we looked at. It is straightforward and functional, but it lacks Pizzazz ASUS and the latest EFI with high resolution MSI, which dripped functions. One of the functions from which NZXT plates are missing is the ability to adjust the fan speed using the effortless -to -use fan curve.

Instead, it is available using CAM NZXT software, which provides straightforward control over lighting and the speed of the disc fan, but if you prefer not to utilize the software and instead utilize EFI, you will remain until the text input for the fan speed, which can be very time consuming.

CAM software also gives you the ability to control 8-pin RGB NZXT devices using a connector on the motherboard, which can also be divided into 4-pin fans headers and 4-pin NZXT connectors using adapters in the field.

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By switching to M.2 ports, and we have four to play, all PCIe 4.0, except for the upper, which offers PCIe 5.0 service and is the only port that is cooled by radiat. Lower shields on M.2 ports are plastic and only for aesthetic purposes. The upper crevices also do not nippy the bottom of your SSD, but it is still a bit uncommon at this price.

If you like to have overclocking and testing tools, most here is here, including CMO Clear and USB BIOS Flashback buttons, as well as power and reset buttons. The rear panel I/O has seven USB type A ports, all of which are USB 3.0 or faster USB Port 3.1 Gen 2×2 and two Thunderbolt 4 ports. This leads us to the only function that can be expected here, is absent, i.e. Wi-Fi 7, and NZXT instead chooses Wi-Fi 6E, while the board also has a decent sound in the form of a Realtek codec Alc1220.

There was nothing that suggests that the board works less well compared to the competition with very similar frame speed in our Cyberpunk 2077 and Baldur’s Gate 3 Tests in the range of about 80 fps by one percent in the previous and 69 FPS at the Baldur 3 gate. Both are located at a distance of several frames of other Z890 anti -effect plates. The Factorio result was also less than a second outside the NZXT N9 Z890, and the game processor temperatures were lower.

The blender and 7zip references revealed a miniature edge for the N7 Z890, which also had lower VRM temperatures and chipset, despite the fact that Cinebench has a slightly higher processor draw while running. This may depend on recent boards and receiving regular BIOS updates. The peak VRM temperature only 43 ° C was particularly impressive. The lack of cooling the bottom seemed a bit harmful to SSD temperatures PCIe 5.0 a bit compared to the more steep NZXT board, with the peak 80 ° C only saves it from choke, but if you utilize SSD PCIe 4.0, you should be fine.

N7 Z890 turns the heads and offers excellent cooling of most equipment, especially VRMS. If you are looking for a disc that can cope with a high -class Intel processor, then in the case of current lake arrow options, it seems that the album has what is needed, and thanks to the Z890 chipset it also offers a head up.

In addition to the lack of Wi-Fi 7, instead choosing Wi-Fi 6E, the disc offers a solid specification with Realtek ALC 1220 Audio, SSD support PCIE 5.0 and GPU, power reset, Clear Clear and USB BIOS Flashback and a unique aesthetic project. In combination with a lot of rapid USB ports and Thunderbolt 4 Type-C ports, you won’t miss much, even if you’re building a high-class system.

To say, the price of $ 350 seems a bit high, looking at the competition. The steel legend ASRock Z890 Wi-Fi costs 80 USD less and offers a similar specification with more heat M.2, and Wi-Fi 7 included, although there are many tools for foundation and testing NZXT. For 100 USD, you can pick up the Gigabyte Z890 Aorus Elite Wi-Fi 7 ICE, which probably looks even better, has RGB lighting, components without tools and a better section of EFI-based fans.

The N9 Z890 offers a more unique attractiveness to justify its price, but for the N7 Z890 the value is higher and if you are not completely sold in the project, there are much cheaper options that offer a more newfangled set of functions, they look as good and like the N7 Z890, are also black and white.