NZXT N7 Z490

amazon NZXT N7 Z490 reviews

NZXT is a brand commonly known as a supplier of high-performance AIO computer coolers, with elegant and sophisticated design cases and some toys and accessories for children systems such as fans and control hubs. However, in the past few years, NZXT has officially entered the motherboard market with the first product based on the Intel Z370 chipset. The 10th generation Intel Core processor family comes out with a new socket, a new chipset. NZXT has also launched the N7 Z490 motherboard. The motherboard series from NZXT was born not with high-end, powerful features but simply as an addition to make its product ecosystem more diverse and more synchronized. Especially meaningful for fans of the NZXT brand, they can now build a more synchronized system.

The N7 Z490 is built on the Intel Z490 chipset platform that supports the 10th generation LGA1200 series of Intel Core processors and the 11th generation (Rocket Lake) just revealed by Intel at CES 2021. Besides the main features as It also comes with 2.5Gbps Ethernet, of course, and the latest generation of Wi-Fi 6 wireless connectivity.

NZXT N7 Z490 features a white metal shell that covers almost the entire black PCB board below. Usually, you will only see this design on high-end products with very prominent and majestic design themes. But on the N7 Z490 is simply a smooth monolithic sheet of metal, without any textures or other thematic images. If you love the magic of RGB lighting, the N7 Z490 will surely disappoint you; it is not equipped with RGB lighting in any position. However, thanks to that, it makes the N7 Z490 have a unique feature; it carries the design philosophy of NZXT: simple but sophisticated.

At the same time, this design can be used for white-themed PC building ideas, but you can completely paint this surface with any color to match the concept theme. You will build your gaming system without worrying about breaking the design layout on this backplate. Even the cover on the VRM heatsink and the cover protect the rear I/O part.

Despite the price in the mid-range and popular segments, NZXT still equips the N7 Z490 with a 10-phase power design for the VRM cluster. With the electrical controller, Intersil ISL69269 operates in an 8+2 phase configuration. The CPU part is powered by 8 MosFET Vishay SiC632A (50A per MOSFET) and 2 MosFET SiC632A for SoC. The VCCSA source uses the Intersil RAA22001 driver, and the VCCIO uses the Anpec APW8828 driver. That is not a configuration that provides high-end overclocking capabilities, but it is enough to ensure a stable power supply to the CPU in general and normal overclocking cases.

The heatsinks for the MoFETs are still two monolithic machined aluminum blocks with a simple design, not forming the usual fins but instead forming a hollow inside to increase the air contact surface.

The N7 Z490 supports dual-channel DDR4 memory with capacities up to 128GB and clocks up to 4266MHz. The metal backplate will completely cover all of the components below, leaving only space for the 24-pin ATX power connection and the extended USB 3.1 Type-C connection.

On the N7 Z490, the devices are equipped with a sufficient number of PCIe slots with 2 PCIe Gen3 x16 slots for graphics cards (x16 or x8/x8 configuration) and three PCIe x1 slots for other expansion slots such as soundcards…

where can you get a NZXT N7 Z490 online

NZXT N7 Z490 – N7-Z49XT-B1 – Intel Z490 Chipset (Supports 10th Gen CPUs) – ATX Gaming Motherboard – Integrated I/O Shield – Intel Wireless-AX 200 – Bluetooth V5.1 – Black: Buy it now

NZXT N7 Z490 – N7-Z49XT-B1 – Intel Z490 Chipset (Supports 10th Gen CPUs) – ATX Gaming Motherboard – Integrated I/O Shield – Intel Wireless-AX 200 – Bluetooth V5.1 – Black (Renewed): Buy it now

In this motherboard, the installation of storage drive two on the M.2 slot is also simpler; NZXT has removed the screws on the backplate; instead, they use a plastic mount to hold the cover top of the M.2 slot. We will have two M.2 slots that support NVMe PCIe SSD storage and Intel Optane on this product. However, it should be noted that due to the use of plastic, the top cover will not affect cooling support for the M.2 storage bars.

The external communication extension, the N7 Z490, is still provided with all the necessary communications such as 8 USB ports, a SMART connection, and an audio expansion on the front of the case.

Although the motherboard itself doesn’t include RGB lighting, you can still connect, co-light the system from any component via the two 5volt ARGB and 12volt RGB pins.

At the same time, this motherboard also has two built-in RGB lighting connections using separate pins from other components in NZXT’s product ecosystem, such as AIO heatsinks, AER RGB fans, etc.

NZXT N7 Z490 is not equipped with Debug Code LEDs, but four small LEDs indicate the device load status when opening the device. However, one thing that is quite annoying on this motherboard is that the Clear CMOS part is not soldered to this position. At the same time, the CMOS battery is located under the backplate in the area between the two PCIe x16 slots. Therefore, if you have trouble learning and overclocking the system, it will cause some inconvenience if you want to return the BIOS to its original settings. Although for testers and experts, this is not too difficult, for users, it will be a big challenge, especially when putting the motherboard in the case.

Intel Wi-Fi 6 wireless connectivity, the Ethernet network controller tasked with the Realtek RTL812580 chip. In addition, we also have another Realtek chip appearing on this motherboard, which is the Realtek ALC1220 audio driver chip.

NZXT N7 Z490 Motherboard Performance Rating:

Rating system configuration:

CPU: Intel Core i7-10700K

Heatsink: NZXT Kraken X63

RAM: Kingston HyperX DDR4-3000 16GB (8GB x2)

SSD: Kingston A2000 500GB

VGA: AMD Radeon RX 580

PSU: EVGA G2 1000W

It is not a secret that all N7 Z490 motherboards are manufactured in association with ASRock. So there will be no complaints about the overclocking ability of this motherboard; it still inherits the best quality in BIOS driver development from stability, ease of use from NZXT’s partner. As a result, we easily pushed the Core i7-10700K’s clock speed to 5.0GHz at 1.26 volts without any difficulty.

Not a motherboard that is geared towards the grandeur of high-end overclocking performance or a colorful, aggressive design with bold gaming, pulsating RGB lighting. It’s a friendly product to all system builds; it’s aesthetically refined, features just enough use, and is budget-friendly.

Owning an N7 Z490 motherboard along with an NZXT chassis like the H710i makes for a harmonious build from theme to color; using a black or white themed build, the N7 Z490 is still available in color corresponding. For modders, it’s even more worthwhile as you can mod, create theme images, or even paint the entire surface of the panel to create your style without worrying about breaking the layout of the image department as on other high-end motherboards.