NZXT N7 Z370 ATX Motherboard Review

Final Thoughts

Pricing

The NZXT N7 Z370 Intel 8th Generation Motherboard is available now from almost all major retailers. It’s priced at £279.98, and comes in both black and white variants for the same price. That’s not the cheapest for Z370, but it’s a far cry from the most expensive too. You can get the same or slightly better performance for a bit less, but it’s negligable to say the least. Of course, you get a lot of other things for your investment with the N7 too.

Overview

This isn’t the fastest Intel motherboard in the world, but I’ll be damned if it isn’t competitive. When it comes down to it, this is a £200 ECS motherboard in my mind, and that’s exactly the level of performance you get. That’s not a big problem either, I honestly think the price is fair. But Peter, the motherboard is £280, why did you say £200? Well, you never just pay for the motherboard do you, there’s always something extra added to set the item apart. For NZXT, those extras take a few forms, such as the extensive colour matched metal armour plates that decorate the motherboard. There’s also a pair of lovely RGB LED lighting strips included, and the revised fan header design for amazing cooling connectivity. Personally, I think that adds up to about £80 worth of extras, and I’d be happy to pay that.

Modding

If you’re building a rig with extensive cooling installed, you may end up using a fan hub. However, the N7 has enough fan headers that you may not need a hub, leading to an overall cleaner looking build. Furthermore, if you’re colour matching your build, the black or white motherboard will easily blend in with a chassis of the appropriate colour. However, being able to remove all that metal work makes it easy to customise. You could easily vinyl wrap, spray, or use a load of glue and glitter if you so desire, and really make it your own.

Performance

Average is the word of the day. However, I mean that as a compliment for the N7. It’s going up against a huge range of Z370 motherboards on our charts, and they all dominate the gaming performance charts over anything else on the market, and the NZXT N7 is no exception. Yes, there are fastest Z370 motherboards out there, but not by a huge margin and this one is very competitive.

Should I Buy One

It lacks a few bits and pieces, such as Type-C and USB 3.0, as well as only having four, not six SATA ports. For me, that’s not an issue, as my gaming system doesn’t need what isn’t there. What it lacks, it makes up for in style though, and I’m sure that’s going to be a big selling point for this motherboard. It’s not cheap, but you get respectable performance and some value-adding extras included that help sweeten the deal, so I certainly recommend it. I can’t wait to see if they do a Micro and Mini-ITX version! What do you think?

Pros

• Competitive performance
• Great for gaming
• Dual GPU support
• Dual M.2 mounts
• Full PCB armour
• Removable armour can be customised
• Incredible cooling connectivity
• Gorgeous aesthetics
• Two RGB strips included
• Easy to overclocked
• Chunky VRM cooling
• 15 digital power-phase design

Cons

• Only four SATA ports
• Lacks USB Type-