NZXT N7 Z690 Motherboard Review

How Much Does it Cost?

Priced at $299.99/£269.99, the N7 comes in around the same price as the MSI Tomahawk Z690 DDR4 board and slightly more expensive when comparing to the ASUS TUF Gaming Plus D4, while still offering a reasonable argument for price when looking at features and performance

Added Value

Other than what’s in the box, which I feel is the bare minimum, there’s nothing really of significant added value. Yes, you get all of the SATA cables to fully populate the board, but at the end of the day, that’s only 4. If I had to argue about it, you could say that the armour that’s unique to the N7 range definitely gives added value over the competition, but I get that it’s more of a personal preference than anything else.

Build Quality & Design

This goes without saying, and we’ve seen this on previous generation NZXT boards, that the build quality is up there with the big boys and that mainly comes down to the armour giving that extra strength and rigidity. It’s not a cheap board in the grand scheme of things and is at the higher-end of the Z690 DDR4 mantel, but you get a decent amount of features for that money that can rival the likes of ASUS and MSI. Yes, I wish there were a few more USB ports and a bit more glitz and glam, but it’s not exactly a deal breaker and is reflected in that price. The one thing the N7 has going for it comes down to that design. It was made in such a way that it can tie in with the rest of your NZXT build and match up perfectly in terms of style and colour and that’s something that no other brand on the market has, and if you don’t like it and can suffer losing some small features, then NZXT now also have the N5 which strips things back and comes in slightly cheaper too.

Performance

As a whole, the N7 passed, but a few things let it down, including the performance we saw in gaming; these results are nothing too surprising when we consider that this board is using DDR4. The use of DDR4 also let the board down in more professional workloads like rendering and calculation, we saw result on the lower end of the spectrum there.

Overview

The N7 is, put simply, a continuance of something we’ve seen before. NZXT are a brand who have an almost cult-like following, and I say that in a good way. They have customers who buy anything and everything of theirs, mainly because of the simplicity and the eco-centric styling that matches, and if that type of customer wants the latest motherboard with the latest features on the latest chipset, then it’s a no brainer, this is the board for them. Yes, it’s a little rough around the edges like I mentioned, but those are simple fixes and I think it’s fair to say that with each iteration of their motherboards, we see something bigger, bolder and better than what came before it. NZXT are learning and I’m keen to see what’s next.

Should I Buy One?

If you want something that just works, then the N7 is for you. If you want something that looks stupidly unique, then the N7 is for you. If you want the latest features and don’t want to break the bank, then the N7 is for you. With everything that the average gamer or novice user needs from a motherboard, the N7 has you covered and is able to compete with the likes of ASUS, Gigabyte and MSI, not only on price but on build quality, style and features are pretty impressive too.