Review: NZXT N7 Z590

Conclusion

NZXT understands that it needs to be different to stand out in the motherboard world dominated by four players.

Carrying over the minimalist look whose provenance goes back a couple of generations, the N7 Z590 is a modest but appreciated improvement over the Z490 version.

Very much the same from a visual perspective - clean lines, metal covers, and so forth - NZXT improves upon the predecessor by refining the power-delivery system, adding PCIe 4.0, getting with the times on USB, and harnessing better WiFi.

To be fair, all of these improvements emanate from the Z590 chipset, not from NZXT, so we would have also preferred better audio, a third M.2 for maximum storage flexibility, and a proper heatsink for the primary storage slot.

Be mindful that running off an ASRock blueprint also comes with certain disadvantages, the chief of which is sub-standard AVX performance at default speeds.

Bottom line: there are other Z590 boards that offer more features for the same £240 outlay, but if you like NZXT's aesthetic and want a great base from which to mod, the N7 Z590 is a safe buy.

NZXT N7 Z590

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The NZXT N7 Z590 is on pre-order from Scan Computers.

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