Test: NZXT N7 Z590 – Computer Magazine

NZXT N7 Z590

NZXT N7 Z590 is a nice and well-balanced motherboard at a reasonable price, which, however, misses some features.

NZXT continues on the path of full motherboards as the company updates its, from last year, successful Z490 card with Intel’s new chip. The card is not unexpectedly named N7 Z590 and of course supports Intel’s Rocket Lake processors with genuine support for PCIe Gen 4. The card also comes with a good balance in terms of new features and is just like previous models priced to appeal to a wider audience of users.

Limited storage integration

As usual for NZXT motherboards, we meet here its unique design where more or less all circuits and also some components are hidden by a white metal panel (the card is also available with a black panel), or rather a larger panel and smaller washers that make us easy accesses underlying parts such as M.2 locations. This gives a clean impression and also makes it easier to handle and replace parts such as plug-in cards while we can highlight a stylish interior when a window chassis is used

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The N7 Z590 comes with a steel-reinforced PCIe Gen 4 x16 slot and a PCIe Gen 3 x16 slot (runs in x4 mode) and three Gen 3 x1 slots where the two full-length slots are placed with two empty expansion slots in between to accommodate double full-size, three-slots, graphics cards and still have room for another x1 card of some kind. Under the cover panel located between the PCIe slots, there are dual M.2 slots, one of which is Gen 4-based and one is Gen 3-based. Since there is plenty of space under the panel, we think it’s a bit of a shame that NZXT has not included another Gen 3 slot.

Plan the installation

At the bottom of the card, NZXT has, as usual, left a small line that is not covered by the panel and here are the card’s internal connections. It is worth noting that, depending on the chassis, it may be worthwhile to connect some of these connectors before attaching the motherboard to avoid any problems with cramped access. Down here there are also connections for the choir’s RGB handling and we get a total of double NZXT connections, a 5-volt aRGB and a 12-volt RGB connection. There are also quick buttons for power and reset, which is thankful for troubleshooting and overclocking.

In the same way, we find along the right long side angled SATA connections which are four in number. Here, too, we feel that it could have been nice if NZXT had chosen to include six ports when the space is available. Next to these we find a USB 3 connection and next to the card’s 24-pin EATX connector there is also a front-mounted Type-C. In the upper edge of the card we find a P8 and a P4 connection as well as connections for fans, CPU coolers and water pumps. All of these are four-pin connections with support for up to 24 watts per channel, which is clearly good.

Latest Wi-Fi and multigigs LAN

The card has four memory banks and supports up to 128 gigabytes of DDR4. The right of these memory banks is located quite close to the card panel, which means that some slightly wider RGB memories are edge to edge. This is not a problem, but we would have liked to see a few more millimeters of clearance.

The card has a very good memory management and all of our test memories were correctly identified. The card supports up to 4,600 megahertz memories in overclocking and we had no problem taking all of our test memories up to 4,400 megahertz, with less adjustment of the power supply. It is a clear lift compared to the previous model.

The same applies to the processor which has a fully approved overclocking potential where we managed to run our Intel Core i9 11900K in 5.1 gigahertz with full stability during burn-in tests.

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The N7 Z590 is equipped with Intel’s updated dual band Wireless-AX210 Wi-Fi 6E connection which, despite not being the fastest we tested, maintains a stable transmission and direct connection. For this we also get an updated Bluetooth of version 5.2.

Offers only standard sound

We then come to the sound which unfortunately is still based on Realtek’s ALC1220 chip with support for eight-channel HD audio. This gives us a clean and good standard sound for both games, entertainment and all forms of work, but here we had really hoped for an update when we saw the boost that Realtek’s latest chip gives.

We continue with the card’s IO panel which is permanently mounted, it has also been given a slight lift. The panel starts with connections for the antennas together with a Clear Cmos button. This is followed by an HDMI port and dual USB 2 ports. Then follow two USB 3.2 Gen 2, one of which is a Type-C port that has also been updated to USB 3.2 Gen 2 x2. Unfortunately, it is relatively empty above these ports and here we would have liked to see a TB 4 connection or why not a Displayport. In the next stage will be four USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports followed by a 2.5 gig LAN port based on Realtek’s RTL8125BG chip and additional dual USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports. The panel ends with five analog and one digital audio port.

The software is getting better

The next part where NZXT is continuously improved concerns Bios and the company’s unified software CAM which gives us an interface for everything from computer health, overclocking, RGB management and fans and more. Although CAM does not offer the same opportunities as the counterparts of some other manufacturers, the solution is easy to use and clear even for the unaccustomed. Regarding Bios, these settings have also become increasingly complete and we get a good opportunity to fine-tune each part more or less.

SPECIFICATIONS NZXT N7 Z590: