NZXT launches new N7 Z490 motherboard for 10th Gen Intel CPUs

NZXT M7 Z490
NZXT M7 Z490 (Image credit: Rich Edmonds / Windows Central)

What you need to know

  • NZXT launches its new N7 Z490 Intel motherboard for 10th Gen processors.
  • Excellent performance combined with stellar looks makes this one awesome PC build foundation.
  • The new NZXT N7 Z490 is available now for $229.99.

NZXT today launched the company's third Intel N7 motherboard, utilizing Intel's current flagship Z490 chipset. The N7 Z490 is built for 10th Gen Intel processors with expected support for 11th Gen down the road. It's a full ATX board that follows the same design language of previous iterations, which was received well by the PC building community.

The previous N7 Z390 wasn't the best release and had some teething issues as NZXT grew accustomed to designing motherboards. Teaming up with ASRock to vendor the new N7 Z490, there's plenty to like here, including full NZXT CAM support with integrated RGB and fan controls, rock-solid BIOS support, Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.1, and 2.5Gb LAN.

Other highlights include a revamped metal cover with screws that hold it to the main board — previous N7 motherboards used plastic clips that often broke. The 8+2 DrMOS power phase design — with beefy passive cooling — works well with the BIOS from ASRock to offer overclocking support for even more beefy Intel processors like the Core i7-10700K.

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CategoryNZXT N7 Z490
SizeATX
CPU10th Gen Intel
SocketLGA1200
RAM4x DDR4 DIMM (up to DDR4 4266)
ChipsetIntel Z490
Expansion2x PCIe x16 slot (dual at x16/x4)3x PCIe x1 slot
Storage4x SATA (6Gbps)2x M.2 (x4/x2 SSD support)
AudioRealtek ALC1220
Rear ports1x HDMI2x SMA antenna connectors (2T2R)2x USB 2.01x USB 3.2 Gen 2 port1x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C port2x USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports1x 2.5Gb1x S/PDIF5x audio jacks
NVIDIA SLI-
AMD CrossFire
Launch price$230

The aesthetics were the main selling pojn ts for the N7 series of motherboards from NZXT, but now it has the performance to match. For system-builders, the N7 offers immense customization potential with the removable metal cover shroud, allowing one to paint and apply designs to fit into a PC build.

The new N7 Z490 is available right now from the official NZXT store for $229.99.

Rich Edmonds
Senior Editor, PC Build

Rich Edmonds was formerly a Senior Editor of PC hardware at Windows Central, covering everything related to PC components and NAS. He's been involved in technology for more than a decade and knows a thing or two about the magic inside a PC chassis. You can follow him on Twitter at @RichEdmonds.