NZXT Unveils N7 Z790 Motherboard for Intel 13th Gen Core Series
by Gavin Bonshor on September 27, 2022 3:00 PM ESTWith a lot of news and info dropping on Intel's latest Z790 chipset using the LGA1700 socket, NZXT has pulled the trigger and announced its N7 Z790 motherboard. Available in either white or black, it features a 2.5 GbE controller, Wi-Fi 6E CNVi, benefits from support for PCIe 5.0, and includes three M.2 slots.
In addition to the announcement of Intel's 13th Gen Core series processors, codenamed Raptor Lake, NZXT has announced its plans to launch the N7 for Z790. As we've seen from NZXT motherboards in the past, the N7 Z790 has a large swathe of armor covering the board and is available in both back and white color schemes. It should be noted that neither the black nor white model includes any integrated RGB LED lighting. Typical with an NZXT product, the N7 Z790 comes with support with their CAM software.
Some of the NZXT N7 Z790's main features include one full-length PCIe 5.0 x16 slot, two full-length PCIe 4.0 slots operating at x4/x4, and two PCIe 3.0 x1 slots. Also present on the NZXT N7 Z790 are three M.2 slots, two with support for PCIe 4.0 x4 NVMe drives and one with support for both PCIe 4.0 x4 and SATA. NZXT also includes four SATA ports with support for RAID 0, 1, 5, and 10 arrays for more conventional storage. NZXT is also advertising support for DDR5-6000 memory, with a combined total of 128 GB supported across four slots.
NZXT is also advertising a 16+1+2-phase power delivery, with one 8-pin EPS 12 V and one 4-pin 12 V power connector pairing to deliver power to the CPU. Powering the rest of the board's components is a 24-pin 12V power connector.
The rear I/O is modest yet practical, with two USB 3.2 G2 Type-A and three USB 3.2 G1 Type-A; interestingly, NZXT doesn't include any rear panel Type-C connectivity. Also on the rear panel are five 3.5 mm audio jacks and one S/PDIF optical output powered by a Realtek ALC1220 HD audio codec, with two antenna ports for an unspecified Wi-Fi 6E CNVi. Finishing off the rear panel is a single HDMI TM video output, with one Realtek RTL8125BG 2.5 GbE controller.
The NZXT N7 Z790 is scheduled to release with an MSRP of $300 and will be available in Q4 2022 in the USA. NZXT hasn't shared whether or not this will be released in other regions.
Source: NZXT
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DabuXian - Tuesday, September 27, 2022 - link
5 USB ports on a $300 mobo lolcyrusfox - Tuesday, September 27, 2022 - link
technically 6(USB C). but on all my desktops I have a hard time using more than 3, I think 5 USB-A is plenty. who doesn't use a hub not to much the front IO your case has.cyrusfox - Tuesday, September 27, 2022 - link
*not to mention, not to much...The Von Matrices - Tuesday, September 27, 2022 - link
Connect a mouse and keyboard, that's 2 ports taken up from the beginning.Some other USB things I have plugged into my PC all the time:
Webcam
Microphone
SD card reader
Scanner
UPS (for status monitoring)
And some other things that I will plug in occasionally and leave connected for a while:
Flash drive
Smartphone
DAC (sound card)
Video capture device
Game controller
Having only 5 USB ports ports reeks of cost-cutting. Why should we be expected to use hubs when the Z690 chipset can power up to 14 USB ports? We should only see that few ports on a barebones motherboard using the cheapest chipset and removing all features to reach the absolute lowest price point.
meacupla - Tuesday, September 27, 2022 - link
Are we even looking at the same thing? I am seeing 8 USB ports on the rear I/O.2x USB-A 2.0
5x USB-A 3.2
1x USB-C 3.2
Going to the NZXT product page, it even lists which USB ports have which configuration.
edzieba - Wednesday, September 28, 2022 - link
Yep, 8 rear connectors, plus another 7 on internal headers.FacePlants - Sunday, October 2, 2022 - link
You can't be looking at the same thing because the Anand article doesn't even show the rear I/Ocrimsonson - Monday, October 3, 2022 - link
If you click the gallery, they have more photos including the rear panel.zmeul - Tuesday, September 27, 2022 - link
another rebranded AsRock board with useless features .. why!?Duwelon - Tuesday, September 27, 2022 - link
Clean looks. Competition. What's not to like?