The NZXT N7 Z490 Motherboard Review: From A Different Direction
by Gavin Bonshor on October 7, 2020 10:30 AM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
- Intel
- ASRock
- NZXT
- Z490
- Comet Lake
- Intel 10th Gen
- i7-10700K
- N7 Z490
Power Delivery Thermal Analysis
A lot more focus has been put onto power delivery specifications and capabilities, not just by manufacturers, but as a result of users demands. In addition to the extra power benefits from things like overclocking, more efficient designs in power deliveries and cooling solutions aim to bring temperatures down. Although this isn't something most users ever need to worry about, certain enthusiasts are bringing more focus onto each board's power delivery. The more premium models tend to include bigger and higher-grade power deliveries, with bigger and more intricate heatsink designs, with some even providing water blocks.
The 8+2+1 power delivery on the NZXT N7 Z490
Testing Methodology
Our method of testing out if the power delivery and its heatsink are effective at dissipating heat, is by running an intensely heavy CPU workload for a prolonged method of time. We apply an overclock which is deemed safe and at the maximum that the silicon on our testbed processor allows. We then run the Prime95 with AVX2 enabled under a torture test for an hour at the maximum stable overclock we can which puts insane pressure on the processor. We collect our data via three different methods which include the following:
- Taking a thermal image from a birds-eye view after an hour with a Flir Pro thermal imaging camera
- Securing two probes on to the rear of the PCB, right underneath CPU VCore section of the power delivery for better parity in case a probe reports a faulty reading
- Taking a reading of the VRM temperature from the sensor reading within the HWInfo monitoring application
The reason for using three different methods is that some sensors can read inaccurate temperatures, which can give very erratic results for users looking to gauge whether an overclock is too much pressure for the power delivery handle. With using a probe on the rear, it can also show the efficiency of the power stages and heatsinks as a wide margin between the probe and sensor temperature can show that the heatsink is dissipating heat and that the design is working, or that the internal sensor is massively wrong. To ensure our probe was accurate before testing, I binned 10 and selected the most accurate (within 1c of the actual temperature) for better parity in our testing.
To recreate a real-world testing scenario, the system is built into a conventional desktop chassis which is widely available. This is to show and alleviate issues when testing on open testbeds which we have done previously, which allows natural airflow to flow over the power delivery heatsinks. It provides a better comparison for the end-user and allows us to mitigate issues where heatsinks have been designed with airflow in mind, and those that have not. The idea of a heatsink is to allow effective dissipation of heat and not act as an insulator, with much more focus from consumers over the last couple of years on power delivery componentry and performance than in previous years.
NZXT N7 Z490 undergoing our VRM thermal testing (we close the side panel when testing)
For thermal image, we use a Flir One camera as it gives a good indication of where the heat is generated around the socket area, as some designs use different configurations and an evenly spread power delivery with good components will usually generate less heat. Manufacturers who use inefficient heatsinks and cheap out on power delivery components should run hotter than those who have invested. Of course, a $700 flagship motherboard is likely to outperform a cheaper $100 model under the same testing conditions, but it is still worth testing to see which vendors are doing things correctly.
Thermal Analysis Results
We measured 60.6°C on the hottest part of the PCB which was around the CPU socket
The NZXT N7 Z490 is using a 10-phase design for the power delivery, which is being controlled by an Intersil ISL69269 PWM controller. It is operating in an 8+2 configuration, with eight Vishay SiC632A 50 A power stages for the CPU VCore, and two Vishay SiC632A 50 A power stages for the SoC.
It is cooled by a decent-sized L-shaped heatsink, and although it doesn't use a fin array, it has a hollowed-out channel to help direct airflow through this to keep it cool.
Focusing on the power delivery thermals, the NZXT N7 Z490 doesn't do a bad job, with the board's integrated sensor reporting a maximum temperature of 61°C. This was similar to the readings we got from our pair of K-type thermal probes with temperature readouts of 62 and 61°C respectively.
Compared to other boards we have tested so far, it runs quite warm for an ATX sized model, but it is still well within the rated specifications, which is clearly a plus. The design of the heatsink could be better, but NZXT appears to have focused solely on aesthetics as opposed to raw performance.
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Woomn 44 - Monday, October 19, 2020 - link
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mrvco - Sunday, October 11, 2020 - link
RGB powa I expect.SlashZerov - Friday, October 9, 2020 - link
My system has2x USB keyboards one gaming and one for typing
1x USB mouse
1x USB headset Logitech g430
2x USB occulus rift sensors
1x USB data to USB for moving data on/off drives
I also have a couple phone chargers hanging off so yes 6 isn’t enough for the average person.
YB1064 - Wednesday, October 7, 2020 - link
Nobody is going to buy this board at the listed price. I'd pay $75-90 for it, tops. 4 layer PCB? Man this aint 1990.Operandi - Wednesday, October 7, 2020 - link
Wrong platform.Also, those heatsinks have very little surface area, more like heatbanks.
Also, also there is clean design and then there is boring. These are boring.
s.yu - Thursday, October 8, 2020 - link
I call this a clean design, half-assed clean is what's boring, this is actually so refined that the issue is getting other hardware to match them.Tomatotech - Friday, October 9, 2020 - link
For all its many fault, I do like the clean design. Reminds me a little of the various Mac Pro designs. Would be suitable for an exposed mobo mod project.I personally would prefer an even more clean look, for example removable coverings over the unused PCIe slots, both for aesthetics and to keep dust out. This mobo was made to be on display and not all mod projects use enclosed cases.
Polaris198321 - Wednesday, October 7, 2020 - link
Looks good. however no 6 SATA data ports for fully taking advantage of 2 laptop HDDs and desktop HDDs here. needs buttons for CMOS and bios resetting on io panel found on many Asus high end for the mobo and specially made self-recharging materials and censor on the chips for built-in ups battery backup for 30 minutes in case of blackouts to run in the energy-saving mode for basic needs like the internet and phone usage on a desktop and laptop. 4g LTE - 6g is a must as well if you decide to ditch cable internet for an alternative with both of them soon having yearly cable and internet/phone plans.wireless PSU ports on the mobo from the PSU might be tested for ditching the nightmare of cable management in such pc powers here once the light beam mirroring bounce and data/power reception effect is perfected without frying the PSU and mobo that both self-heal and self cool like the DPU and CPU and GPUs to come and ssds and HDDs doing the same thing with fans also on the side like on the haf x tower for vertical GPU mounting for the RTX 3090 and CPU fan mount that also rotate to go vertical to give a bigger CPU fan more breathing space to properly cool an RTX 3090 and intel i9 11 gen desktop CPU/AMD ryzen x3950 CPU with custom DDR 5/ssds from intel at 1 TB each for the ram slots here for hybrid custom video sound music creation editing and data science and gaming at 8k going foward as the bios uefi needs to have the ability for multiboot os for macOS windows OS Linux OS and chrome/andriod OS and iOS here for seamless easy file transfers to and from said devices and for network and usb/microsd backups of the mobo and oses from the mobo bios itself. tb 4 ports for any module CPUs from AMD or ryzen to boot up a dead pc for recovery on the i/o panel with 8k 2.1 HDMI ports and display ports are needed as well for connection to an lg/sony 8k tv theater system with sound systems that can handle live music/video/audio editing and recordings like seen and found on many movie and music recording stations.
firewrath9 - Wednesday, October 7, 2020 - link
watOperandi - Wednesday, October 7, 2020 - link
Huh...... don't do drugs I guess?