Perhaps it's less of a real-world issue than it might appear on paper. Has anyone got anything in their bottom two slots? We haven't. Both have the single PCI Express 5.0 slot at the top with the other two full length slots being PCI Express 4.0. The bottom edge also shows off the extra fan headers you get with the N7. It's not like the Intel 12th Gen is short of lanes to control it all. It's not that the N5 is bad, but it perhaps shows its affordable nature a little more than the N7.īoth motherboards only offer 4 SATA ports, which is slightly strange given that they are based upon the Z690 chipset. The N7 also has a slightly better arrangement for the ease of keeping your system tidy. Looking in more detail you can see that the N5 has a tiny bit less in the way of fan headers. Not actually of course, just it's obvious both are priced at a certain point from the amount of extra gubbins, but the N7 makes these less obvious. It's tough to escape the stripped down aesthetic of the N5 when compared to its big brother though. The N5 has different placement of front panel USB options and fewer fan headers for that all-important cool airflow. When you move lower down the board the difference become more plain. The N5 has a 8+1 DrMOS power phase design, whilst the N7 goes with 12+1 DrMOS. Both have 8+4 pin CPU power inputs and the connectors that allow you to plug in your NZXT cooler and lighting into the CAM Ecosystem directly. It's very attractive and would look perfect in an NZXT case.ĭespite being both based around the Z690 chipset the design is surprisingly different. This is particularly true when you look at the pricing of higher end Z690 motherboards around. We know that there is a £60 difference between the two, but we think it's fair to say that the N5 - the bottom of these two pictures - looks like a £210 motherboard whilst the N7 above has that gorgeous armour and looks like a much more expensive model. Most of us have a motherboard box somewhere full of things we never use, so we don't mind paying a little less and only getting what we need. But with an M.2 screw set, WiFi antenna and the requisite SATA cables you don't actually need anything else. When you're at this end of the price spectrum you don't get masses of accessories in the box, and both the N5 and N7 have the same. The N7 itself looks just like the others we've seen, which make the N5 look somewhat naked in comparison. We'll show you on the next two pages.Īs these are by no means the first NZXT motherboards we've reviewed we're familiar with the white and purple packaging. Plus you're not getting the white armour which is the main reason to go with the NZXT options. the N5 is very similar in the majority of things, just with fewer USB ports and fan headers. We've got the specifications for the N7 here. We know we're a few hours post launch so without further ado let's take a look at them and then see how they perform. Both of them are DDR4 offerings which might be starting to be moved out of what is considered current at your retailer of choice but is thankfully still plentiful enough that the affordability of a DDR4 kit hasn't been inflated because of its scarcity. So aggressively in fact - the N5 is £210 and the N7 £270 - that you would have to be on an extremely tight budget, but somehow still seeking to run a 12th Gen Intel CPU, to consider the lower of the two models. It isn't the only feather in their cap, or string to their bow depending on if you prefer metaphorical hats or archery, as both the N7 and N5 are aggressively priced. Why not keep it all under one roof? That's what the NZXT motherboards seek to bring to the table. As anyone who has a Corsair/ASUS combination can attest, having many things trying to control your lighting can become troublesome. Or at least those of us who are keen to keep the amount of brands within our system at a minimum to reduce the number of control software packages we need to have installed. Like with many things it would be easy for NZXT to leverage their brand loyalty amongst consumers to produce a product which has a high ticket price for maximum profit, understanding that the hardcore will buy it anyway. ![]() The NZXT N5 Z690 is the more affordable of the two and hasn't got that famous, sleek, white armour that is the hallmark of the NZXT range, whilst for a tiny bit extra you can get the full on N7 Z690 model, which has the armour and a much more serious feature set too. Recently we've seen them branch out into the world of motherboards, and today they launched two new additions. NZXT have long been the purveyors of excellent cases and, with their Kraken range, some fantastic CPU cooling options too.
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