NZXT N7-Z37XT Motherboard Review

[delaro]

Anyone that is looking at paying $200+ for a board is going to want the best possible performance that means looking at benchmarks. When three different sets of benchmarks come out and tell you the same thing " Budget board performance" Then you just lost the value. Benchmarks do matter at that price segment because when you pay for premium you expect the absolute best you can get.. this is not it. It's not bad or great but just another average board with some added toaster oven appeal.

 

[Crashman]

It's not bad or great but just another average board with some added toaster oven appeal.

Hey, don't downplay toaster oven appeal, there's a reason I own two of them

 

[sykozis]

Motherboard performance is a benchmark. That's it. Ppl as users couldn't tell performance differences if they tried, the speeds at which these boards operate are so far in excess of what's humanly possible to determine. There's only the add-ons like ASR killer lan or Asus ROG bios that sets any board apart firmware wise.

Lack of USB 3.1 A/C ports? So what? Most of the world has no use for those ports as USB3.0 is just now starting to become popular with manufacturers. Many things are still using USB2.0 headers as there's honestly no need for the bandwidth 3.0 brings.

Motherboard wifi is a gimmick. I have wifi on my MSI Z77 Mpower and have used it exactly once. It got outdated that fast, it runs half the speeds of my $15 TP-Link. Not even close to what's capable with hardwire. And the firmware hasn't seen any driver updates since Oct 2013. My cell phone has faster up/down speeds than the mobo wifi on the same frequency with the phone sitting on top of the pc. To me, lack of wifi on a mobo just means more space for more important stuff.

2x pcie x16. With lackluster sli/cf support and even less mgpu support from DX12, more than 2x pcie x16 slots is a waste of space and resources. Then you add in cards like the gtx1080ti and sli/cf becomes relatively pointless for anyone other than a crypto-miner.

As far as I can see, the only thing about this board that's totally out of whack is the price. It's got some gimmicks that are slightly different to other mobo's, but that's true of any vendors lines, but still remains a perfectly usable board for a good majority of ppl. It's just priced far beyond what that same majority of ppl would pay for a usable board.

They could have easily included an M.2 Key E slot or mPCIe slot to accommodate a wifi card. That would allow for those who need wifi to have it and have it be up-gradable.

 

[Karadjgne]

My $15 TPLink is pcie x1. Fully upgradable, could even go for something like a dual giga Intel pro etc if you wanted. Pcie x1 is far more prevalent than mPCIe or m.2 wifi cards.

 

[sykozis]

So, what you're saying is.....the best way forward is to avoid trying to go forward?

 

[Karadjgne]

No. What I'm saying is the best way forward is a mobo that's open to go forward. I'd rather have a mobo with 3 or 4 pcie x1 where I can add what I need, update what I want, tailor to my aesthetics, than an all-in-one mobo where I'm stuck with what the manufacturer feels I need/want/should have. Why should I pay extra for a mobo included wifi that's only AC 1300, when in 6 months I'll be adding a pcie x1 card thats AX 2600. Why pay premium prices for mobo RGB capability when it won't control but a few brands, limiting me to certain fans (that also come with their own controller).

Open it up and let me make it mine, if I wanted to be locked to certain things that are almost proprietary (like the nzxt hue) I'd buy a Dell.

 

[Crashman]

No. What I'm saying is the best way forward is a mobo that's open to go forward. I'd rather have a mobo with 3 or 4 pcie x1 where I can add what I need, update what I want, tailor to my aesthetics, than an all-in-one mobo where I'm stuck with what the manufacturer feels I need/want/should have. Why should I pay extra for a mobo included wifi that's only AC 1300, when in 6 months I'll be adding a pcie x1 card thats AX 2600. Why pay premium prices for mobo RGB capability when it won't control but a few brands, limiting me to certain fans (that also come with their own controller).

Open it up and let me make it mine, if I wanted to be locked to certain things that are almost proprietary (like the nzxt hue) I'd buy a Dell.

I personally favor Key-E over x1 because it's x2+USB. And the USB is used for the on-chip Bluetooth interface. Well, that and I have other uses for my expansion slots.But there are enough different boards on the market to satisfy nearly everyone

 

[g-unit1111]

No. What I'm saying is the best way forward is a mobo that's open to go forward. I'd rather have a mobo with 3 or 4 pcie x1 where I can add what I need, update what I want, tailor to my aesthetics, than an all-in-one mobo where I'm stuck with what the manufacturer feels I need/want/should have. Why should I pay extra for a mobo included wifi that's only AC 1300, when in 6 months I'll be adding a pcie x1 card thats AX 2600. Why pay premium prices for mobo RGB capability when it won't control but a few brands, limiting me to certain fans (that also come with their own controller).

Open it up and let me make it mine, if I wanted to be locked to certain things that are almost proprietary (like the nzxt hue) I'd buy a Dell.

There is a lot to like about this board. You don't have to be locked to buying all NZXT components - that option is there because of their control suite software. I've been using and playing around with it a lot since I got my S340 Elite and it's very nice to be able to get extremely detailed information about my system as well as be able to have total control over things like the lighting and fan speeds. I can see why people wouldn't buy it because there are things that are limiting. For instance on a $249 board having only 4 SATA ports is completely unacceptable. Where my Asrock Taichi was $70 cheaper and it has 10 ports available. Huge difference! Plus if you do use an M2, the SATA-0 port gets knocked out, which means you only have 3 ports at your disposal. Not everyone wants or uses M2 drives and some people have many drives, which would require the use of multiple adapter cards. If you're willing to overlook that aspect of it, then this would be a good board.

 

[Karadjgne]

Yes, it is a good board, and I agree there's a lot to like about it. And for most with a low end build that's limited like mine with just 1x ssd, 1x hdd, 1x optical and 2x pcie x1 cards, it'll stand out in the crowd. My biggest beef is the price tag. That price puts it in the mid to high end build range, yet the features don't hold up. The Hue is proprietary to nzxt and done right is not cheap, so I can see many choosing Aura or Auros boards instead as those are widely accommodating of many fan/lighting systems. If you are asking that price point and not including usb 3.1, at least slap in 3x 3.0 headers, 4x pcie x1, 8x Sata headers etc, as not just drives use Sata, so do some AIO's, and open the board up for expansion. Short-changing usable headers was usually the mark of the ultra value ATX boards or mATX/mITX.

Basically this board reminds me of a tricked out, show worthy Mustang, with a 2.2L 4-cyl under the hood.