NZXT N7 B550 Review: One of the World's Most Feature-Rich B550 Motherboards

Butcher79

April 16, 2021

AMD, meet NZXT.

NZXT has been busy trying to break into new product categories, and motherboards have only seen a steady influx of Intel offerings. Times are changing as a PC hardware manufacturer releases its first AMD-based motherboard using the B550 chipset for AMD Ryzen 3000 and Ryzen 5000 series processors.

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The NZXT N7 B550 marks the company's first attempt to provide PC builders with a platform to build an AMD-based system using other NZXT products, including chassis, lighting, and CPU cooling. The N7 B550 costs $230 and is expensive, especially when compared to the competition, but there's something to pay for here.

NZXT N7 B550

The bottom line: this is AMD's first NZXT motherboard and it's an impressive initial release. While the company opted for the B550 over the X570, the price does cover some high-end features like Wi-Fi 6e, plenty of well-placed fan headers, and more.

Well

ASRock build quality
Excellent layout and design
Good BIOS support
Connecting to NZXT CAM
Great feature set

Poorly

No M.2 cooling
Removed the display of the numeric code
Expensive for B550 motherboards

NZXT N7 B550: price and availability

NZXT released the N7 B550 motherboard in April 2021 and you can expect it to be available for the full $230 asking price. Currently, stock levels for most PC hardware are constantly changing, which means you most likely won't be able to find them, and prices may be inflated due to scalping.

pros

Motherboards are hard to admire these days, and that doesn't mean the components are tedious. You'll be hard-pressed to find motherboards that aren't great at the very least. Most motherboards made today are equipped with enough technology for today's PC builds, have high-quality components for more powerful processors, and have stable software support.

The lineup of NZXT motherboards is interesting because the company is trying to do something a little differently.

Those who buy a board for their next PC build expect to see CPU ATX connectors in the same place. The same goes for the 24-pin ATX connector, as well as SATA ports, front panel headers, and more.

The Company may make some changes to the design and placement of some of the aforementioned nodes. The result is a family of N7 motherboards that looks unique and suits system builds pretty well. The B550 is NZXT's first foray into an AMD motherboard, but the partnership with ASRock has allowed the company to offer a fairly broad package.

Size	ATX
Processor	AMD Ryzen 3000 AMD Ryzen 5000
Connector	AM4
ram	4x DDR4 DIMM (up to DDR4 4666+), 128 GB limit
Chipset	AMD B550
Expansion	1x PCIe 4.0 x16 slot 1x PCIe 3.0 x4 slot 2x PCIe 3.0 x1 slots 1x M.2 slot (Key E, 2230 Wi-Fi)
Storage	6x SATA (6Gb/s) 1x M.2 (support PCIe 4.0 x4 / SATA SSD) 1x M.2 (support PCIe 3.0 x2 / SATA SSD)
Audio	Realtek ALC1220
Rear ports	2x Wi-Fi 1x HDMI 2x USB 2.0 3x USB-A 3.2 Gen 2 ports 1x USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 ports 4x USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 ports 1x 2.5Gb LAN 5.1ch audio jacks 1x optical S/PDIF 1x Clear CMOS button 1x BIOS Flashback Button
NVIDIA SLI	—
AMD CrossFire	✓
starting price	$ 230

The B550 chipset is compatible with Ryzen 3000 and Ryzen 5000 series processors, although Ryzen 3000 APUs work not will be . For testing purposes I used AMD Ryzen 9 5950X, to see what this motherboard is really capable of. NZXT and ASRock have included an additional 4-pin header to supply power to the CPU.

If you like clean PC builds, you'll love the NZXT N7 B550 motherboard.

The first thing you'll notice about the NZXT N7 B550 is the looks. It is unlike anything else on the market. The board has a metal shroud that covers a good 70% of the entire surface, showing only the RAM slots, PCIe slots, the CPU socket (and surrounding area), as well as the VRM and numerous connectors and ports.

It's a clean design that will fit perfectly into any NZXT-based PC build, but will work in other cases as well. This shroud can be completely removed by unscrewing a few screws on the back of the board, making it easy to modify or personalize. You can just omit it entirely if you like the classic look more, although I'd rather leave it for a more futuristic design.

Interestingly, one thing missing from the NZXT N7 B550 design is RGB lighting. Motherboards usually come with onboard LEDs controlled via the BIOS or ancillary software, but NZXT chose not to include them. But fear not, if you're planning on creating a light show, then NZXT includes a 4-pin RGB cable, a 3-pin aRGB cable, and two 4-pin NZXT RGB cables.

Speaking of connectors, there are plenty available to connect everything. Seven (yes, seven) fan headers are placed all over the motherboard in places that make it easy to route cables. Each header is capable of delivering up to 2A, eliminating the need for a fan controller. Everything connected to the N7 B550 can be controlled using the NZXT CAM software.

Four DDR4 RAM DIMM slots can support speeds up to 4666+, and you have USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-C, two USB 3.2 Gen1 headers, and six SATA ports (two disabled when using the second M.2 slot). And there are two M.2 slots, one of which supports PCIe 4.0. They are joined by four PCIe slots, two of which are x16 for the best graphics card.

Finally, there's the decent Realtek ALC1220 audio codec, as well as Wi-Fi 6e. The performance of the motherboard fully met expectations. Most motherboards will perform about the same, especially when gaming or under light to heavy workloads. It's only when you push your system to the limit with advanced overclocking that you're more likely to see differences between boards.

Using a Ryzen 9 5950X with N12 B2 2+7 (+550) phase power delivery, I used the CPU without any form of throttling. Several benchmarks and synthetic runs showed similar numbers with an X570 motherboard in the same price range. You won't run into any issues when trying to use Ryzen 5000 series processors with this board.

The BIOS is easy to use, as is the CAM software that can control connected fans and RGB lighting. Having power and reset buttons on the board is handy, especially if you want to build and test a PC outside of a case.

Cons

I have two minor complaints about the N7 B550. First, there is no passive cooling for M.2 SSD drives. Most motherboards come with metal covers for these M.2 drives with thermal pads underneath. The N7 does not have thermal pads as the covers are made of plastic. In fact, the company recommends removing these covers when installing M.2 drives.

Second, while it's good to have some form of error reading in the status LEDs to determine if something is wrong when booting, NZXT used to have a more recommended solution with a numeric code display. This will show code representing a problem with the motherboard or a specific component. We now have a few LEDs for the absolute base.

NZXT N7 B550: Competition

There is fierce competition in the motherboard segment, especially with the AMD B550 chipset. This chipset allows motherboard manufacturers to cut down on features to meet the needs of those who don't have huge budgets to save on PC parts. However, it also allows for motherboards with more features than even some of the X570 solutions.

NZXT's N7 B550 is expensive, but worth it because of the extra features.

The NZXT N7 B550 is well placed thanks to its long list of features. Great features like Wi-Fi 6e and 2,5Gb LAN, not to mention a very solid power phase design, it's easy to overlook the price and just attribute it to the NZXT brand, but it has a lot of extra kits.

Compare this motherboard to the MSI MAG B550 TOMAHAWK Gaming which costs just $160 and there are a few notable differences. The MSI board has Wi-Fi 6, but it's not Wi-Fi 6e. It has the same 2,5Gb LAN support. There are far fewer USB ports on the back, not to mention that the layout of the connectors on the board is a standard mess.

These are small touches that allow NZXT to charge a small premium. Take, for example, the cover of the casing. This has become a stable design for NZXT motherboards and many PC builders prefer to keep it neat. There are also no built-in RGB LEDs, which can be seen as a plus or a minus, depending on what you prefer. However, NZXT has several RGB available.

When it comes down to it, if you want a motherboard specifically designed for pure PC builds, there's no better option than NZXT's N7 B550 for AMD builds anyway.

NZXT N7 B550: is it worth buying?

You should buy this if...

You need an AMD motherboard.
You don't mind spending over $200 on a motherboard.
You are planning to build a PC with lots of RGB lighting.
You want to connect a lot of fans to the motherboard.
You are planning to use the NZXT CAM software.

Don't buy this if...

You need the features of the X570 chipset.
You only need the base B550 motherboard.
You don't want to spend more than $200 on a B550 motherboard.

AMD's first NZXT motherboard is a great start, but it shouldn't come as much of a surprise. ASRock has years of experience building motherboards, and combined with great designs from NZXT, you have an excellent foundation for AMD-based PCs. Is it worth the extra cost compared to even X570 motherboards from manufacturers like ASUS and MSI? It depends on you.

For a motherboard with an AMD B550 NZXT N7 chipset, the B550 is really expensive. You can find an inexpensive B550 board for around $100, even less if you really want to save on features. But that extra cost is worth it if you consider this motherboard to be right for your PC build.

The layout of everything on the board allows for better cable routing. It has an additional 4-pin ATX CPU input for extreme overclocking, just like the more expensive X570 motherboards (although how useful this really is is debatable). The metal shroud perfectly hides all PCB components while allowing modification and personalization.

It also has a stable BIOS and can even run a Ryzen 9 5950X with plenty of 4000MHz RAM. There's a lot to want here, but it's not all good news. M.2 covers are not metal, but plastic, so there is no additional passive cooling for M.2 storage. NZXT also decided to remove the numerical error codes and replace them with status LEDs.

But if you're looking for a B550 motherboard that pushes AMD's chipset to the limit, NZXT's N7 B550 is a good choice. This is definitely a contender for a place in our collection of the best motherboards.

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