NZXT N7 B550 Motherboard Review

How Much Does it Cost?

Coming in at $229.99 at the time of writing this, the NZXT N7 B550 is a bit more expensive than their competitors and this comes from NZXT’s own comparison. According to their comparison, other B550 boards can be had at anywhere from $179, $189 up to $209 which still makes them cheaper than NZXT’s own offering. This is where you will need to decide if the added cover and features like WiFi 6E and the additional USB-C port are worth the extra money.

Overview

For NZXT’s first outing with an AMD board, they did quite well. Of course, working with ASRock will have no doubt helped this massively. While the N7 B550 is more expensive than other B550 boards, it does also offer more features than the competitors so that is a good thing. NZXT are a bit late to the party when it comes to B550 but they are helping to push the boundaries of what the chipset can do.

Build Quality & Design

The build quality is top-notch as we would expect to see from both NZXT and ASRock. The addition of the complete cover is something we have seen before from NZXT but is more than welcome on their first AMD offering. The board is comprised of high-quality components and looks amazing. Having the option to purchase the board with either black or white covers is going to be a big hit as well as it will allow for more users to fit it in with their build colour schemes. All in all, I can not fault the quality or design of this board at all except to say I want a blue cover, other than that it is spot on.

Performance

NZXT’s N7 B550 trades blows with most of the competitor boards that we have compared it to. While it normally finds itself somewhere in the middle, this isn’t bad. It is worth remembering that this is NZXT’s first venture into an AMD board and while they have the help of ASRock, it is still a learning process. The N7 B550 has added features you won’t find on any other B550 boards so that bodes well for NZXT. Also, as said, the performance can be sort of mid-range but when actually looking at the results and digesting them, there is a minimal difference and the real world noticeable difference is likely to be nil.

Added Value

NZXT has added their now-signature cover to their N7 B550 and it comes in two colour options. This is great but the main thing I like to see is the addition of WiFi 6E and a Gen-2 Type-C USB port. While these are only small differences, it is something not seen on the other B550 boards currently available. I guess sometimes being late to the party can be a good thing!

Should I Buy One?

If you are in the market for a new B550 board, like the white/black cover and want to make use of WiFi 6e, then the N7 B550 from NZXT is a worthy choice. It offers a similar performance to that of its competitors and the additional price tag you will see over other B550 boards is warranted due to the extra features included on this board.