{"id":1243331,"date":"2026-02-28T02:03:04","date_gmt":"2026-02-28T02:03:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gBh5ByFQqj88LNKUVBfvqH"},"modified":"2026-02-28T02:03:04","modified_gmt":"2026-02-28T02:03:04","slug":"nzxt-n9-z890-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/nzxt-n9-z890-review\/","title":{"rendered":"NZXT N9 Z890 review"},"content":{"rendered":"
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It\u2019s rare to see a motherboard with a brand name other than the usual four of ASRock, Asus, Gigabyte, and MSI; and also one that differs in design enough to stand out from the crowd too. But that\u2019s exactly what the NZXT N9 Z890 has and does. Under the hood is a slightly different story, though, as it\u2019s actually made by ASRock.<\/p>\n

That said, there\u2019s still plenty here that\u2019s NZXT too such as support for its CAM software to control the board\u2019s lighting and cooling and even proprietary connectors for NZXT\u2019s latest case accessories. It also has the distinction of coming in black or white, so would look fantastic inside one of the company\u2019s white snazzy cases too.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s most appealing feature, though, is its RGB lighting. It\u2019s simple, with opaque plastic strips diffusing the lighting from LEDs beneath into vibrant areas of color. However, this stretches all the way down the I\/O heatsinks, across the middle M.2 heatsink thanks to some clever connector trickery and then down to the bottom of the board. It\u2019s easily one of the most eye catching motherboards available.<\/p>\n

At $500, it\u2019s not cheap and while NZXT has three new motherboards to pick from, the N9 Z890 with its extensive RGB lighting obviously only supports Intel Core Ultra 200 CPUs, which are less attractive to gamers than AMD\u2019s latest Ryzen models. The company does have an AMD Socket AM5 model with the X870E chipset that we\u2019ll be looking at soon, but the flagship of NZXT\u2019s trio is definitely the model we\u2019re looking at here.<\/p>\n

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NZXT N9 Z890 specs<\/div>\n
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Socket:<\/strong> Intel Core Ultra 9 285K
Chipset<\/strong>: Intel Z890
CPU compatibility:<\/strong> Intel Core Ultra 200 desktop
Form factor<\/strong>: ATX
Memory support:<\/strong> DDR5-4800 to DDR5-8600+(OC), up to 256 GB
Storage:<\/strong> 5x M.2, 4x SATA
USB (rear)<\/strong>: 2x Thunderbolt 4 Type-C 40 Gbps, 1 x USB 3.1 Gen 2×2 Type-C 20Gbps, 6x USB 3.1 Type-A 10 Gbps, 3x USB 3.0 Type-A 5 Gbps
Display:<\/strong> 2 x Thunderbolt 4, 1x HDMI
Networking:<\/strong> Realtek 5G LAN, Wi-Fi 7
Audio:<\/strong> Realtek ALC4080
Price:<\/strong> $500<\/a> | \u00a3321<\/a> | AU$821<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The most significant difference between the NZXT N9 Z890 and other motherboards is that the primary way of controlling your fans and lighting is using NZXT\u2019s CAM software. It\u2019s gone to the rather extreme measure of removing the usual fan curve user interface in the EFI too, which means if you don\u2019t want to install CAM, you\u2019ll be forced to go back to 2003 and manually configure each fan header using massively time-consuming text-based inputs rather than spending a few seconds tweaking a visual representation of the fan curve.<\/p>\n

Thankfully, CAM worked flawlessly and makes it simple to control your fans and the board\u2019s lighting from the comfort of your desktop. It still doesn\u2019t have the granularity of other motherboards such as fan spin up time and you\u2019re limited to picking between the CPU and GPU for the temperature input too, but for your average PC user it\u2019s enough to get your PC setup how you like it.<\/p>\n

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It\u2019s clear that NZXT was serious about cooling here because the two large VRM heatsinks not only have a heatpipe linking them to spread the heat load, but have a pair of small fans to help keep the VRMs in check under extreme conditions. In their default mode in CAM, these are quite noisy, even at stock speed, as they\u2019re tied to the CPU temperature and hitting 4,000 rpm before the motherboard breaks a sweat.<\/p>\n

A more serious issue was that the 3.03 BIOS fans wouldn\u2019t budget from full speed either. Thankfully the latest 3.04 BIOS fixed this after we mentioned it to NZXT, so updating is vital as is setting the fan speed to silent mode, which means they only ramp up under extreme loads.<\/p>\n

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We doubt you\u2019ll be left wanting from any of the board\u2019s features, though, as it\u2019s ticked most boxes when it comes to expectations from its $500 price tag. You get dual Thunderbolt 4 ports, nine Type-A USB ports with none of those being slower than USB 3.0, 5G LAN, Wi-Fi 7 and Realtek ALC4080 audio. If you\u2019re planning on overclocking, which is of course possible thanks to the Z890 chipset, you get CMOS clear and BIOS Flashback buttons with reset and power buttons plus an LED POST code display on the PCB that’s also very helpful.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a massive five M.2 ports too, with one being PCIe 5.0 and illuminated using contacts that touch when the heatsink is screwed into place. The rest sit under a massive tool-free heatsink at the base of the board. There are only five 4-pin fan headers, but NZXT also includes two 8-pin ports that either support its own RGB accessories, or can be split into NZXT 4-pin accessory connectors and standard 4-pin fan headers using included adaptors.<\/p>\n