Review: asus saberrtooth x79

Sabertooth motherboards have been widely accepted for their qualities, design and performance. Following the success, Asus has introduced a new version in socket 2011 with the X79 chipset. In this review we will see if it has lived up to the expectations created.

Product ceded by:

ASUS SABERTOOTH X79 FEATURES
CPU	2nd Generation i7 LGA Processors 2011
Chipset	Intel X79
Memory	8 x DIMM, Max. 64GB, DDR3 1866/1600/1333/1066 MHz Non-ECC, Un-buffered MemoryQuad Channel Memory Architecture Intel® Extreme Memory Profile (XMP) Compatible
Multi-GPU Compatible	NVIDIA® Quad-GPU SLI ™ Technology Compatible Compatible with AMD Quad-GPU CrossFireX ™ Technology
Expansion slots	2 x PCIe 3.0 / 2.0 x16 (dual x16) * 1 1 x PCIe 3.0 / 2.0 x16 (x8 mode) * 1 2 x PCIe 2.0 x1 1 x PCI
Storage	Intel® X79 chipset: 2 x SATA 6Gb / s port (s), brown 4 x SATA 3Gb / s port (s), black Compatible with Raid 0, 1, 5, 10 Marvell® PCIe 9128 Controller: 2 x SATA 6Gb / s port (s), gray ASMedia® ASM1061 Controller: 1 x Power eSATA 6Gb / s port (s), green 1 x eSATA 6Gb / s port (s), red
Net	Intel® 82579V, 1 x Gigabit Network Controller
Audio	Realtek® ALC892 8 Channel High Definition Audio CODEC- Compatible with: Jack-detection, Multi-streaming, Front Panel Jack-retasking Audio Features: - Absolute Pitch 192kHz / 24-bit True BD Lossless Sound - Blu-ray audio layer Content Protection - Optical S / PDIF output on rear panel
IEEE 1394	1 x VIA 6315N
USB ports	ASMedia® USB 3.0 Controller: 6 x USB 3.0 port (s) (4 at back panel, blue, 2 at mid-board) Intel® X79 chipset: 14 x USB 2.0 port (s) (6 at back panel, black, 8 at mid-board))
BIOS	64 Mb Flash ROM, UEFI BIOS, PnP, DMI2.0, WfM2.0, SM BIOS 2.6, ACPI 2.0a, Multilingual BIOS, ASUS EZ Flash 2, ASUS CrashFree BIOS 3
Format	ATX Factory Format 12 inch x 9.6 inch (30.5 cm x 24.4 cm)

The TUF series offers the strongest products. With a unique design and components of the standard quality for military projects, this new series has come to light in order to offer maximum stability, compatibility and a longer service life. Let's see its most important characteristics:

TUF Thermal Armor (Improved Dissipation Flux):

The new generation TUF Thermal Armor includes two Turbo Engine fans, improving the original design by helping to keep the temperature away from the components in the MOS area and dissipating via the rear I / O section. Special heat sink ducts dissipate the temperature of essential components and ensure proper temperature across the entire motherboard. Thermal Armor also provides modders and LAN Party lovers the option to customize the appearance of their motherboard.

TUF Thermal Radar (Real-time temperature monitoring and fan speed adjustment):

TUF Components (Choke coils, capacitors and MOSFETs; with military quality certification):

Enjoy the most reliable performance even for the most demanding tasks with the strongest, third-party certified Choke coils, capacitors and transistors to the military quality standard. Alloy transistors, (TUF chokes), are made of a metal alloy that can withstand up to 50A of current, much higher than standard iron-made transistors. In addition, they eliminate noise emission, vibrations and dramatically improve service life under extreme conditions.

SSD Caching:

Improves system performance by implementing an SSD with no capacity limitations as a cache for data that is accessed regularly. Enjoy your own SSD speed and the capacity of traditional hard drives with a simple click, without the need to reboot the system and with functionality for creating backups.

5 years Warranty:

The reliability of the TUF series is not only based on advanced thermal design, military-grade components and strict reliability tests, but also on a 5-year warranty.

The Asus Sabertooth is protected by a large box. On the cover we can see the famous "saber tusk".

The back we have the most important specifications of the Sabertooth.

General view of the plate.

Back view.

The box includes:

• Asus Sabertooth X79 motherboard, SATA and SLI cables, Instruction manual, Installation CD, Back plate, Sticker. 40mm fan.

The layout of their pci-e allows us to install up to 3 graphics cards. If the models are for reference, it allows us to install a sound card in the second PCI-E x1.

Asus has made it clear for the X79 platform. 95% of its boards allow the installation of 8 DDR3 memory modules.

The most attractive point of the TUF Sabertooth series are its TUF CeraM! X heatsinks. These have a high-tech cover, which helps dissipate heat 50% better.

The front panel is covered in a black panel (same as the Sabertooth P67). Underneath we have a great heatsink with its heatpipes.

Above the red ESata we see the heatsink.

Rear panel full of I / O ports: 4 USB 3.0, 6 USB 2.0., Gigabit network card, Audio ALC892, USB FLASHBACK and eSATA BIOS button.

The south bridge heatsink includes a fan as a safety measure. We can activate / deactivate this from BIOS or customize its speed. Recommended to activate it when we have an SLI.

If we remove the two screws from the I / O panel cover, it will allow us to install a small fan.

It works at low revs and has a 3-pin connector.

Here installed.

Rabbibs, what are you doing on the Sabertooth? These rabbits do not learn?

TESTING BENCH
Processor:	Intel 3930k @ 4.6GHZ
Base plate:	Asus Sabertooth X79
Memory:	Corsair Vengeance 1600 CL9
Heatsink	Corsair H60
HDD	Kingston Hyperx 120gb
Graphic card	Nvidia Geforce GTX560 Ti @ 1GHZ
Box	Benchtable Dimastech Easy V2.5

We have tested the stability of the processor and the motherboard at 4600 mhz with Prime 95. And the performance has been very good: 90601 points with 3d Mark Vantage. The plate offers great stability and its cooling is very good. We have tried some games and we have obtained the following results:

RESULTS
3dMark06			25850PTS
3dMark11 P (FULL VERSION)	P5488
Heaven Benchmark v2.1		1318 PTS
THE PLANET DX11 1920X1080 X8	66.2 FPS
Metro 2033 D10 1920 x 1080 HIGH	55.8 FPS

We have verified that the heatsinks hardly heat up in stock and overclock. We do not see it necessary to activate the south bridge fan if we have a graphic installed. If we have multigpu systems, if we recommend it, as a security measure (by introducing more heat the graphics inside the box). However, the Thermal Radar application warns us of any excess temperature.

The PCIE layout allows us to install up to 3 graphics cards. Being a high-end motherboard we would have liked it to have 4 PCI Express x16 for a Quad SLI Surround.

In our test bench it has matched with a GTX560 Ti at 1 ghz of power. Although we would have liked to test its escalation with multigpu systems. We are delighted by its excellent Overclocking capabilities on the Intel i7 3930k. We have stabilized the mic at 4600mhz HT at 1.36v (offset activated).

In short, we have fallen in love with the Sabertooth X79 for its solidity, freshness and overclocking ability. It is already available in online stores for € 290- € 300.

ADVANTAGE	DISADVANTAGES
+ EXCELLENT COMPONENTS.	- IT ONLY ALLOWS US 3 GRAPHICS. WE EXPECTED 4 WAY SLI / CFX.
+ CERAMIC HEATSINKS.
+ VERY STABLE BIOS.
+ EXCELLENT OVERCLOCK CAPACITY.
+ SOFTWARE: THERMAL RADAR.
+ 5 YEARS WARRANTY.

The Professional Review Team gives you the quality / price award and the gold medal: