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- Date:
- Wednesday, July 01, 2015
- Author:
- Daniel Dobrowolski
- Editor:
- Kyle Bennett
- Share:
ASUS SABERTOOTH X99 LGA 2011-v3 Motherboard Review
ASUS’ SABERTOOTH X99 promises premium quality and unmatched stability alongside industry leading fan control. Sabertooth motherboards have in the past all been universally excellent and this motherboard is one of the newest in the TUF series. Can ASUS keep that streak going? It's going to be TUF.
Introduction
ASUS is the most well-known of the world’s motherboard manufacturers. ASUS has an incredibly diverse product lineup. Its motherboards are split into several product lines to segment them for better market penetration. The standard retail motherboards fall under the usual ASUS umbrella. There are of course specific ASUS’ series such as "WS" for workstation motherboards and of course something like an "I" suffix indicates a mini-ITX motherboard. The other two major brands of note are TUF and ROG. Both have different design teams and are built with different philosophies and components. This is done to create appeal for a certain market audiences. While the ROG series has an increasing number of models and is targeted at gamers, the TUF series has few entries into the lineup. The TUF series targets those people who want the type of build quality you would get out of the ROG series, without the focus on overclocking. TUF motherboards are marketed as meeting Mil-Spec standards for component durability and there is a focus on fan control. These motherboards are capable overclockers although this aspect of their design isn’t something ASUS dwells on. The claim to fame for the TUF series is longevity, stability and quality. ASUS feels so strongly about this design that the SABERTOOTH X99 comes with a five year warranty instead of a three year or shorter warranty.
The SABERTOOTH X99 is based on the X99 Express chipset and is therefore compatible only with socket LGA2011-v3 processors from the Intel Core i7 and Xeon processor families. The chipset allows for up to 64GB of RAM, 10x SATA 6GB/s ports, M.2, SATA Express, USB 3.0, and more. The SABERTOOTH X99 offers a host of ASUS proprietary features as well as features found on other motherboards, albeit with clever names. The SABERTOOTH X99 uses an 8+2 phase power design with low RDS MOSFETs with a custom cooling solution that provides 70% increased surface area for cooling. The low RDS MOSFETs confirm to military specifications as well. ASUS used black metallic solid electrolytic capacitors rated for 10,000 hours. ASUS’ OC socket provides more voltage to the CPU for more overclocking headroom. Some credence is lent to the theory as other motherboard makers have implemented similar solutions. The amount of actual overclocking headroom gained through a custom socket design is largely unknown.
Main Specifications Overview:
Detailed Specifications Overview:
Packaging
The packaging is basic, but standard for the TUF series. The motherboard box has the usual TUF package theme. The five year warranty is emblazoned on the front of the box. Inside you’ll find the following accessories: User's manual, Accessory Guide, ASUS Q-Shield. 6x SATA 6Gb/s cable(s), 1x ASUS 2-Way/3-Way SLI bridge, 1x Supporting DVD, 1x Q-connector(s) (2 in 1), 1x Assistant Fans(40mm), 1x TUF Certification card(s), 1x TUF 5 Year Warranty manual(s) (by region), 1x TUF Inside sticker(s)(white), 1x STAY COOL BE TUF sticker(s)(white), 1x Accessory Package(s):, 2x PCIe x16 slot dust cover(s), 4x DRAM slot dust cover(s), 1x PCIe x1 slot dust cover(s), 1x PCIe x4 slot dust cover(s), 3x Thermistor cable(s), 1x connector dust cover collection(onboard USB 3.0, LAN), 2x On board USB 2.0 connector dust cover(s), 11x back I/O USB 2.0 connector dust cover(s), 9x On board SATA connector dust cover(s), 1x SATA Express conector dust cover(s), and 5x Audio connector dust cover(s).
Board Layout
The layout of the Sabertooth X99 is excellent. There are no problem areas or major oversights. The only issue of note has to do with the CMOS battery. It’s not the easiest thing to reach but fortunately it isn’t necessary most of the time. So this is a minor oversight at best. There are no less than 12 fan headers on the motherboard which should cover nearly anyone’s needs. All the fan headers have four pins, but only the CPU fan has full PWM control. The others emulate PWM control through voltage adjustments. The Thermal Armor system covers the bulk of the motherboard. There are gaps in areas that need them such as expansion slots. The package comes with a ton of dust covers which cover up the rest of the motherboard. The TUF fortifier is a fancy name for the back plate which prevents motherboard PCB bending. It also reduces the chances of short circuits as it's impossible to touch most of the solder points on the back of the motherboard.
The CPU socket area is clear of any obstructions. The MOSFETs are cooled with a very large heat sink. Even so there shouldn’t be any clearance issues with large heat sinks. A fan can be attached to the back of the CPU socket area to help move air through the thermal armor system which acts like an air duct system. The thermal armor system works in a manner of speaking. While it seems to raise the motherboard temperature to some extent, the fan actually brings the temps back down to where they would be on a normal motherboard. The upside of course is that the thermal armor keeps dust off the motherboard, the fortifier prevents PCB warping and the whole system looks really cool.
The ASUS Sabertooth X99 uses eight brown and black color coded DIMM slots. Up to 64GB of DRAM is supported. These are 288-pin DDR4 DIMM slots which have a single locking tab on one side of the slot for retention. ASUS T-Topology design uses equidistant trace paths to improve memory overclocking performance and system stability while using all the memory channels. ASUS claims its design reduces coupling noise and signal reflection.
The chipset is largely covered by the thermal armor system. In front of the chipset you’ll find six SATA ports and the SATA Express connector. On the bottom edge of the motherboard, left of the SATA ports you’ll find a ton of fan headers. The chipset generally remained around 89F during testing without the fan and about the same with it attached. I think the chipset is too far away from the fan to get any significant temperature reduction from the airflow.
The expansion slot area is very clean. The Thermal Armor gives it a simplified look. The tan PCI-Express x16 slots support the PCIe 3.0 spec and run at full speed x16 modes. The spacing of the slots are perfect for two and three way SLI based systems. The lane configuration with a 48 lane CPU is x16, x16/x16, or x16/x16/x8. The Sabertooth X99 also comes with dust covers to prevent dust from getting into the expansion slots as well as to provide a cleaner look.
The back panel has direct access to the MOSFET cooling hardware. This works as an intake of sorts with the fan attached. There are two RJ-45 ports, 5x USB 2.0 ports, 4x USB 3.0 ports and 2x USB 3.1 ports. Lastly for audio we have five mini-stereo headphone jacks and an optical output.