ASUS Z97 SaberTooth Mark S Motherboard Review

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Introduction

ASUS Z97 SaberTooth Mark S Motherboard - It's Bright & White Alright!

Today we'll review the ASUS Z97 SaberTooth Mark S Limited Edition motherboard, a motherboard with that wow-factor. The product is the Sabertooth TUF mark series, but in this round ASUS went the extra mile as they listened to the audience that wanted white gear. Well, for the ASUS Z97 SaberTooth Mark S Limited Edition that's the truth alright, an expensive white PCB, white heatsinks and covers next to all the standard goodies the product has to offer. The Z97 TUF inspired themed mainboard is intended for Intel's 22nm Haswell and Haswell refresh processors on that Socket LGA1150 platform. It is a mainstream to high-end segmented product among the ASUS Sabertooth series that comes with some nice features and very decent overclock potential.

As Matthew McConaughey would say, it's white alright alright alrighhhhht....

Intel released their series 9 chipsets, among them will be low-end and high-end desktop solutions. For the consumers and readers of Guru3D, H97 and Z97 will be the two most interesting ones. For the HTPC end of things H97 is the most appealing as tweaking options are stripped away with a lower price-tag. For the more hardcore gamers and PC aficionados, the Z97 is the most interesting. Z97 by itself as a chipset is nothing special. HOWEVER, we have plenty to look at as the motherboard manufacturers went totally nuts and started redesigning their motherboards, added new features and made them extraordinarily cool. TUF, short for The Ultimate Force - you know in the 2nd revision of the TUF motherboard series I figured, naah, that plastic shield is not going to work out. In the 3rd revision ASUS even left it out likely due to comments from the media. Just like the Z77/Z87 release, it's back though and in full effect as both the top and bottom side are now shielded. This is the Intel Z97 chipset based TUF (The Ultimate Force) motherboard from ASUS and yeah it's a handsome motherboard alright, if it's your taste of course. Z97 is the Intel chipset predominantly released for Haswell refresh based processors, generation 4 of the Core processors. The accompanying motherboards will have a slightly altered feature set. Next to processor support the changes for Z97 primarily can be found in more native USB 3.0 support and M.2. (albeit not present on the Sabertooth) as well as an upgrade towards PCIe gen 3 PCIe x16 slots and multiple SATA 6 Gbps ports. The Sabertooth Z97 now has a slightly altered designed set of Thermal Armor. If you wonder what that is, it is the heat plastic shield on top, meant to direct air flow and keep the motherboard's components protected and better cooled. Upgraded as well is a backplate that secures the board against bending and bowing when installing expansion.

Features include TUF camouflage-white Thermal Armor with Flow Valve to optimize airflow, Thermal Radar 2 for intuitive fan tuning, a TUF ICe microchip to intelligently monitor and control system temperatures and fan speeds, reinforced camouflage-white TUF Fortifier backplate, high-durability TUF Components and TUF Dust Defenders to prevent airborne particles entering via external ports.

We mentioned already that this is a limited edition motherboard and as such every single board is individually numbered. Sabertooth Z97 Mark S offers strength and cooling with exclusive TUF Fortifier technology. A reinforced back-plate ensures that the motherboard doesn't buckle under the weight of heavy graphics cards and CPU coolers, minimizing the risk of damaged circuitry from bowing and bending. TUF Fortifier also includes a thermal pad that efficiently directs heat away from the back of the 8+2-phase Digi+ voltage-regulator module (VRM) and other critical components! An innovation that reduces operating temperatures by up to 7°C. Components wise you will see Japanese made 10K black metallic capacitors offer 20% better temperature endurance for a lifespan that’s up to five times longer, and TUF’s new alloy chokes are manufactured using high-grade anti-oxidization materials to provide better heat dissipation and unbeatable durability.

This article is a full review of what you may expect from the TUF series Sabertooth Z97 Mark S, a series designed for high durability and efficient cooling with Intel's 4th generation processors. All-in-all this motherboard offers it all, so join me in an extensive review and overview of what ASUS has to offer and if it is TUF enough, next page please.

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