Product Showcase

Here we can see the thermal armor a little better, it has a flow gate mechanism which allows you to open, or close the thermal armor via a button. When the gate is open, it provides an a better thermal solution for the CPU. When the gate is closed it focuses air on heatpipes for better heat removal, useful with liquid cooling perhaps ? The Z87-Sabertooth is an ATX form-factor motherboard that comes with an 8-phase CPU power delivery, thermal armor covering most parts of the board, dust-covers or dummy-spacers for most ports, slots, and headers. 

The SaberTooth also features a small fan for active cooling with the thermal-armor, though delivered with the package you need to install that one. We prefer an all silent solution though an extra active fan can cool down the board a notch better of course. But lets look at the new back plate tagged as TUF Fortifier which should enhance the longevity and heat dissipation of your setup.

Asus has reinforced the Sabertooth with a Fortifier back plate that covers most of the the boards backside. This plate is designed to fight off bending and dust, it supposedly also decreases CPU temperatures by a notch, but with the gaps everywhere ... well. It does make the board extremely sturdy and rigid though, we like that very much. Obviously the entire tactical shielding both on the  front and backside can be removed if preferred or needed.