ASUS TUF Sabertooth Z77 Motherboard is a Dark Knight in Thermal Armour

btarunr · Mar 6, 2012, 10:07 AM

ASUS hasn't completely ditched the "Thermal Armour" concept it introduced with the TUF Sabertooth P67, which we thought it did away, with the Sabertooth X79. The newest member in the series, the Sabertooth Z77, still very much features it. Thermal Armour is ASUS' idea of blanketing most of the motherboard's component area with a perforated sheet that directs air-flow, and also lends it an aesthetic touch (depending on your taste, you may love it, or hate it).

We spy four DDR3-DIMM slots (with matching Corsair Vengeance modules, not included), and an all-PCIe expansion slot layout, with two PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slots, one PCIe 2.0 x16 (x4), and three PCIe x1. There are two additional SATA 6 Gb/s ports augmented to the ones provided by the Z77 PCH. Display connectivity looks to include DVI and HDMI. 8-channel HD audio, GbE, about 6 USB 3.0 ports, and a number of USB 2.0 ports, complete the package. The board supports ASUS' BIOS Flashback feature. ASUS TUF Sabertooth motherboards are designed to be rock-stable and durable enough to be certified by stress-testing agencies for it.

Source: Lab501.ro

NHKS · Mar 6, 2012, 11:22 AM

How effective is the 'thermal armour'?
I thought we would not see this feature after the P67-Sabertooth (there is no Z68-Sabertooth) http://promos.asus.com/us/sabertooth_P67/

'thermal radar' however is a neat feature, i feel..

entropy13 · Mar 6, 2012, 11:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NHKS

How effective is the 'thermal armour'?

Worse board temps when you have it on, but have no active cooling on the board itself.

INSTG8R · Mar 6, 2012, 12:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NHKS

How effective is the 'thermal armour'?
I thought we would not see this feature after the P67-Sabertooth (there is no Z68-Sabertooth) http://promos.asus.com/us/sabertooth_P67/

'thermal radar' however is a neat feature, i feel..

My board never gets over 35C tho I do use the 50mm fan option because my CPU is on water. The Thermal Radar is pretty neat I have never had so many sensors to get temps from.

ZoneDymo · Mar 6, 2012, 12:13 PM

This thing looks so freaking awesome, that might be the board for me

EarthDog · Mar 6, 2012, 12:15 PM

Sabertooth is so hideous.

INSTG8R · Mar 6, 2012, 12:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EarthDog

Sabertooth is so hideous.

I other the other hand think it is great. I personally prefer it's tidy looks. Don't really need to see all the electronic bits and pieces.

It is a love or hate it board.

radarblade · Mar 6, 2012, 12:59 PM

So called thermal radar. It was almost a fail on the P67 variant with us have to modify the armor itself to get proper cooling.

djisas · Mar 6, 2012, 02:12 PM

I like my own, i had a 50mm fan that i had to remove because it started to whine to loud for my taste though...
Temps are good, but usb3 chip heats more than anything else...

tilldeath · Mar 6, 2012, 02:58 PM

epic, if they put this out in an am3+ board I will buy for sure!

Brewster0101 · Mar 6, 2012, 09:17 PM

The 990FX Sabertooth is such a nice board. Great layout and colour, and heatskink design.
+1 for not liking this design of covering the motherboard up.

[H]@RD5TUFF · Mar 6, 2012, 10:44 PM

I think it looks nice and clean.

NHKS · Mar 7, 2012, 02:40 PM

More pics of the Z77 Sabertooth:

board shown with 2 fans(only one visible bleow cpu area)

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PCIE slot dust-covers! (wonder if it will come in reatil version too)

Click image for larger version

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Backside of board shown with airflow holes (gold holes)

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EarthDog · Mar 7, 2012, 03:08 PM

This is such a silly product to go in a home to me... I cant help but hate.

Mar 6, 2012, 10:07 AM	#1
btarunr Editor & Senior Moderator Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Hyderabad, India Posts: 14,984 (7.29/day) Thanks: 788 Thanked 12,911 Times in 5,655 Posts System Specs	ASUS TUF Sabertooth Z77 Motherboard is a Dark Knight in Thermal Armour ASUS hasn't completely ditched the "Thermal Armour" concept it introduced with the TUF Sabertooth P67, which we thought it did away, with the Sabertooth X79. The newest member in the series, the Sabertooth Z77, still very much features it. Thermal Armour is ASUS' idea of blanketing most of the motherboard's component area with a perforated sheet that directs air-flow, and also lends it an aesthetic touch (depending on your taste, you may love it, or hate it). We spy four DDR3-DIMM slots (with matching Corsair Vengeance modules, not included), and an all-PCIe expansion slot layout, with two PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slots, one PCIe 2.0 x16 (x4), and three PCIe x1. There are two additional SATA 6 Gb/s ports augmented to the ones provided by the Z77 PCH. Display connectivity looks to include DVI and HDMI. 8-channel HD audio, GbE, about 6 USB 3.0 ports, and a number of USB 2.0 ports, complete the package. The board supports ASUS' BIOS Flashback feature. ASUS TUF Sabertooth motherboards are designed to be rock-stable and durable enough to be certified by stress-testing agencies for it. Source: Lab501.ro

System Name:	Blackbox
Processor:	Intel Core i7-950
Motherboard:	Intel Extreme Series DX58OG
Cooling:	Xigmatek Aegir SD128264 with IC Diamond 24 Thermal Compound
Memory:	12GB ADATA Premier (3x 4GB) DDR3-1333 MHz
Video Card:	Palit GeForce GTX 680 JetStream 2GB outfitted with IC Diamond 24 TIM
Hard Disk:	Samsung 840 Series 250GB, Random 8 TB storage
Optical Drive:	HT-LG DVD-RW
CRT/LCD Model:	ViewSonic VX2450wm-LED
Case:	Cooler Master CM690 Window
Sound Card:	Creative SB Recon3D
PSU:	Corsair HX850W
Software:	Windows 8 Pro 64-bit

Processor:	Intel Core i7 3930K\|Intel Core i7 2600K
Motherboard:	Asus Rampage IV Extreme\|Asus Z68 Maximus IV Extreme-Z
Cooling:	Corsair H100\|Corsair H80
Memory:	G.Skill RipjawsZ 32GB (8x4GB) DDR3-1866 RAM\|G.Skill RipjawsX (4x4GB) DDR3-1600 RAM
Video Card:	3x MSI GTX 580 Lightning Xtreme Edition\|2x Palit GTX 580 + Inno3D GTX 580
Hard Disk:	OCZ Vertex 3 240GB, 4x 2TB\|Corsair Force GT 120GB, 2x 1TB, 500GB
Optical Drive:	LG 24x DVD-RW+/- with Lightscribe\|Lite-on 24x DVD-RW+/-
CRT/LCD Model:	3x 23" Chimei CMV-23LH LED\|LG 27" E2750V, LG 23" E2360V
Case:	Corsair Obsidian Series 800D\|Thermaltake Chaser MK-I
Sound Card:	onboard
PSU:	Thermaltake Toughpower 1350W 80PLUS SILVER\|Corsair AX1200 1200W 80PLUS GOLD
Software:	Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit w/ Service Pack 1

System Name:	Hellbox 2.1(same case new guts)
Processor:	i7 2600k@4.6(1.36V max)
Motherboard:	Asus P67 Sabertooth
Cooling:	TT Kandalf L.C.S.(Water/Air)AC Cuplex Kryos CPU Block
Memory:	2x4096 Corsair Vengance 1600
Video Card:	Sapphire HD7970 OC Edition(1000/1450)
Hard Disk:	WD Caviar Black SATA 3 1TB x2 RAID 0
Optical Drive:	LG GSA-4166B DVD+RW DL/DVD-RAM
CRT/LCD Model:	Acer V243H 24" 1920x1080
Case:	TT Kandalf L.C.S.
Sound Card:	X-Fi Fatality Pro Champion on Creative/SBS 650s
PSU:	TT Toughpower 1200W
Software:	Win7 Pro x64

System Name:	People really name their PC? Oye...
Processor:	3570K / 3770K
Motherboard:	Giga Z77X UD5H / Asrock OC Formula
Cooling:	Tt Water 2.0 Extr/ MCW320 + PA120.2 + Apogee XT
Memory:	16GB DDR3 1600Mhz / 8GB DDR3 2666 CL11
Video Card:	ECGA GTX 690 / HIS 7970 X
Hard Disk:	256GB OCZ Vector, 640GB Caviar Black / 60GB Vertex 3
Optical Drive:	DVD-RW
CRT/LCD Model:	Yamakasi 27" 2560x1440 / Acer 23" 1920x1080
Case:	HAF XB / Benching station
PSU:	Seasonic X560 / X1000P

Mar 6, 2012, 11:22 AM	#2
NHKS Join Date: Sep 2011 Posts: 572 (0.95/day) Thanks: 1,853 Thanked 375 Times in 199 Posts	How effective is the 'thermal armour'? I thought we would not see this feature after the P67-Sabertooth (there is no Z68-Sabertooth) http://promos.asus.com/us/sabertooth_P67/ 'thermal radar' however is a neat feature, i feel..

Mar 6, 2012, 12:13 PM	#5
ZoneDymo Join Date: Feb 2009 Posts: 303 (0.19/day) Thanks: 1 Thanked 35 Times in 23 Posts	This thing looks so freaking awesome, that might be the board for me

Mar 6, 2012, 12:15 PM	#6
EarthDog Join Date: Dec 2009 Posts: 2,052 (1.65/day) Thanks: 246 Thanked 349 Times in 303 Posts System Specs	Sabertooth is so hideous.

Mar 6, 2012, 12:59 PM	#8
radarblade Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: In the middle of Nowhere Posts: 48 (0.10/day) Thanks: 0 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post	So called thermal radar. It was almost a fail on the P67 variant with us have to modify the armor itself to get proper cooling.

Mar 6, 2012, 02:12 PM	#9
djisas Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Darkness Posts: 300 (0.14/day) Thanks: 65 Thanked 324 Times in 284 Posts System Specs	I like my own, i had a 50mm fan that i had to remove because it started to whine to loud for my taste though... Temps are good, but usb3 chip heats more than anything else... __________________ I am a beast forced to feed, Not on blood I have different needs. Fear and misery line my plate, Pain and suffering make it great. As for the wine to this meal, There's nothing better than the death I'll deal

System Name:	Unreal Machine III
Processor:	Intel Core i3 2120 3.4Ghz
Motherboard:	Sabertooth P67
Cooling:	Zalman CNPS 9500 LED
Memory:	Gskill 4GB 1600Mhz Ripjaw CL9
Video Card:	Saphire HD6950 1GB
Hard Disk:	2x 500GB Barracuda 7200.12 + WD 640GB Black eddition + WD 1TB green + 1TB F3
Optical Drive:	Pioneer DVD-RW 18x + LG BD-ROM 8x
CRT/LCD Model:	HP W2207 22'
Case:	Termalthake xaser III black
Sound Card:	Xfi Fatal1ty + Creative inpire t7900 7.1
PSU:	ZALMAN ZM 850HP
Software:	7 Ultimate
Benchmarks:	3DMark Vantage P14042;3DMark 11 P4408; Furmark 1.9 @840 3654

Mar 6, 2012, 02:58 PM	#10
tilldeath Join Date: Feb 2011 Posts: 182 (0.22/day) Thanks: 28 Thanked 7 Times in 6 Posts	epic, if they put this out in an am3+ board I will buy for sure!

Mar 6, 2012, 09:17 PM	#11
Brewster0101 Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: UK Posts: 34 (0.03/day) Thanks: 0 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post System Specs	The 990FX Sabertooth is such a nice board. Great layout and colour, and heatskink design. +1 for not liking this design of covering the motherboard up.

Processor:	AMD X720 BE @ 3.4GHz
Motherboard:	MSI G65
Cooling:	Akasa
Memory:	2 x 2GB OCZ Platinum @ 1600mhz
Video Card:	Saphire 4870
Hard Disk:	Samsung F1 - 750gb
Case:	Lian Li PC-A70b
PSU:	Zalman ZH 850
Software:	Vista Pro 64bit

Mar 6, 2012, 10:44 PM	#12
[H]@RD5TUFF Eligible for custom title Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: San Diego, CA Posts: 5,589 (4.33/day) Thanks: 1,825 Thanked 1,710 Times in 1,431 Posts System Specs	I think it looks nice and clean. __________________ Stuff 4 Sale! Heat Ware ebay

System Name:	White Boy
Processor:	Core i7 3770k @4.6 Ghz
Motherboard:	ASUS P8Z77-I Deluxe
Cooling:	CORSAIR H100
Memory:	CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB @ 2177
Video Card:	EVGA GTX 680 CLASSIEFIED @ 1250 Core
Hard Disk:	2 Samsung 830 256 GB (Raid 0) 1 Hitachi 4 TB
Optical Drive:	none
CRT/LCD Model:	1 Dell 30U11 30"
Case:	BIT FENIX Prodigy
Sound Card:	none
PSU:	SeaSonic X750 Gold 750W Modular
Software:	Windows Pro 7 64 bit \|\| Ubuntu 64 Bit
Benchmarks:	2017 Unigine Heaven :: P37239 3D Mark Vantage

Mar 7, 2012, 02:40 PM	#13
NHKS Join Date: Sep 2011 Posts: 572 (0.95/day) Thanks: 1,853 Thanked 375 Times in 199 Posts	More pics of the Z77 Sabertooth: board shown with 2 fans(only one visible bleow cpu area) PCIE slot dust-covers! (wonder if it will come in reatil version too) Backside of board shown with airflow holes (gold holes)

Mar 7, 2012, 03:08 PM	#14
EarthDog Join Date: Dec 2009 Posts: 2,052 (1.65/day) Thanks: 246 Thanked 349 Times in 303 Posts System Specs	This is such a silly product to go in a home to me... I cant help but hate.

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