The ASUS TUF Gaming Alliance

Darksaber · Dec 18, 2019

ASUS offers several sub-brands, like Republic of Gamers and the TUF Gaming Alliance. The latter is a partnership with Cooler Master and other supporting brands with the purpose of guiding gamers towards a solid mainstream system through individually branded components that result in a cohesive, cool-looking final design.

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Cheeseball · Dec 18, 2019

You've been building this review since June 10 this year? :wtf:

EzioAs · Dec 18, 2019

Cheeseball said:
You've been building this review since June 10 this year?

Sure sounds tuf...

Athlonite · Dec 18, 2019

The TUF X470 Plus Gaming should be called the sTUFfed X470 Puss Gaming as it's a piece of crap. TUF used to be a very reasonable sub brand of Asus's it's now unfortunately their bottom of the barrel bargain basement crapolla brand

Chomiq · Dec 18, 2019

Ballistix Sport LT are also meant to fit the TUF styling and they fit it better IMO.

Athlonite said:
The TUF X470 Plus Gaming should be called the sTUFfed X470 Puss Gaming as it's a piece of crap. TUF used to be a very reasonable sub brand of Asus's it's now unfortunately their bottom of the barrel bargain basement crapolla brand

According to buildzoid their x570 tuf line is ok.

macrobe · Dec 18, 2019

I like this one-brand build. I'm trying to collect AORUS configuration, but Gigabyte doesn't have ITX or SFF case.

INSTG8R · Dec 18, 2019

Athlonite said:
The TUF X470 Plus Gaming should be called the sTUFfed X470 Puss Gaming as it's a piece of crap. TUF used to be a very reasonable sub brand of Asus's it's now unfortunately their bottom of the barrel bargain basement crapolla brand

I believe my Z97 Sabertooth MK1 was probably the last real TUF board they made.

Hugis · Dec 18, 2019

This is now a give away here on TPU, alas im not in the US ,but if i entered could i gift it to norton or some one here to do a give away here on tpu?

Chloe Price · Dec 18, 2019

Too bad that TUF went from a premium series to a cheap entry level series, I remember having a Sabertooth Z87 and that was awesome. This TUF B450-Plus Gaming which I have now is crap, but I had to get a motherboard and this was available in the local PC shop.

3125b · Dec 18, 2019

Chomiq said:
their x570 tuf line is ok.

True, but many things in that line are just ... well, trash to be honest. Look at their AMD TUF GPUs or most of the boards.
Thats just bad and ruins the Asus brand name.

Dracius · Dec 18, 2019

Hmm I'm not sure I like the case so much.. I do think those LED fans should be yellow too, since that's the 'major' colour that relates to TUF.

But wow.. lots of TUF hate here!

(and justifiable from what I read?)

I just recently purchased the B450M TUF board, coming from a Z97 Ranger. It's really not bad. Buildzoid also said its 'ok', but recommends to avoid it for any heavy overclocking, and/or 3800X and 3950X (due to high VRM temps, though that can be remedied)

Currently running a 2200G at 3.8Ghz stable. 2x mixed sticks of 8GB 2133Mhz DDR4 memory that's running at 2400Mhz.

Quite happy with this board, especially considering I paid $110 for it, brand new.

Chomiq · Dec 18, 2019

Cheeseball said:
You've been building this review since June 10 this year?

It's no Boyhood that's for sure.

shk021051 · Dec 18, 2019

tuf brand is more like fucked

Dammeron · Dec 18, 2019

Chloe Price said:
Too bad that TUF went from a premium series to a cheap entry level series, I remember having a Sabertooth Z87 and that was awesome. This TUF B450-Plus Gaming which I have now is crap, but I had to get a motherboard and this was available in the local PC shop.

TUF B450 is crap because lost of manufacturers treat AMD boards like crap. Just check, how mATX boards on B450/X570 look compared to eg. Z97 - not even worth mentioning.

Dracius · Dec 18, 2019

Dammeron said:
TUF B450 is crap because lost of manufacturers treat AMD boards like crap. Just check, how mATX boards on B450/X570 look compared to eg. Z97 - not even worth mentioning.

I've got the TUF B450M.. a mATX B450 board.. I'm glad I went with Buildzoid's advice. (Especially considering my budget and availability of products)

What am I missing?

Chloe Price · Dec 18, 2019

Dammeron said:
TUF B450 is crap because lost of manufacturers treat AMD boards like crap. Just check, how mATX boards on B450/X570 look compared to eg. Z97 - not even worth mentioning.

Not just this but many other TUF boards too. Like I said, TUF went from premium to cheap entry-level crap.

TheinsanegamerN · Dec 18, 2019

Dracius said:
I've got the TUF B450M.. a mATX B450 board.. I'm glad I went with Buildzoid's advice. (Especially considering my budget and availability of products)

What am I missing?

Did you....you know....look at the intel versions like Dammeron suggested?

The intel versions of their TUF boards are built WAY better for the same $$$ as their intel boards are. They are an affront to the TUF brand (which used to mean overbuilt, long lasting hardware, now is a gimmicky gamerz brand). Even their intel boards today are a far cry from the z87-97 days.

You are happy with your board? That's great, doesnt mean it isnt a junk board with lots of cheap cost cutting that undermines the features and longevity that should be present at that price point.

Athlonite · Dec 18, 2019

Chomiq said:
According to buildzoid their x570 tuf line is ok.

I still wouldn't touch it I would have bought an Crosshair VII or VIII but I didn't have $795~$1000 for a mobo

sepheronx · Dec 18, 2019

Could you guys name the exact issues that the Tuf line has? Because I haven't heard of any to be specific.

Calmmo · Dec 18, 2019

You have to look at it on a per product basis. And every single Tuf product ive seen this year x570 aside has had issues, ones that stem from the "its a budget product- lets cut corners" (sometimes all the corners) approach

gamefoo21 · Dec 18, 2019

TUF = That Unfortunate F*cker

For the PG crowd...

TUF = The Untimely Failure

Would have been nice to see some actual benches, temps, and sound levels. This is like a forum build by a noob... Also where's the cost, and actual value sentiment? With so much blatant branding, you'd think the cost would be subsidized, or does branding come from the component budget?

Any way... The cat on the ram has a fist for a head. Is it supposed to represent fisting loose pu... timings? LoL

Cheeseball · Dec 18, 2019

TheinsanegamerN said:
Did you....you know....look at the intel versions like Dammeron suggested?

The intel versions of their TUF boards are built WAY better for the same $$$ as their intel boards are. They are an affront to the TUF brand (which used to mean overbuilt, long lasting hardware, now is a gimmicky gamerz brand). Even their intel boards today are a far cry from the z87-97 days.

You are happy with your board? That's great, doesnt mean it isnt a junk board with lots of cheap cost cutting that undermines the features and longevity that should be present at that price point.

I currently use the TUF GAMING X570-PLUS (WI-FI) and it is built pretty well, tbh. I can push this pair of older G.SKILL (Hynix) 3200 DDR4 16-18-18-36 to 3600 at the same timings using the stock 1.35v. My newer Patriot Vipers do a nice 3733 MHz 15-16-16-34 for 1:1 IF, but these are Samsung B-dies (and are XMP 4400 MHz out of the box) so that's expected.

My previous board for an i5-8400 was the TUF B360-PLUS GAMING, which had two M.2 PCI-E/SATA slots. I liked it for the year I used it.

Not sure if they ASUS built the B450s well, but I did consider the TUF edition since I was looking for a mATX form factor board. I initially went with the ASRock B450M Steel Legend instead, but I ended up returning it because ASRock's UEFI options are severely lacking.

damric · Dec 18, 2019

Looks nice. I wish there was a price tag included for the components in this review. I'm not sure if all of them are even available anymore.

Dammeron · Dec 18, 2019

Cheeseball said:
I currently use the TUF GAMING X570-PLUS (WI-FI) and it is built pretty well, tbh.

I wanted to build AMD mATX platform, however there's no B450/X570 mobo that has wi-fi, decent VRM/chipset cooling etc... On the other hand, there would be no problem, if I went for Intel CPU (but I prefer AMD, so that's a "no go").

Cheeseball · Dec 18, 2019

Dammeron said:
I wanted to build AMD mATX platform, however there's no B450/X570 mobo that has wi-fi, decent VRM/chipset cooling etc... On the other hand, there would be no problem, if I went for Intel CPU (but I prefer AMD, so that's a "no go").

Yeah, I was looking at ASRock's X570M Pro4, but knowing how their UEFI is, I just spent more for the TUF X570 WiFi even though its standard ATX.

System Name	Core i7 Overclocked - Main Workstation
Processor	Core i7 940 at 3.66 GHz
Motherboard	Asus P6T Deluxe
Cooling	Noktua U14P Super Silent
Memory	3x2GB OCZ 1600 MHz CL8
Video Card(s)	2x MSI Cyclone Radeon 6850 1GB in Crossfire - tuned to be silent
Storage	G.Skill 240GB Sandforce SSD, 1x 640GB Samsung F1, 2x500GB Samsung Spinpoint, 1.5TB External Samsung
Display(s)	Samsung 305T 30" 2560x1600 DVI LCD
Case	Corsair Obsidian 800D
Audio Device(s)	Asus Xonar D2X PCIe
Power Supply	Thermaltake Toughpower XT 750W
Software	Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit

System Name	Dell G5 15 5587 (2018) / AMD Custom Rig
Processor	Intel® Core™ i7-8750H Processor (Coffee Lake) / AMD Ryzen 7 3800X
Motherboard	Intel HM370 / ASUS TUF GAMING X570-PLUS (WI-FI)
Cooling	Stock Dell twin-fan and copper heatpipes cooling system / AMD Wraith Prism
Memory	SK hynix 16GB (8GBx2) - 2Rx8 DDR4 SODIMM 2666MHz / G.SKILL TridentZ 16GB (8GBx2) F4-3200C16D-16GTZR
Video Card(s)	GeForce GTX 1060 Max-Q / EVGA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER XC ULTRA + Sapphire RX 5700 XT (Reference)
Storage	ADATA XPG SX8200 Pro 512GB NVMe M.2 / ADATA SU800 1TB SATA 2.5" / Lots of M.2 NVMe SSDs
Display(s)	Stock Dell 60 Hz IPS LCD panel / LG 27GL650F-B UltraGear 27" 1080p 144 Hz 1ms
Case	Stock Dell G5 15 5587 (2018) body / NZXT H510i Matte White
Audio Device(s)	Kingston HyperX Cloud II
Power Supply	Dell Power Adapter 180W NDFTY / Corsair RMx Series RM750x
Mouse	Dell touchpad / Razer Viper Ultimate
Keyboard	Stock Dell G5 15 5587 laptop keyboard with backlit RED LEDs
Software	Windows 10 Home 64-bit 1909 / Windows 10 Pro 64-bit 1909

System Name	Cypher-C4
Processor	Ryzen 5 3600
Motherboard	MSI B450 Tomahawk Max
Cooling	Cooler Master Hyper 212+
Memory	16GB Crucial Ballistix Sport AT 3200MHz
Video Card(s)	Palit GTX 1060 Jetstream 6GB
Storage	250GB Crucial MX500 + 320GB WD Blue + 1TB Samsung F3 + 2TB WD Black
Display(s)	ASUS VS228
Case	Corsair Obsidian 750D
Audio Device(s)	Sennheiser GSP 300
Power Supply	Corsair HX750i
Mouse	Cooler Master Storm Recon
Keyboard	Corsair Vengeance K70 (MX Blue)
Software	Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
Benchmark Scores	3DMark11 Performance Preset - P7081 Cinebench 11.5 - 1.88 (Single), 7.24 (Multi)

System Name	Cumquat 2000
Processor	AMD RyZen R7 2700 @ 3400MHz
Motherboard	Asus TUF X470-Plus Gaming
Cooling	Cryorig R1 Universal
Memory	16GB GSkill TridentZ DR4-3200 16-18-18-38 1.35V
Video Card(s)	Gigabyte RX580 Gaming 8GB
Storage	1X Samsung 860 EVO 500GB SATA AHCI 1x Sandisk 128GB PCIe, 12TB of HDD Storage
Display(s)	ViewSonic VX2457 MHD 75Hz FreeSync 1920x1080p
Case	SilverStone Raven RV02B-W + 3x SS AP181 + USB3.0 upgrade
Audio Device(s)	Creative SB X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Pro PCIe + Pioneer VSX-531 amp Technics 100W Speaker set
Power Supply	Enermax RevolutionXT II 750W 80+ Gold
Mouse	Logitech G502 Proteus Core
Keyboard	Logitech G105
Software	Windows 10 X64 PRO (build 1903)
Benchmark Scores	it sucks even less much now ;)

Processor	Ryzen 7 3700X
Motherboard	Gigabyte X570 Aorus Elite
Cooling	BeQuiet Dark Rock 4
Memory	2x8 GB Crucial Ballistix Sport LT 3200 CL16 @ 3733 CL 16
Video Card(s)	EVGA 1060 6GB SSC
Storage	SX8200 Pro 1 TB, Plextor M6Pro 256 GB, WD Blue 2TB
Display(s)	BenQ BL2411PT
Case	SilverStone Primera PM01 RGB
Power Supply	SeaSonic Focus Plus Gold 750W
Mouse	SteelSeries Rival 300
Keyboard	MK Typist (Kailh Box White)

The ASUS TUF Gaming Alliance

Darksaber

W1zzard's Sidekick

Cheeseball

Not a Potato

EzioAs

Athlonite

Chomiq

macrobe

INSTG8R

Vanguard Beta Tester

Hugis

Chloe Price

3125b

Dracius

Chomiq

shk021051

Dammeron

Dracius

Chloe Price

TheinsanegamerN

Athlonite

sepheronx

Calmmo

gamefoo21

Cheeseball

Not a Potato

damric

Dammeron

Cheeseball

Not a Potato

System Name	AMD AORUS
Processor	AMD RYZEN R5 2600
Motherboard	GIGABYTE B450 I AORUS PRO WIFI
Cooling	Wraith Prism
Memory	AORUS GP-AR32C16S8K2HU416R
Video Card(s)	GIGABYTE RX VEGA 64 SILVER 8G
Storage	AORUS GP-ASM2NE2512GTTDR
Display(s)	PHILIPS 276E9QJAB/00
Case	Open frame
Audio Device(s)	GIGABYTE GP-S7500
Power Supply	GIGABYTE G750H
Mouse	Sharkoon Shark Zone M50
Keyboard	Sharkoon Purewriter TKL RGB

System Name	Hellbox 3.0(same case new guts)
Processor	i7 4790K 4.6
Motherboard	Asus Z97 Sabertooth Mark 1
Cooling	TT Kandalf L.C.S.(Water/Air)AC Cuplex Kryos CPU Block/Noctua
Memory	2x8GB Corsair Vengance Pro 2400
Video Card(s)	Sapphire Nitro+ Vega 64
Storage	WD Caviar Black SATA 3 1TB x2 RAID 0 2xSamsung 850 Evo 500GB RAID 0 1TB WD Blue
Display(s)	Samsung CGH70 27” 1440 144hz Freesync 2 HDR
Case	TT Kandalf L.C.S.
Audio Device(s)	Soundblaster ZX/Logitech Z906 5.1
Power Supply	Seasonic X-1050W 80+ Gold
Mouse	G502 Proteus Spectrum
Keyboard	G19s
Software	Win 10 Pro x64

System Name	Office/Gamer Mark II(its getting old now)
Processor	i7 4770K @ 4.3Ghz @1.2v
Motherboard	MSI Gaming 5 Z97
Cooling	AiO MSI Dragon(H55), MX-4
Memory	16GB Crucial Ballistix Tactical BLT2K8G3D1608ET3LX0 @1066MHz(9-9-9-29-1t)
Video Card(s)	EVGA GTX 780 Ti Classified
Storage	Samsung SM961 256Gb Nvme-Boot, Toshiba MK5075GSX-storage
Display(s)	LG W2261VP @ 1920 * 1080
Case	Corsair Carbide 200R
Audio Device(s)	Realtek ALC1150 (On Board)
Power Supply	Corsair TX750W
Software	Windows 10 Pro 64Bit

System Name	Classified
Processor	AMD Ryzen 5 2600 @ 4.025GHz
Motherboard	Asus TUF B450 Plus Gaming
Cooling	Custom loop by Alphacool
Memory	G.Skill Value 16GB DDR4-2400
Video Card(s)	EVGA GeForce GTX 980 Ti FTW
Storage	2x256GB, 240GB & 2x 480GB SSDs, 2TB HDD
Display(s)	2x 1920x1080 (23" & 22")
Case	Corsair Carbide Air 740
Audio Device(s)	Sound Blaster Z
Power Supply	Seasonic Focus+ Gold 750W
Mouse	Logitech G400s
Keyboard	Dell keyboard
Software	Windows 10 Pro
Benchmark Scores	6040 in Time Spy, 15731 in Fire Strike with GTX 980 Ti

System Name	Cast Lead™
Processor	Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-7600 CPU @ 3.50GHz
Motherboard	Asus ROG STRIX H270F GAMING
Cooling	Cooler Master Hyper 212 LED
Memory	G.SKILL Ripjaws V Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4 2400
Video Card(s)	MSI Radeon RX 480 GAMING X 8G
Storage	Seagate 1TB 7200 rpm
Display(s)	LG 24MP59G
Case	Green Z4
Audio Device(s)	Realtek High Definition Audio
Power Supply	Green 650 UK Gold
Software	Windows 10™ Pro 64 bit

System Name	PussySlayer
Processor	Intel Core i7 4770
Motherboard	Asrock Z87E-ITX
Cooling	Some crappy Silverstone ITX Cooler
Memory	2x8GB Gskill RipjawsX 1600
Video Card(s)	GTX 1070
Storage	1x500gb Crucial SSD
Display(s)	BenQ 24" 1080P
Case	Couger QBX
Audio Device(s)	Onboard
Power Supply	650W EVGA BR - Coil Whine Issue
Software	Windows 10 64bit Pro

System Name	Neon Master
Processor	AMD Ryzen 3900x
Motherboard	x570 Aorus Master F10
Cooling	H115i RGB Platinum 280mm/Case Fans NF-A14 x4
Memory	2x16GB 3733 C16 G.Skill Neo
Video Card(s)	RTX 2070 Super Strix
Storage	MP600 1tb+2tb / 860 Evo 1tb / WD4005FZBX
Display(s)	LG 27GL850-b
Case	Phanteks Evolv X
Audio Device(s)	BeyerDynamic DT 770 Pro (250 Ohms)
Power Supply	Seasonic Prime Ultra Titanium 1000w
Mouse	Scimitar Pro rgb
Keyboard	K95 Platinum rgb
Software	W10Pro 1909

System Name	Sky OC
Processor	i5-6500T@ 4400 MHz
Motherboard	Z170 K4/D3
Cooling	i7 stock cooler
Memory	DDR3 @2400 MT/s 9-11-11-31-1T
Video Card(s)	PowerColor Vega64
Storage	Silicon Power A80
Display(s)	Samsung UE590
Case	HAF XB
Audio Device(s)	Logitech Z623
Power Supply	LEADEX II
Mouse	Logi
Keyboard	Logi
Software	10 Pro
Benchmark Scores	https://hwbot.org/user/damric/