With their TUF series motherboards ASUS, have rather interesting products in their portfolio. Next to their unique design, these boards feature good cooling, which in this case is all about more fan headers than you usually get at this boards price point. Other than that there is a potent power design and overall the ASUS Z97 Sabertooth appears to be a high-quality motherboard.
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The Sabertooth Z97 Mark 2 belongs to ASUS' TUF-series motherboards regarding which the manufacturer focuses on the boards durability. As always we're very curious what this thing is capable of, when it has to face our preview.
| Page 1 - Introduction | Page 4 - Layout |
| Page 2 - Specs and Delivery | Page 5 - Connectors and I/O |
| Page 3 - Features | Page 6 - Conclusion |
Specs and Delivery
| Chipset | Intel Z97 |
| Memory | Dual Channel DDR3, 4 x DIMM, Max. 32 GB DDR3, DDR31866 / 1600 / 1333 / 1066 MHz Non-ECC, Un-buffered Memory |
| Multi-GPU |
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| Slots |
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| Sound | Realtek ALC1150
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| Storage | Intel Z97 chipset
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| USB Ports | Intel Z97 chipset
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| Network |
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| Internal Connectors |
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| Extrenal Connectors |
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| Forfactor | ATX (30.5cm x 24.4cm) |
| BIOS | Bios (64 Mb flash ROM, UEFI AMI BIOS) |
| Page 1 - Introduction | Page 4 - Layout |
| Page 2 - Specs and Delivery | Page 5 - Connectors and I/O |
| Page 3 - Features | Page 6 - Conclusion |
Features
| ASUS DIGI+ VRM | Since quite a few generations ASUS also provides its TUF series boards with digital power designs. Using the right software, in this case ASUS DIGI+ VRM Utility, it's not only possible to adjust voltages whilest being in Windows, you can also control impedances. |
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| ASUS TPU | As soon as the TPU is activated this chips monitors all possible voltages and clock speeds using the according software. The difference to the EPU is, that TPU will provide as much performance as possible. Therefore it can increase clock speeds and voltages. |
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| TUF ICe | The TUF Thermal Radar monitors temperatures in critical areas of the motherboard in real time, automatically adjusting fan speeds to make sure the system maintains high stability without overheating. There are multiple sensors for various components on the motherboard, giving users the ability to monitor each one individually. The Thermal Radar calculates ideal fan speeds based on different parameters selected by users for each component, keeping everything cooler and longer lasting. |
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| ASUS FAN Xpert | FAN Xpert allows you to adjust both the CPU and chassis fan speeds according to different ambient temperatures and your PC's system loading. The various fan profiles offer flexible controls of fan speed to achieve a quiet and cool system environment. |
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| Page 1 - Introduction | Page 4 - Layout |
| Page 2 - Specs and Delivery | Page 5 - Connectors and I/O |
| Page 3 - Features | Page 6 - Conclusion |
Layout
The Sabertooth Z97 Mark 2 comes in the typical military look, which ASUS provides their TUF series motherboards with. Therefore the manufacturer uses colors like olive-green, black and grey. Generally it is the goal to achieve a look that automatically suggests that this is a high quality and "tough" product. Like the predecessors this model also comes with cooling blocks made from ceramic. Altogether ASUS succeeded in creating a homogenous look but one really needs to like the color scheme and we think that not everybody will enjoy the military looks.
ASUS provided their latest TUF-series motherboard with a digital power design, whereas the CPU gets eight phases and the memory gets two phases. Looking at the capacitors you'll find ones that offer 10'000 hours operating time, which is excellent. Other than that there are new chokes on this board, which come with increased surface area in order to optimize heat dissipation.
Totally you'll find four DIMM-slots on the ASUS Sabertooth Z97 Mark 2. Officially supported are DDR3 1866(OC) / 1600 / 1333 / 1066 MHz. There is engough space between the DIMM-slots and the CPU socket which means that you wont encounter compatibility problems with big coolers even when you choose to install RAM with big heatspreaders. Also supported are Xtreme Memory Profiles (XMP) in version 1.3.
The current converters are being held at adequate temperatures via a passive heatpipe cooling solution. There are two separate cooling blocks covering the area, which are connected via a heatpipe. The southbridge got a cooling block too, which has not been integrated into the heatpipe loop of the VRM. The fact that the cooling blocks around the CPU socket aren't too big, makes it comfortable to install a big aircooler. We also noticed the very high manufacturing quality of the cooling blocks.
| Page 1 - Introduction | Page 4 - Layout |
| Page 2 - Specs and Delivery | Page 5 - Connectors and I/O |
| Page 3 - Features | Page 6 - Conclusion |
Connectors and I/O
Totally ASUS equipped the Sabertooth Z97 Mark 2 with six SATA ports, where all of them have been angled by 90 degrees. This number of SATA ports should be sufficient for any office PC or gaming system. All the six SATA 6Gbps ports have been wired natively to the PCH. Right next to the SATA ports there is a USB 3.0 header which has also been angled by 90 degrees. Unfortunately you won't find practical onboard power- and reset-buttons. ASUS also didn't equip the Sabertooth Z97 Mark 2 with a debug display which would have been useful if you should once have issues with one of the components in your system. Regarding the full size PCI Express slots, there is two slots space inbetween the first and the second one. This means, that graphics cards, even in SLI/CrossFire won't run into temperature issues.
Totally you'll find eight fan headers on the ASUS Sabertooth Z97 Mark 2 which is more than enough, to provide a well equipped midrange or even a high-end-system with fresh air. Two of which are additional, special fan headers to connect 35 millimeter assist fans to the board. Furthermore all the fans connected to the different fan headers can be controled via the software you use for the thermal radar.
Looking at I/O-panel ASUS equipped the Sabertooth Z97 Mark 2 with four USB 3.0/2.0 ports, four USB 2.0 port, one gigabit ethernet port, an analogue audio panel, an optical out and an HDMI as well as a DisplayPort connector. Furthermore there also is a BIOS flash back button.
| Page 1 - Introduction | Page 4 - Layout |
| Page 2 - Specs and Delivery | Page 5 - Connectors and I/O |
| Page 3 - Features | Page 6 - Conclusion |
Conclusion
| General | + | - | |
| As expected the ASUS Sabertooth Z97 Mark 2 is a well-built motherobard that comes with quite a few features like for instance a high quality power design as well as a lot flexibility regarding cooling. Compared to the ASUS Sabertooth Z97 Mark 1 the Mark 2 lack the "Thermal Shield" but on the other hand ASUS have been able to reduce the price of this board. Talking about the price; Checking Geizhals.at these days reveals, that this board sells for about 132 Euro. With this price the Mark 2 isn't amongst the cheapest Z97 motherboard. If we start to look a little further for additional features there is unfortunately neither M.2 nor SATA-Express onboard. | -
Design - Connectors - SATA-Express |
- No SATA-Express - No M.2 slot | |
| Layout | + | - | |
| Generally the ASUS Sabertooth Z97 Mark 2's Layout is well thought. Once more very practical are the angled SATA connectors, of which there are six. Furthermore the placement of the PCI-Express x16 slots is well thought an therefore nothing needs to be criticized at this point. There are for example two slots between the first and the second PCI-Express x16 slot. Another thing that is good with this board is the fact, that there as plenty of space between the CPU socket and the heatsinks on the power design as well as between the CPU socket and the DIMM slots. If we look further, then we find a high-quality power design, where ASUS is making extensive use of parts with very long life-span. Therefore they comply with their own quality standards which are rather high in case of the Sabertooth motherboard line. | - Angled SATA connectors - Space around the CPU socket |
| Page 1 - Introduction | Page 4 - Layout |
| Page 2 - Specs and Delivery | Page 5 - Connectors and I/O |
| Page 3 - Features | Page 6 - Conclusion |
Author: m.buechel@ocaholic.ch