ASUS SABERTOOTH Z77 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

ASUS SABERTOOTH Z77 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

ASUS SABERTOOTH Z77 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard Features

• Thermal Armor Technology - Improves air flow with an innovative shunt design and integrated turbo fan on two focal points
• TUF Capacitors, Chokes and MOSFETS - Certified by military standard to ensure ultimate durability
• Thermal Radar - Real-time thermal detection for a better cooling solution
• Dust Defender - Protect all dusts and extend the lifespan of slots and connectors
• ASUS USB 3.0 Boost - Set USB 3.0 devices into 3 modes: Normal, Turbo, UASP to improve overall read/write performance instantaneously
• AI Charger+
• AI Suite II
• Dual Intelligent Processors 3 ( EPU, TPU, SMART DIGI+ Power Control )

Product Description

Based on Intel Z77 chipset, Sabertooth Z77 motherboard incorporates the ultimate reliability of ASUS TUF series with advanced thermal design and military-standard components all backed by limited 5-year warranty. It features new Thermal Armor and Thermal Radar for a comprehensive cooling solution and Dust Defender for specially designed covers to protect unused PCIe, memory and USB slots against dust. Sabertooth Z77 also features: USB 3.0 Boost with UASP Support for up to 170% faster transfer rate; USB Charger+, for up to 3x faster charging for USB devices; and complete BIOS solution with one-click USB BIOS Flashback and award-winning UEFI BIOS.  

This review is from: ASUS SABERTOOTH Z77 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard (Personal Computers)

This great motherboard is now sitting within a NZXT Phantom 410 Mid Tower USB 3.0 Gaming Case - White and is looking brilliant. The capabilites of this board are fantastic: PCI-E 3.0, USB 3.0, native Ivy Bridge support, with a lot of utilities to go along with it. The Bios alone is awe-inspiring with how much control you have over every aspect of each component down to how much power you want to send down to .01V.

This really is a fantastically built component, aesthetically it looks great in a case. The installation is rather tedious because the screws must go into rather deep holes within the Thermal Armor, which makes it a balancing act if your screwdriver happens to not be magnetized, but I wouldn't deduct a star or anything for this inconvenience.

The only real downside comes from the 8-pin connector which is diagonal to the 24-pin power connector and is also on the top left, so you must have wires everywhere.

The Thermal Armor works great though, you can install two 40MM fans that are included to the motherboard to increase airflow and what's really nice is when you turn off your rig it defaults to leaving these fans on for one minute to cool off your system faster for increased component longevity.

It's the Sabertooth, it has a 5 year warranty, military-grade components, and it also has surprisingly vibrant audio! I was actually taken back by how well this board throws out music, videos, and games. I know on the RoG lines Asus always adds extra power and islolates the audio driver on the board, and this technology has certainly carried over! What you get is audio that is crisp, clean, and powerful when that 'nade explodes beside you!

Overall, I would get this board again and again, it is extremely high quality, looks fantastic in a case, offers great cooling, and has all the latest capabilities.

Thanks for reading, and hope this review helped!

This review is from: ASUS SABERTOOTH Z77 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard (Personal Computers)

I did not purchase this board through Amazon (the first time)

I installed this with an i7-2600k and love the board! I chose it because of problems I'd experienced with the first board I had--the Asus p8z68v Pro-Gen3...I figured this board was probably assembled with more care/higher quality components because of the five year warranty.(and high price)
Everything on the board worked out of the box, after installing the drivers. The UEFI Bios is easy to learn and use, and encourages experimentation. I don't intend to overclock, just want a fast stable system to edit photos and create art prints. I didn't update the BIOS. My WEI is 7.7 on all parameters, except my SSD, which scores a 7.9.
<<<<<<<UPDATE: USB controller now works fine>>>>>>>The only caveat to the otherwise perfect performance so far is the Intel USB controller is not functional. After getting everything set up in the case, attempts to plug in my USB 3.0 external Hdd were met with a strange mix of issues. Non functioning ports, or ports that function at 2.0 instead of 3.0. The device manager confirms the Intel(R) ICH 10 Family USB Enhanced Host Controller doesn't work.<<<<<<after many driver updates , plugging my external usb 3.0 and 2.0 devices into different ports it now is working properly.

Maybe I should have given this board fewer stars...if, after my RMA the replacement has issues I will come back and take off more stars. Right now though, with the features it does have, and the comparitively smooth set up and operation, I think its probably the best option going for someone who wants a stable machine with some longevity.

This review is from: ASUS SABERTOOTH Z77 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard (Personal Computers)

Very happy with this. The BIOS on these boards has everything you need to OC, but is still extremely easy to navigate and use; it's a definite improvement over what boards were offering even a few years ago.
Installation is easy as well. I used an i7-3770 with a Coolermaster Hyper 212 EVO cooler, and there's plenty of clearance around the socket area for the larger cooler without any worries as to the install. I did not install the optional aux fans for the chipset and backplate vent on the motherboard, but the option to do this if temperatures aren't to my liking is a nice touch (it didn't seem necessary since I have no immediate plans to overclock anything).

The good:
It looks great, it's solid and sturdy in both looks and feel. Is the thermal armor necessary? Probably not, but it sure looks good and contributes to a nice clean build. If it helps with dust and longevity in my house full of cat hair, then it was worth the money.

Ports are all clearly labeled on the motherboard; be sure to check the CPU fan port when plugging it in as complaints of CPU fan alarms seem to be common with the board. I ran into the same thing, not realizing that I plugged it in to an aux port where the CPU fan primary plug is normally located...so while it worked fine, it wasn't monitored on the right port at first. Check the labeling like I didn't and you'll be good...probably a good idea to set any unused ports to ignore in the BIOS after startup as well so you don't see alarms in AISuite for fans you don't have.

Speaking of AI Suite, the monitoring software is nice. Easy to use, easy to read, and has the utilities and everything you need right there for both monitoring and updating. Tools like this tend to be a pain or have issues you need to deal with, but I actually like this one. I was running it on a P67 board prior to this build, but the Sabertooth has its own Thermal Radar feature you can look at that will show temperature zones all over the board.

More 6G SATA ports. Still not packed with them, but having 2 primary and a separate controller for 2 more gives plenty of space for this. They're clearly marked on the board and easily accessible for plugs.

The bad:
The 3GB USB internal port wouldn't accept the 20p header from my case (Thermaltake GT 10). It's hard to see the pins on it since it's side mounted rather than vertical, but either it's a tighter fit than it should be or there was a bent pin that I couldn't see. No stars off because I'm honestly not sure if this was the port or with the header connector in my case... it wasn't vital for me so I just left it.

Onboard sound is not bad at all for built-in, but it will only output 2-channel over optical to my receiver (depending on the content). Wound up buying a PCI-E sound card to replace it. For people with analog speakers, though, the onboard sound is surprisingly good. It's nothing a cheap sound card can't fix, but it would have been nice for the onboard. The software is a little anemic, don't expect a range of options from the realtek audio manager.

Bottom line:
I like Asus boards, and this one is a keeper. Their guys are present on forums and boards to help with issues and give updates, the boards themselves are feature-rich and stable, and I don't buy anything else anymore.

*9/4/12 edit: After a few days of working with the board, it became apparent that the optional fans that come with the board aren't really optional. The Thermal Radar was showing some extremely hot areas on the board, especially at USB 3 and PCI-E 1 (the PCIE1 slot area was throwing thermal warnings after a short gaming session). After installation of the fans, no more issue.

Not something worth dinging the board for, but it did make me wonder why they don't come pre-installed since they weren't optional even on a very clean build in a case with a serious amount of airflow already installed. Be sure to install them before putting the motherboard into the case, unlike me, and you'll save yourself a headache.

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