Maximum Overclock: 4.8GHz (Core i7 5960X, average voltage 1.35v)
Pros:
2x 10Gb/s USB 3.1 built in to the board 10 SATA (2x SATA Express) Special OC CPU Socket - Extra pins do seem to help with overclocking TUF Detective - USB Diagnostics from your phone Thermal Radar 2 - Custom Fan Tuning TUF Components [TUF 10K Ti-Caps, TUF Chokes & MOSFETs; Certified by Military-standard] PWM+DC Fan Control - 5 headers NVMe PCIe SSD Support (MiniSAS connector FTW!) Overclocking was very stable
Cons:
I'm really worried about the M.2 drives that generate a lot of heat! It may need some additional cooling.
I had a lot of fun testing this board. It feels like a premium product, and the Asus UEFI is probably the most advanced UEFI out there.
I am happy to report that I had no compatibility issues on Ubuntu 15.04, either, though I did not test extensively.
I am thinking of doing a build video with this plus the Asus Strix 390X -- what do you guys think about it? I was also surprised by how stable the overclocks were. 4.8 with this retail 5960X CPU has always been a little iffy. With this board, it seemed more solid than I have been used to on other boards.
Does anyone want to see a Linux desktop build with these components? Or a gaming build?
Also got this board, compared to the more expensive options I find it really nice. It doesn't have all that gimicky stuff you don't need and it seems very solid and well built.
Though If you're going to use a m.2 SSD I suggest that you fit it with some sort of heats spreader, a flat piece of metal, aluminium or copper glued to the chips should help it.
I decided to get this board over the MSI X99 SLI mainly because I have a really good experience with Asus higher end boards. Last board I owned was the Striker 2 board (nvidia chipset equivalent of the rampage boards) Thing ran very well even after years, even managed to hit 4.5ghz with a core 2 quad without much issues recently before I upgraded.
Only thing I have a issue with is the fan setup in bios, can't set fan duty cycle under 60% when set to DC, which really irks me.
WHAT! No screw driver or multitool included, geez Asus is really cheaping out. /s
But I really do love the Sabertooth line, I have the Z97 version, and have had no issues other than not using the included fan. (made some coil whine).
Also never have been a fan of the color scheme, but that thermal armor is perfect for modding :)
I'm interested in a Linux system! Mainly because there are so many gaming builds with computers, sometimes seems all anyone cares about, but that's clearly not the only use for them so its interesting to see people do just that much more. Also I personally have a gaming build with the same MoBo so I'm more inclined to want something different.
Got my x99 Sabertooth just a few weeks ago. So far no real issues to report with the board itself. Found it a little odd that the Intel network controller was the second network interface so make sure you use that as your primary.
I did have an issue with the Tuf Detective on my Nexus 5 however. I couldn't for the life of me get it to talk to the board. It turns out that I had to enable Media Device (MTP) under USB computer connection for it to work. After that it has been smooth sailing.
No overclock as of yet on my 5930k... Maybe when the weather gets a little cooler and I'm not running the A/C 24/7.
Dust plugs for PCI slots and RAM? Is dust getting in there a problem that people actually have? I have never heard of this before? It looks like they were added just to make the shielding look better.
I like all the thermal sensors and fan headers, the more fans the better and the ability to control all of them is even better.
What is the purpose of having two different Gigabit LAN ports? I would think they should be the same? In order to use them both simultaneously?
I like the app/ smartphone use, that could be a handy feature, hopefully they will fix those bugs.
M.2 storage is something I have recently been looking at. When looking at round-ups and reviews, I was shocked with the temperatures some of them managed to achieve. I might wait on the sidelines for a bit, while the technology and the market matures a bit.
Anyway, I have no qualms about throwing down extra cash for a great motherboard, and ASUS certainly spoils when it comes to the UEFI. I'm currently using a Sabertooth 990FX R2.0, and I love its feature set. It is not cutting edge by today's standards, but the BIOS flashback and thermal probes are great.
Seeing a gaming rig centered around this would be interesting, although those eight cores of justice running at 4.8ghz would most likely not be fully utilized. :(
Great review again @Wendell, i realy love these reviews.
The m.2 drive and "potential" heat issues, concern me aswell, maybe could ask JJ if they have tested this scenario?.
The only thing that personaly disappoints me, is that one of the nics´s is a realtek. Would have liked it more if they where just both intel server grade nic's, with a teaming function.
For the rest it looks like a rock sollid motherboard, great vreg design, decent components.
I realy would like to see you doing a build with it, and some gaming and productivity benchmarks.
Can you use some of the cheapo vga memory coolers? I had an ssd that got toasty it eventually took itself out ( an evo 840 250 gig). A custom block could be made to go over at least the outer side as well if they are really hot.
I don't understand why some SSDs use so much power. Mine is from 2012, 120gigs and it uses just 800mw ( 0.8watts) whilst writing. Full 550/500 r/w speeds too. And I think VGA memory coolers would be too large.
Wanted a DOA Story? My Sabertooth caught fire the second power went through the board. After 3 weeks of battling ASUS and Newegg, newegg covered me completed and I got a refund but the ordeal with ASUS and having them blame myself and Newegg for their fault left me going for MSI, didn't catch fire. 10/10 would use in a computer.
I bought a Sabertooth Mark S Motherboard two months ago from Newegg. Seeing how my older 990FX REV1 was the most reliable board I had for my AMD era. I decided to go back for more with ASUS. I just finished building my computer, the only two new parts were the CPU and Mobo, I paired a 4790k with the Mark S to complete a white build.
I sat back, checked all my cables and all other parts (which were and still are under 12 months old apart from a few HDDS).
Everything looked perfect, plugged in my PSU to my surge protected adaptor and went ahead and flipped the switch. Sparks and flame from the last PCIe lane. I jumped to kill the power before it reached my GPU. The smell.
Anyway, long story short. Got on to ASUS and Newegg just to figure out where to go from here. Newegg said its up to ASUS, and ASUS said its up to newegg.
ASUS then told me that my Warranty was void for reasons I still cannot comprehend. They then went on to blame me personally for the damage and to deal with it. Newegg were more helpful when I told them this and even went directly to ASUS about getting it resolved, even after both parties had seen the photos. They were both puzzled and in the end ASUS refused to help, to refund or to even look at the board. Newegg sent me a RMA, paid for shipping back and gave me a full refund. I asked them to check the board out themselves and in the end they said that they could not find the reason either and that ASUS refused to accept it to even look at their TUF board.
In the end and how a ASUS rep treated me as a paying customer.. I wont be back, their PR did not even apologise.. Hey.. 'I asked for this'.
Does the TUF Detective USB port charge? I can see som pretty cool mods where an old phone gets repurposed into a hardware monitoring/2-factor auth./etc. peripheral.
