lesser used features for the
addition of a POST LED. Why this
matters is simply because as the
X99 platform
is relatively new. Most buyers
would be purchasing their first
DDR4 set and CPU along with
the motherboard. Thus, when
assembling the system and
realizing that the system will not
POST. It could be any number of
things that are causing
the issue. Easily diagnosed with
a POST LED, but without one a
nightmare and a laboring
exercise in guessing the
problem. Having said that, given
the attention to detail in which
ASUS manufacturers and
designs it’s boards. One may
chalk it up to an oversight and
not an inherent myopia within
the firm’s design ethos.
Believe it or not, other
than this little mishap, the
rest of this board is
compelling. You need not
read any of the literature to
come to this conclusion. The
SABERTOOTH is good
looking. I’m unsure if that
comes across in the pictures
but suffice to say it looks the
part and certainly comes off
as a $400 motherboard if not
more. The “thermal armor”
and “TUF Fortifier” look great,
reminiscent of the ROG armor
which is essentially the same
thing. These shrouds are meant
to assist the thermal properties
of the board along with assisting
in structural strength and
component protection. All boons
which one could always do with.
In addition, ASUS has gone the
extra mile packaging dust
covers for unused slots and
ports. Basically any place where
dust may enter has a cover for it.
How much of a problem dust
has been in any enthusiast’s
computer I can’t tell you, but
these are novel accessories to
have. It is, much like the vast
majority of features on the
SABERTOOTH. A way in which
one can prevent any potential
hardware failures due to these
rare but often unforeseen
dangers.
Where one is likely to find
some immediate value is in
the lesser spoken of features.
The number of fan headers
ASUS had placed on the
SABERTOOTH is remarkable.
11 fan headers, which one
may controlled in multiple
ways. All can be switched
between DC and PWM mode
with individual profiles and
acoustic behaviors for each.
You may even dictate how long
after you’ve turned off the
system, the fans continue to
spin. In addition to that, the fans
may rotate in the reversed
direction to reduce the amount
of dust build up within the case
and on the board. It is in these
little things where one will find
the most enticing features. They
seem gimmicky at first, but once
you’ve grown accustomed to
such fine grained control over
your system. You’ll come to
realize that this motherboard
can effectively free you from
ever having to buy a fan control
unit. There’s just more
functionality here than you can
shake a stick at.
Another neat feature on the
SABERTOOTH is the sheer
number of connectivity options it
places at your disposal. Every
modern standard is supported,
from M.2 to SFF- 8639 (miniSAS) via the Hyper-Kit adapter.
You must keep in mind however
that this adapter is sold
separately for $30. With this
adapter you may then use
workstation\enterprise class
2.5” high performance drives
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