ASUS SABERTOOTH Z77 Intel Z77 chipset motherboard review
bluetooth 20 May 2012
Sabertooth is the top range motherboard from ASUS. The Z77 chipset series of motherboards supercedes the Intel Z68 chipset which support the Intel LGA 1155 Socket type processors. In fact, the major changes would be the native USB 3.0 and PCIe 3.0 support.
The Intel Z77 Express chipset supports 3rd generation 22nm and 2nd generation core i7/i5/i3 LGA1155 socket type processors. It supports the Intel Turbo Boost Technology 2.0. As for memory, it is a dual channel memory architecture. The board itself suppots 4 Dimm with a max of 32GB of DDR3-1866/1600/1333/1066MHz. XMP profiles are also supported.
The Z77 supports 2 SATA 6Gbps ports (brown) with RADI 0,1,5,10 while 4 SATA 3Gb/s ports (black) wuth RAID 0,1,5,10. The board supports Intel SRT and Intel Rapid Start Technology.
As for expansion, the board comes with 2 PCIe 3.0 x16 slot (single at x16, dual at x8/x8), 1 PCIe 2.0 x16, 3 PCIe 2.0 x1. The three graphics card slots supports NVIDIA Quad SLI and AMD Quad CrossFireX. The board also supports LucidLogix Virtu MVP Technology.
In addition, ASUS SABERTOOTH Z77 uses ASmedia 1061 SAtA controler to support an addition 2 SATA 6Gbps port (grey and 2 eeSATA 6GB/s ports (red). The Audio is power by Realtek ALC 892 while the GbE is powered by Intel 82579V controller.
The board uses a New DIGI+ Power Control includes multiple digital voltage controllers, allowing ultra-precise modulation and tuning for CPU, iGPU, and DRAM. This innovative and industry-leading ASUS technology provides an extremely accurate voltage tuning for better efficiency, stability, and performance. With the next generation Intel VRD 12.5 future power design, CPU wattage can be decreased by half, creating a cooler and quieter PC. This innovation of industry-leading ASUS technology provides the smartest control for better power saving scenarios
As we mentioned before, the Z77 supports native USB 3.0. On this board, the Z77 supports 4 ports, 2 at mid board and 2 at back panel. Both supports Boost UASP mode. There are two additional USB 3.0 supported by ASmedia 1042 chipset, they are 2 of them labelled with blue at the back panel. In additional, the Z77 chipset support 10 USB 2.0 (6 at mid board and 4 at back (black)).
Similar to previous TUF boards, the SABERTOOTH Z77 uses the TUF Thermal Armour that covers the entire board with dual turbo fans directing cool air to critical parts and dissipating heat faster for better stability. TUF components that are certified by Military standard are used on board for heavy duty, stability use. There are also multiple sensors on board which provides information to Thermal Radar. Fan Overtime keeps dfans running after shutdown for extra heat removal while Fan off disables cooling if temperatures are low, reducing power consumption.
The SABERTOOTH Z77 is backed with a 5 years warranty which is not available on other boards.
See next page for unboxing video and detail pictures of the board
F**k yeah! They have my purchase on this for sure!