ASUS SABERTOOTH Z87 mainboard review with Intel Core i7-4770K and ASUS GTX 650Ti Boost

Conclusion

We have spend some time with the motherboard and found it to be quite a tough board for all. I like the idea of the TUF Thermal Armor with Flow Valve and the Dust Defender – TUF Fortifier. It really prevents oxidation of the ports and prevent potential connection issues. The ASUS Z87 series features like the Remote GO! – USB BIOS Flashback – MemOK! – AI Suite 3 – Ai Charger – ESD Guards – Front Panel USB 3.0 Support – ASUS UEFI BIOS EZ Mode featuring friendly graphics user interface – Network iControl – USB 3.0 Boost are just some of the interesting stuff you might not find on other brand’s product. DirectKey is something that is handy for you to enter the BIOS by just a press and Windows will shutdown if you happen to running the OS.

Performance wise, the board runs pretty well without any issues during normal and overclocked state. The results are inline with our thoughts. As we pair it up with the external graphics card ASUS Ti650 Boost, we noticed that the board could do better if it is paired with a higher speed graphics card. This is largely due to the GPU bound applications and it is limiting the graphical performance. As for CPU performance, it performs better than the ASUS Z87-A when paired with a Core i7-4770 which is of a comparable speed.

Installation is a breeze for this motherboard as the documentation is very clear in the manual.  The only regret is that the board still do not have on/off/reset switches. For testers, you might need to get a screwdriver or safety pin ready for shorting the pins.

Overall, I like the design of the board and the accompanying dust covers. Throwing in a 5 yrs warranty, the ASUS SABERTOOTH Z87 isn’t a cheap motherboard. You might be paying a premium for the brand. It is selling for around USD 240 at online retail stores.

We give this board our Gold Award.