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Asus SABERTOOTH 55i Review
[Abstract]
The First TUF Board Thermal shock test? Check. Vibration test? Check. Mechanical shock test? Check. moisture resistance test? Check. Solder bath test? Check. The list continues on the certif...
[Content] PCDigitalMobileGame
Conclusion
With integrated memory controllers and now integrated PCIe graphics controllers for the Intel P55 Express chipset, there are fewer areas with each passing generation where vendors can differentiate their products. After all, there's only so much one can do to optimize the performance when it's become so dependent on the processor. It then becomes a matter of having a good layout and enhancing the feature set. Appealing to the hardcore enthusiast segment with overclocking friendly features remains a popular tactic but the stability card is another that vendors are likely to play nowadays, with power efficiency and heat output another tack.
ASUS goes all-out on the stability angle with the 'military class' SABERTOOTH. For the most part, it works, with above average temperature and power consumption results to show. Performance remains competitive and we have no complaints about the layout. |
ASUS' new TUF series is precisely that, one that takes a different angle from its Republic of Gamer (ROG) series that focused on the hardcore crowd. As with ASUS' motherboards, the first TUF board, the SABERTOOTH 55i takes it to the extreme; the emphasis this time is on stability and reliability rather than overclocking and so the choice of military grade components to bolster this claim.
Power efficiency and heat output are related issues for stability and these are addressed on the SABERTOOTH. Having its ceramic-based heatsink coating looks to have improved the heat dissipation slightly in our testing, which contributed to the overall stability while the power consumption figures too showed some improvement, credit no doubt going to the Efficient Switching Power design and the T.Probe technology that load balances the power phases with temperatures.
Besides the ASUS' proprietary features, the SABERTOOTH is actually a rather typical P55 motherboard. True, not everyone will find things like MemOK! or the memory cooling fan useful but those features do not detract from the fact that the layout for this board is impeccable or that we liked having the easy-to-remove graphics/DIMM slot retention clip design. If anything, our complaint is that true to its premium billing, it is a bit of an overkill for some of these 'features' and one gets the feeling that it's more bloat than giving users true value.
Which brings us to the price for this board. At around US$210, it's about as costly as MSI's top P55 motherboard. ASUS' own Maximus III Formula remains more expensive at US$250. In comparison, we would take the SABERTOOTH personally over the Formula for the sole reason that we don't need the overclocking fluff on the Formula and the SABERTOOTH is cheaper. But there's no doubt that the SABERTOOTH is a very good board with few flaws and with some rather unique features that will stand out even among the premium crowd.
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