ASUS Sabertooth X58 Motherboard Performance Review

ASUS Sabertooth X58 Motherboard Performance Review

When it comes to Motherboards based on Intel’s X58 chipset your choices are plentiful. Price to performance and features tend to weigh heavily on most consumer’s minds these days, and prices on Intel X58 motherboards range from as little as $164.99 all the way up to $599.99. Today we get to look at the ASUS Sabertooth X58 Heavy Duty Motherboard. Fortunately, the ASUS Sabertooth X58 motherboard falls closer to the budget end of the spectrum and sits at a low price point of $199.99. While it may seem that this low price point means that quality will be lacking, ASUS has backed the Sabertooth X58 motherboard with an impressive five year warranty, while most of the ASUS motherboards are backed by a three year warranty. The ASUS Sabertooth X58 motherboard hails from the ASUS TUF series of motherboards. TUF is actually an acronym for The Ultimate Force. What does this mean for us? Well, according to ASUS:

“The TUF series delivers a tough image. With the unique design & high quality components (military-standard), TUF series is born for pursuing the preeminent stability, all-round compatibility, and extreme durability.”

The TUF components that make up the ASUS Sabertooth X58 motherboard have been certified by military standards.

Specifically which standards? I am currently awaiting a response from ASUS on that. If it’s on the web it must be true, right? Does it really matter, though? Like I stated above the ASUS Sabertooth X58 motherboard is backed by a five year warranty which is above and beyond the warranty on most ASUS motherboards. This means they have enough confidence in this particular product to extend the typical warranty 66%. Makes one wonder, where is that confidence from ASUS in other ASUS motherboards? Well, that’s a whole different can of worms, isn’t it?

*Edit*
Well it seems that I stuck my foot in my mouth once again. In my rush to play with the ASUS Sabertooth X58 it seems that I had set the Certificate of Reliability off to the side. The Certificate of reliability includes all of the standards that the components of the ASUS Sabertooth X58 meets.

ASUS Sabertooth X58 Military Standard

• Capacitors
  • Thermal Shock Test (MIL-STD-202G Test Method 107G)
  • Moisture Resistance Test (MIL-STD-202G Test Method 106G)
  • Salt Spray Test (MIL-STD-883G method 1009.8)
  • Solderability Test (MIL-STD-202G 208H Test Method)
  • Solder Bath Test (MIL-STD-202G-210F Test Method)
  • Vibration Test (MIL-STD-202G Method 201A)
  • Mechanical Shock Test (MIL-STD-202G Method 213B Condition D)
• Chokes
  • Vibration Test (MIL-STD-810F Method 514)
  • Temperature Cycling Test (MIL-STD-810F Method 501/502)
• Mosfets
  • Thermal Shock Test (MIL-STD-883G 1011.9)
  • Vibration Test (MIL-STD-883 Method 2007.2 Condition A
  • Mechanical Shock Test (MIL-STD-883G2002.4)

The TUF Capacitors are industry top grade Japanese capacitors which have been approved by ISO and IEC/IECQand certified by an independent laboratory to meet these stringent military standards. It is certainly worth noting that these TUF Capacitors are 2.5 times more durable than ordinary Japan branded conductive polymer aluminum Solid Caps. If we were to compare the durability of the TUF capacitors to even the top graded polymer tantalum capacitor (known as Hi-C Caps) we would find that the TUF capacitors are 1.67 times more durable!

The ASUS TUF Chokes are made from a compound of various metals instead of the standard iron. This enables the support of 40 Amps of which is 25% more current than the traditional chokes. Due to the fact that the TUF Chokes are packaged in a single piece, this will eliminate vibration and noise, as well as increasing durability under extreme conditions!

ASUS Sabertooth X58 Features and Specifications

CPU	Intel Socket 1366 Core i7 Processor Extreme Edition/Core i7 Processor Supports Intel Turbo Boost Technology
Chipset	Intel X58 /ICH10R
Memory	6 x DIMM, Max. 24 GB, DDR3 1866/1800/1600/1333/1066 Non-ECC,Un-buffered Memory Triple channel memory architecture Supports Intel Extreme Memory Profile (XMP)
Expansion Slots	2 x PCIe 2.0 x16 (dual at x16/x16 mode) 1 x PCIe x16 (at x4 mode) 2 x PCIe x1 1 x PCI
Multi-GPU Support	Supports NVIDIA Quad-GPU SLI Technology Supports ATI Quad-GPU CrossFireX Technology
Storage	Intel ICH10R controller 6 xSATA 3.0 Gb/s ports (black) Intel Matrix Storage Technology Support RAID 0,1,5,10 Marvell 9128 PCIe SATA6Gb/s controller 2 xSATA 6Gb/s ports (gray) Supports EZ Backup and SuperSpeed functions JMicron JMB362 SATA controller: 1 xPower eSATA 3Gb/s port (SATA On-the-Go) 1 xeSATA 3Gb/s port (SATA On-the-Go)
LAN	Realtek 8110SC Gigabit LAN controller featuring AI NET2
Audio	Realtek ALC892 8-Channel High Definition Audio CODEC ASUS Noise Filter Supports 192khz/24bit BD Lossless Sound Supports Jack-Detection, Multi-Streaming, Front Panel Jack-Retasking Optical S/PDIF Out port at back I/O
USB	NEC USB 3.0 controller 2 x USB 3.0/2.0 ports (blue, at back panel) Intel ICH10R Southbridge 12 x USB 2.0/1.1 ports (6 ports at midboard, 6 ports at back panel)
ASUS Unique Features	“TUF ENGINE!” Power Design 8-phase CPU Power 2-phase Memory Power 2-phase VTT_CPU Power E.S.P. : Efficient Switching Power Design TUF Components (Alloy Choke, Cap. & MOSFET; certified by military-standard) “Ultimate COOL!” Thermal Solutions CeraM!X Heatsink Coating Tech. ASUS Fan Xpert “Safe & Stable!” Guardian Angel MemOK!
Special Features	Multi-language BIOS ASUS MyLogo 2 ASUS EZ Flash 2 ASUS CrashFree BIOS 3 ASUS Q-Connector ASUS O.C. Profile ASUS Q-DIMM ASUS Q-Slot ASUS Q-LED (CPU, DRAM, VGA, Boot Device LED) ASUS Q-Shield True USB 3.0 support True SATA 6Gb/s RAID support
Form Factor	ATX Form Factor 12 inch x 9.6 inch ( 30.5 cm x 24.4 cm )

Now that we have taken a look at the specifications for the ASUS Sabertooth X58 motherboard, let’s take a look at the retail packaging and bundle that accompanies the Sabertooth X58.