Power Consumption and Conclusion

Power Consumption

The ASUS X79 Sabertooth motherboard seemed to pull a few more watts under idle and load conditions than the MSI X79A-GD65 (8D) and Gigabyte X79-UD5. A couple accessories that could have contributed to a small spike in power were the two small fans ASUS included over the chipset and back I/O ports to help exhaust heat out the back of the chassis. The rest of the board is pretty standard in comparison to the other platforms we pitted the X79 Sabertooth against in our benchmarks.

 

Performance

This is the first TUF series motherboard I’ve reviewed from ASUS, and the X79 Sabertooth backed up its tough and edgy appearance with solid performance results. It posted excellent scores in 3DMark11 and 3DMark Vantage, which indicates ASUS put a lot of stock in ensuring the X79 Sabertooth would meet the stringent requirements of gamers and enthusiasts alike. 

 

What really impressed me about the X79 Sabertooth was the bundled accessories and software that ASUS included. The additional fan over the back I/O ports will keep those components cool during operation. The AI Suite II application has really matured over the years and I found the Thermal Radar to be extremely useful and accurate in monitoring the board’s temps and system voltages. The user interface was also organized and streamlined to be used on a daily basis. I encourage new ASUS board users to load it and see if some of the overclocking and monitoring options work with their individual preferences.

 

Pricing

As of May 31, the ASUS X79 Sabertooth motherboard was available at Newegg for $319.99. This board is also available at Amazon for $327.41 and Fry’s Electronics for $314.99.

 

Conclusion

We’d like to thank our friends at ASUS for providing the X79 Sabertooth motherboard for our review today. The X79 Sabertooth lives up to its "TUF" name in both looks and performance. The integrated UEFI BIOS gave us plenty of options for configuring everything on our system and did it with a user friendly interface. The board’s support for quad GPU graphics configurations from both NVIDIA SLI and AMD CrossfireX is a huge plus and expected for high-end motherboards in this class. The X79 Sabertooth’s bundled software was very stable and useful during testing and increased the overall value that consumers look for in all their PC hardware upgrades. Overall, the ASUS X79 Sabertooth has earned PC Perspective’s Gold Award for original design, outstanding bundled software, and detailed overclocking features.

Strengths

  • Excellent overclocking motherboard
  • User friendly UEFI BIOS
  • SLI/CrossfireX Quad GPU support
  • Great bundled software and accessories

Weaknesses

  • Power usage was a few watts higher than counterparts during testing
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