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The Asus Sabertooth Z170 Mark 1 motherboard delivers strong performance and a solid array of features in a unique package designed for extensive thermal control.
Performance from the motherboard is solid. Test results do not quite put the Sabertooth at the top of our charts, however the performance gaps are typically very small. Overclocking was equally good with our chip's 4.8GHz limit being reached with ease. That said, the LLC settings could definitely use some form of explanation to make them easier for users to understand.
Asus' UEFI implementation is superb. The interface is easy to navigate and it provides most of the core features that one could ask for. I would, however, like to see some form of tool comparable to ‘Board Explorer‘ which is found on ASRock and MSI boards. This would aid troubleshooting processes.
The Sabertooth's feature set is strong, with plenty of SATA ports, 10Gbps USB 3.1 connectivity, dual Gigabit NICs, and support for two M.2 PCIe SSDs. This level of features is to be expected from an almost £200 motherboard, but the thermal-orientated additions are the unique items.
Love it or hate it, Thermal Armor is undeniably unique in the way that it segregates heat producing components and the motherboard's PCB and chipsets. The ability to install active cooling on the motherboard helps to mitigate temperature worries and promote enhanced stability.
With that said, there is the concern that PCB heat can get trapped beneath the plastic cover. And let's not forget that this system is intended for use with small cooling fans which produce substantial amounts of noise at higher speeds levels. But then there's the 5-year warranty for peace of mind.
Available for just under £200 at OverclockersUK, the Asus Sabertooth Z170 Mark 1 motherboard nips at the heels of the Z170 chipset's most premium-priced offerings. The only higher-priced offerings tend to be each vendor's extreme overclocking or highest-end enthusiast/gaming SKUs.
For just under £200, the Asus Sabertooth Z170 Mark 1 provides a lot of motherboard with plenty of unique features. Asus' board is a strong purchasing candidate if your desire for validated components and ability to manage thermal performance offset the relatively loud cooling fans and minor negatives.
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Pros:
- Plenty of features and expandability.
- Solid manual overclocking results and good automated overclocking capabilities.
- Excellent UEFI implementation.
- Plenty of controllable fan headers, even for watercooled builds.
- TUF Fortifier mitigates PCB bending (enhanced support for large CPU coolers).
- Unique appearance.
- 5-year warranty.
Cons:
- Onboard fans can get very loud, but are speed controllable.
- OS software can be a little buggy on times (with our Windows 7 test OS).
- Some minor points – no debug display and no rear clear CMOS button.
KitGuru says: Asus' Sabertooth offering is always a unique SKU due to its intense focus on thermal performance. The Z170 edition is no different and registers itself as a strong competitor that offers something different in the high-end motherboard crowd.
