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The Asus Sabertooth 990FX motherboard is based around a truly excellent UEFI driven interface which works in a similar fashion to the latest Intel Sandybridge designs we have tested many times on Kitguru in the past.
Initially the user is presented with the basic overview of the hardware, including three presets which are ideal for inexperienced users to implement. The Boot priority section is particularly useful as it makes troubleshooting a boot problem much more intuitive. Power users will want to head straight into the advanced section, which is accessible from a button top right of this panel.
The main panel gives a quick overview of the system, the UEFI revision, processor name, system language and time.
Many of our readers will spend a lot of time in the AI Tweaker panel. Here you can control the speed of the processor, voltages and many system related frequencies and timings. The memory speed configurations are very thorough, with settings up to 2400mhz available. The XMP memory profile options are also highlighted here for a pain free configuration.
The advanced panel gives access to many of the motherboard settings, such as SATA, USB and Northbridge. CPU functionality can be adjusted in here also.
The monitoring tab is pretty self explanatory, allowing the user to check system temperatures. Especially useful when overclocking, changing voltage settings or after installing a new CPU cooler.
The boot menu gives fine adjustment over all the boot related options, and is a much more advanced mode when compared to the initial greeting screen. You can disable the startup logo, change the drives and configure the priorities. If the need arises this UEFI allows the user to replace the boot screen with custom, animated designs.
The last menu in the list gives access to a handful of the main configuration options, such as storing and loading current settings to the O.C. Profile section. The ASUS EZ Flash 2 utility lets the user upgrade the system bios from a flash drive.
Overclocking via this motherboard was painless, and we managed to hit a prime stable 4.3ghz from the AMD Phenom II X6 1100T, similar to the levels we achieved in our overclocking article from late last year. This processor will hold stable at 1.6 volts @ 4.4ghz, but it is a little risky long term without moving to hardcore cooling solutions. 4.3ghz is set via a 19x multiplier and is usable 24/7 without a problem @ 1.57 volts. This is impressive considering we are using a mainstream ‘all in one' liquid cooler.
Funky colour scheme…. looks very similar to the ‘army’ MSI boards ive noticed in the last few months.
I really like the new bios systems. my bud bought a sandybridge board and they are leaps ahead of the older bios systems. This is a nice option for AMD lovers, but I wonder what percentage of sales these boards really get on the market against Sandybridge
Good boards, but the new cpus are the main thing im waiting on. id say SLI and CFx are small markets. a new range of CPUs might make AMD competitive again. If they can match the 2600k they are onto a winner, but its a tall order.
A lot of detail in this. I really do rate the X6 processors. I thought they would be pretty poor and my friend bought the 1090T and I wouldnt even know it wasn’t an intel chip. I suppose benchmarks highlight it more, but for gaming? I doubt anyone would know if someone changed their system without them looking.
Im excited to see the new CPU’s. Its a nice start, but its pretty uninspiring, apart from SLI support. and most people who want SLI will already have intel chipsets.
I bet this took some behind the scenes negotiations. Nvidia allowing AMD to use SLI.
Good move however and nice new range of boards. Will be looking forward to the new range of processors.
AMD have such a tough job really. Intel are dominating the CPU market. I do agree, the 1100T and 1090T are great products. for gaming they are perfect.
Asus make great boards, this is one of them. Sorry but im waiting for the new cpus before I even contemplate a new board. The current phenom X4 and X6 range doesnt appeal to me. im not a power user, but I dont see any reason yet to move to intel.
Finally a modern board that can do X16 sli, Intel can stick their thousand different socket types where they belong