One of ASUS’ most distinct motherboard line aside from their ROG series is the TUF series. With a purpose-built design aimed at rugged-use and survivability, the TUF series from ASUS is backed by an class-leading 5-year warranty. With the advent of the 8-series and Haswell platform from Intel comes the latest iteration of the ASUS TUF series with the Sabertooth Z87. This motherboard retains the Thermal Armor found on the preceding models but with a new twist: the armor is now has vent controls for channel the optional airflow on the underneath the armor along with more treats. Let’s check out the board further. Read on!
ASUS retains the styling of the TUF packaging from older models with slight design changes but the basic TUF and ASUS logo along with the model name are printed on the front with very minimal marketing logos. The back of the box details the specifications of the board and the main features of the TUF series.
The package includes a heavy bundle of accessories consisting of an entire bag of TUF-exclusives which we’ll glimpse at later. On the necessities part, ASUS included the bare minimum of the IO shield, 4 SATA cables, Q-connectors, multi-GPU connectors and documentation as well as a driver disc.
That accessory pack we mentioned contained a lot of stuff. We have two 50mm fans included for the rear IO bracket and the mid-board slot. This is intended to create airflow underneath the Thermal Armor of the Sabertooth Z87. The other items included are slot covers for the PCI-E slots, DIMM slots and rear IO ports as well as one for the front panel USB3.0 internal header. I really have to apologize for skimping out on assembling these details, time was not on our side.
Checking out the board, we are presented with the series olive drab/desert camo color scheme. Although the majority of the board is covered by the Thermal Armor, most of the slots make-up most of the visual variation in the board. Turning it around we can see a new addition on the TUF boards: the Fortifier. A large, metal backplate for the TUF Armor which acts as a support brace for the armor amongst as well as giving the board a sort of rigidity which saves it from bending when using larger heatsinks.
And we undress the Sabertooth Z87. The Thermal Armor and Fortifier are definitely large chunks of metal and plastic easily looking like motherboards themselves.
And here is the board without the shroud. Notice that ASUS didn’t go cheap on the board printing still retaining designs in the motherboard PCB itself. We can also see the actual design of the heatsink underneath the shroud which are mostly simplistic yet looks like they are designed to complement the supposed airflow in the armor.
And now the board… fully nude. Yes! We can see the 8-phase PWM under that heatsink. Other than that though, definitely not much to look at so we’re reattaching the shroud.
ASUS seems to have downplayed the CeraM!x feature on the Z87 Sabertooth but looking closely, it seems like the heatsink used in the VRMs are still ceramic-coated. Feels that way, also.
The Thermal Armor has vents lining the VRM area and has sliding vent covers to either exhaust air within or let it circulate based on the users taste.
ASUS has a habit of bunching 4 USB2.0 ports together in a single lane in the rear I/O and the same applies here. The rest of the connectivities include a BIOS reset switch, 4x USB3.0 ports, 2x eSATA ports, DisplayPort and HDMI, an optical output, a single LAN port and 6-channel audio powered off the newer ALC1150 Realtek audio chip.
The board has 3 PCI-e x16 slots, the first one runs at full x16 and the other two at x8.
Look at those chokes and capacitors! Seriously though, ASUS seems to enjoy styling its components as much as the actual product with the chromed caps and printed-on chokes. Doesn’t add any functionality but since the board prides itself in longevity, the high-end components guarantees this.
A total of 8 SATAIII ports are available in the Sabertooth Z87: 2 are powered off a ASMEDIA controller whilst the rest are from the chipset. The 2 eSATA ports in the rear are also powered off the ASMEDIA controller. A front facing USB3.0 header is just above the SATA ports. Great placing there by ASUS.
Rounding off our tour of the board are a shot of the DIMM slot. Notice the MemOK! button on the side which easily checks memory configuration for problems and sets it accordingly for proper operation.
Another feature of the TUF series are the bevy of fan headers found on the boards. These can be monitored via the board monitoring software along with temps of each region of the motherboard. Great for finicky users who are paranoid about temps. Not that this board can’t handle a heating issue.
We’ll have the full review ready soon.