nycalex :
i don't really know the purpose of asus sabertooth series.
they are not even high end. they just look......gimmicky.
i'm currently using a sabertooth z77 and it has less features than my first gen p8p67 pro as far as overclocking goes. i thought it would be an enthusiast board, but i was vastly mistaken.
as far as color goes...........who cares? i mean do you show off the computer to everyone?
does it make you feel more manly by changing the led colors on a board? never understood the color themed builds.
i guess i'm old school, for me = as logn as it's fast and it works.
if i ever show the inside of my builds, some of you will get a heart attack. as i don't even do cable management. screw that, i just put everything together, make sure air flow is ok, and call it a day.
The TUF series is designed primarily for workstation users who prioritize reliability over all other considerations. It also has gained a following among enthusiasts, despite it's lack of many OC / gaming features, due to the superior componentry and sometimes aesthetics.
1. 5 year warranty.
2. Higher quality components, the TUF series is designed for reliability.
3. Additional cooling (when fan installed)
4. Performance in Z97 on TUF series is oft better than RoG line
http://www.overclock3d.net/reviews/cpu_mainboard/msi_z97_gaming_6_review/10
The ranking is based on setting the board which recorded the highest combined fps in the gaming tests at 100% and ranking the others by fps as a % of the fastest one.
MoBo % of Leader
MSI Z97 Gaming 9 - 100.00%
MSI Z97 Gaming 5 - 99.86%
MSI Z97A Gaming 6 - 98.96%
Asus Z97 TUF Sabranco - 96.13%
Gigabyte Z97X Gaming 5 - 95.00%
Gigabyte Z97X SOC Force - 94.95%
Asus Z97 Maximus VII Hero - 93.67%
Asus Z97 Maximus VII Formula - 93.58%
Asus Z97 Maximus VII Gene - 91.69%
Asus Z97-A - 89.57%
MSI Z97 Mpower MAX AC - 88.20%
MSI Z97S Krait SLI - 71.01%
5. User Satisfaction
The % listed below are the percent of Asus board owners from above list who posted highly negative (1 egg) user reviews.
Asus Z97 TUF Sabranco - 9%
Asus Z97 Maximus VII Gene - 10%
Asus Z97 Maximus VII Hero - 19%
Asus Z97 Maximus VII Formula - 26%
Asus Z97-A - 26%
Asus X99 Deluxe - 33%
Rampage V Extreme - 35%
6. Aesthetics .... Although performance and reliability are my primary concerns, I do take pride in my builds and the most important person who sees it is me. I have to look at it every day. I want to see the flow indicators when I look in the case window so as to confirm flow is satisfactory and also even in the parallel GFX card loops. I do want to be able to view the reservoir coolant level and see it is at the proper level. I so want to see that there are no leaks, dust buildups, stray cables, stopped fans and also read the Error Codes on the MoBo when system fails to boot.
I also occasionally peek at the digital temperature display which monitors coolant temps at 4 points in the system as well as ambient and inside case air temp. For example, I recently noticed that the flow to the bottom GFX card was less then the top which is indicative that the lower card probably picked up a paint flake or other obstruction in the micro-channels. I'll probably take it down and clean when we have the holiday in February. I also log the temperature / flow data and use it when designing new systems for prepare user guides to peeps to size radiators, pumps and the like.
However it also must be said that the machine does sit in my office and when potential clients come in and sit across the desk in my office, I think many see the box a reflection of the person / firm they are considering to hire. I am not into LEDs or other "bling" but, for example, water cooling using flexible tubing going every which way offends my sense or order.
The box does generate a fair amount of inquiries and, in a sense ... with the pumps, tubing and fittings, is a reflection of what we do. We design water treatment facilities in which ownership costs are highly dependent upon efficiency in every system and subsystem. Even a small increase in efficiency can mean 6 figures in energy cost savings per year.
In addition, one of the things we do is build CAD workstations, office machines and gaming builds for other engineers, friends, family, employees, colleagues, neighborhood kids, college buddies, whatever. Well .... better said .... we sit with those users, help them select components while understanding what the differences are and when parts arrive, guide them thru building those boxes, standing by thru each step of the assembly, OS install and configuration process.
The most rewarding part of this is working with young kids and their parents and seeing them take pride in something they do together. Months of even years later, hearing back from those kids / parents as they go onto their next build, in between asking questions, it's rewarding hearing about the pride they took in building their own box and the bonding experience they had with their child / parent at the time. Give a kid a bike and it's left out in the weather, dropped on the ground and generally not well taken care of. But when a kid puts the effort into building a bike (or PC), it's something they have a sense of pride and ownership for. I find, I never get calls from these families asking me to clean out viruses, empty their too small SSD or whatever mishap they have run into. They tend to "take care" of the PC partly because they are now comfortable going inside it and cleaning out dust whatever but also what they put on it as they don't want to mess up "their build".
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