Looking for Opinions on ASUS Sabertooth 990FX vs. Crosshair V Formula

[JKatwyopc]

Hi,

Anyone have any information on the pros and cons of the 2 new ASUS 990FX based motherboards.

Looking for input from anyone who may have already gotten one of these (I realize that info may be a bit limited at the moment).

ASUS Sabertooth 990FX http://usa.asus.com/Motherboards/AMD_AM3Plus/SABERTOOTH_990FX/
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131736
VS.

ASUS Crosshair V Formula http://usa.asus.com/Motherboards/AMD_AM3Plus/Crosshair_V_Formula/
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131735

I have seen the sabertooth available on Newegg for about a week (sold out and replenished several times already) and on eBay.

The Crosshair V just became available within the past 48 hours.

I suspect that the Crosshair V Formula is very similar to the Crosshair IV formula except for the new 990FX chipset, SLI support and AM3+ socket with bulldozer CPU support.

All Discussion is appreciated.

 

[buzznut]

Well, I'll give my thoughts although I admittedly am biased. The one and only time I spent $240 on a motherboard, I was very unsatisfied. It was a crosshair one motherboard. The Supreme FX sound never worked, I and many others had a very difficult time with the BIOS revisions, especially when AMD came out with the Phenom I quad cores.
It was supposed to have LED's that lit the I/o backplate, those never worked either. The little bothersome things are too many to mention, but the point is I paid a premium for something that didn't do as promised and I ended up being better off with a motherboard (that I am using currently) that I paid $100 for.

I would wait for before buying the Crosshair V. Wait until a number of reviews are out and then choose wisely. A number of the new 990FX boards look worthy, I am keeping my eye on the gigabyte UD7, although that will be pricey I am sure, but the UD3 and UD5 also look very nice.

Its gonna be a little longer before bulldozer is available, so I would urge patience. New platforms always have growing pains too, so there is that to consider.

Here's the 990FX lineup from Gigabyte:
http://www.gigabyte.com/products/list.aspx?s=42&jid=10&p=2&v=26

 

[Onus]

Not to hijack this thread, but you asked for discussion, and I am in the exact same boat. I've chosen all of my parts except the mobo (will list if the OP asks). I am leaning heavily toward the Sabertooth because it has two more years of warranty, and is apparently milspec, with a higher level of testing throughout. A nice feature of the Crosshair V, the inclusion of Daemon Tools, can be addressed by a quick download. The Intel NIC is supposed to be good, but I'm not unhappy now with my network performance, so it isn't compelling. Being deaf in one ear, neither is the sound. I'm not a madd overclocker, so ROG connect doesn't matter either. Sure, I'll overclock, but mildly, and once set I don't want to have to tweak it a lot; I'd rather play ON my PC than play WITH my PC.
If you haven't seen it, check out the video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IT7YSsEFqTk&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL for more information on the differences. The same guy from Asus (JJ, "asusrog") has some other similar videos.
I'm going to order later today or tomorrow. I may try to wait long enough to see what ASRock offers (like that front panel USB3.0 bracket), but unless they have a similar FIVE year warranty, I'll be getting the Sabertooth.

 

[JKatwyopc]

:lol: Ha! Ha! :lol: I kinda expected others to hijack this thread. That was why I opened it. I just want to see what other peoples opinions are.

I am still undecided myself. I really like the Sabertooth 990FX because it's a little cheaper, has a better warranty, and still has the 3 way SLI/Crossfire capability. However, I also like the extra features available on the Crosshair V Formula such as ROG connect, extra USB 3.0 connectors, better sound system support and better software support that ships with the board.

I am kinda leaning a bit toward the sabertooth because I like your idea of playing ON my PC rather than playing WITH my PC. That's some really good food for thought. BTW the sabertooth does have the front panel USB 3.0 connector on the board so ASRock (or anyone else) wouldn't be offering anything special there.

 

[ill_take_two]

I would say maybe wait till end of summer when some benchies will be out on BullDozer, "hopefully"
although, the chrosshair V is a well packed 990 solution.

I got a kick out of this on the R.O.G. site showing off some CHV goodness

"Now you'll be able to push your spanking new Intel CPU to the limit, hitting benchmark scores that others only dream of. "

read for yourself @ http://www.asusrog.com/ASUS%20Crosshair%20V%20Formula.html

its in the Extreme Engine Digi+ descrip on the crosshair's page HAHAHA!

i'm lusting over the MAXIMUS iv gene-z my self though

 

[Onus]

I am definitely going to complete this rig before the end of the month. On June 30th, U.S. parasites will (at least temporarily) "turn off the printing press" that has been spewing worthless paper dollars into the system. Not that they shouldn't (and they couldn't keep it up forever), but within the month, it will become clear to everyone that the country will NEVER be able to repay the massive debt our elected parasites have incurred to buy votes, and the resulting default will clarify to everyone that the U.S. economy is collapsing. Prices on everything will climb, nothing more so than imported goods like computer parts. I don't know how bad it will get, but I consider it unlikely I'll be able to build another PC for many years.

 

[DoomsWord89]

If the Crosshair V is even half as good as the IV Formula was then you wont be dissaponted with it.

 

[Onus]

It is done. I ordered the Sabertooth. I should be able to build next weekend.

 

[jasonc190]

crossfire v is awsome thats my pick

 

[WeirdHarold]

I'm currently thinking of going with the Sabertooth mainly because it has all the main features of the Crosshair V for like 70 bucks less, I know the CH V comes with some stuff the Sabertooth doesn't like the Intel LAN but some of those over the top features just make me ask myself will I really ever use them?

I do want to comment to buzznut I also bought the original Crosshair motherboard and it's still going strong never had one problem with it and have never regretted the 240 Bucks I spent on it.

 

[JKatwyopc]

This is very interesting. Haven't seen a thing on this post for over two months. I had almost forgotten that it was here.

I finally decided to go with the Sabertooth because I liked the idea of reliability over features. Haven't regretted it yet. I did have a minor issue with it at first because it was taking at least 30 seconds to get from the post beep to the boot screen but after that it worked perfectly. I think the problem was that I had used DDR3 2133 SDRAM and it was taking that long to find working timings. I finally set the timing manually and then it's fine.

I would really like to hear from anyone else who would like to give some input. What were your experiences if you made the opposite choice?

 

[Seiyalex]

I bought saberthooth few month ago, since it was avaiable on my e shop. It's a great card, i use an x4 965 Be at 3.965 Mhz, and ddr3 close to 1600 Mhz (overclocked also). It's the first time i have this stability with air colled. More over i'm not an expert in overclocking...but i've been using asus card for years (M4a79d, M2n32 Sli deluxe ...and many other more). This one is probably the best one i've ever used. I'm wainting for Bulldozer to use full capicity of this great motherbord. You won't be desapointed, also new EHCI bios is very usefull and let boot on hd more than 2 to (with win 7 or vista or 7 x64).

Sorry for my english, i'm french, but if you have a bit time i'd like to have your opinion. Tx.

 

[basic6]

Hi JKatwyopc, I had to make the same decision about 2 weeks ago, but I decided to go with the Crosshair V Formula, which may have been a mistake.
It seems to have some serious (memory?) issues.
See my other thread: http://vip.asus.com/forum/view.aspx?id=20110828193854695&SLanguage=en-us&board_id=1&model=Crosshair%20V%20Formula&page=1

 

[shadowtrench]

Hello I just wanted to share my story. I purchased the Crosshair V and thought it to an amazing board. I like the ROG community as well as the ROG connect features. However, here comes the hate. My first board would not post. Not a single beep nothing. Ok that isn't entirely true there was a 25% chance it would pass then hang up in the bios or BSOD. The red led indication lights kept passing around the blame. One minute my brand new cpu, next my brand new ram, then my old video card. With no coherency I RMA'd the board. My second one had new issues posting had it about a week before I gave up. This time my second video card in crossfire was never running at x16 as it should I yes I double checked the slot. I even switched it amongst the other 2 slots. It was always x8. The second was lots of bsods. I will admit the stability increased tremendously with the latest bios update revealed last week. However, I also had a bad lan port. My intel adapter was intermediately disconnecting its link and all 1+GB downloads like game setups were always corrupted. So I RMA'd it two days ago. Today I am getting the sabertooth in. I compared the reviews on newegg 26% of around 270 people have given it a 1egg. Even some of the 5 eggs claim their first board was DOA. After reading through some claim to be on their 4th RMA. Newegg also conveniently ran out of stock on them. While not newegg's fault it is obvious in my opinion that these boards have a high failure rate and inconsistency. I have seen some amazing specs, overclocks, and feats, but not everyone is so lucky. The Sabertooth from what I've seen is much more stable and if your into overclocking it has the ability to reach 4+Ghz as well.

 

[JKatwyopc]

Well, just checking in again.

Shadowtrench, it sounds like you had some real difficulties there. I am glad I went with the Sabertooth. I've had some troubles with my computer since I got the Sabertooth but it's never been anything caused by the motherboard. I'm using a AMD Phenom II 1090T at stock settings and it's running as stable as can be.

I did have a little problem with the my ASUS Radeon HD 6870 video card causing BSOD's and lock-ups but that was due to trying to overclock it. For some reason that card doesn't want to work with any overclock that I have tried. That's OK since I'm running the CPU at stock anyway. I also found that using MSI Afterburner wouldn't work either. Kept causing mysterious lockups. However, since I have uninstalled Afterburner, everything works perfectly. I have even been able to crossfire the 6870 with a second card (HSI Radeon HD 6870 Black Edition) that isn't evenclocked exactly the same and it still works fine.

System is Rock solid stable and runs everything I throw at it. I love this Sabertooth board and I am looking forward to upgrading the CPU to an FX-8150 as soon as I can afford it.

 

[huntluck]

Hmmm,,,, well i ordered Crosshair V formula Before and it doesnt seem to have any problem until yet with BIOS and H/w... Can here any suggest wht problem they have faced in crosshair before in previous versions... As this a new but only thing it bothers is the SLI as my card uses much space that the second pci slot is coveres