Asus Sabertooth X79 review

The current X79 overclocking king. For now.

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TechRadar Verdict

As X79 boards go, the Sabertooth is competitively priced, has all the crucial features and looks built to last.

Pros

  • +

    Excellent cooling

  • +

    Upgraded power stability

  • +

    Simplified SSD caching tech

Cons

  • -

    No power and reset switches

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Intel's latest world beating beast, the Core i7-3960X, has arrived and so has its X79 chipset.

And that means a raft of fancy new motherboards based on the equally box-fresh X79 chipset. Intel's own DX79SI aside, our first taste of an X79 mobo comes in the form of the Asus Sabertooth X79.

Like previous Sabertooth branded boards, the emphasis is on bang for buck.

Well, relatively speaking.

All boards based on Intel's new X79 chipset are high end by definition. But compared to Asus's silly money RoG boards, the Sabertooth X79 is positively parsimonious.

Earlier Sabertooth boards like the P67 model model were distinct thanks to the so-called "Thermal Armour" feature which enclosed the vast majority of the PCB in a fan-cooled jacket, the better to manage airflow across critical components.

As we'll see, that's not a feature Asus has carried over for the X79 flavour.

But the Sabertooth still has plenty to offer.

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Jeremy Laird
Contributor

Technology and cars. Increasingly the twain shall meet. Which is handy, because Jeremy (Twitter) is addicted to both. Long-time tech journalist, former editor of iCar magazine and incumbent car guru for T3 magazine, Jeremy reckons in-car technology is about to go thermonuclear. No, not exploding cars. That would be silly. And dangerous. But rather an explosive period of unprecedented innovation. Enjoy the ride.