Asus Sabertooth 990FX AM3+ Motherboard Review

An Even Closer Look
Taking the passive cooling from the board shows that the phase/VRM cooling and 990FX joined as one through a heatpipe. The Northbridge uses the standard affair of using good old thermal paste, whereas the phase area uses a simple thermal pad that makes direct contact.

The SB950 Southbridge (much like the 990FX Northbridge) plumps for the thermal compound route, which is more technically defined as a thermal pad, but differs slightly from the one used around the CPU socket and phase area.

Once the board is naked (as such) it will reveal the relatively small 990FX chipset in its usual location.

Also in its usual spot, we find the SB950 chipset. The cooling features the new TUF CeraM!x heatsink coating technology which gives better heat dissipation by conducting heat away from the system. By using this technology Asus believe that stability will be improved on the motherboard allowing for better performance when needed most.