ASUS TUF X99 Sabertooth (LGA 2011-3) Motherboard Review

A Closer Look & Layout Analysis

A very military feel with the motherboard, similar design to the previous SABERTOOTH motherboards.

On the back of the board, we see the TUF Fortifier. This is a back plate that adds strength but also acts as a heatsink .

On the I/O ports, the TUF board loses some connectivity due to the heatsink. From left to right, 4x USB 2.0 ports, 1x vertical USB 2.0 port which is used with a mobile app ‘TUF Detective’. This will be discussed further later. 1x BIOS Flashback button to reflash the BIOS in cases of a BIOS crash. Next to that, we see 2x USB 3.1 ports, 4x USB 3.0 ports, 2x Gigabit LAN ports and the HD audio ports.

Down from the I/O ports, we can’t see much of the audio components due to the ‘Thermal Armor’ apart from the 7 capacitors at the far right.

Along the bottom, we see the usual array of headers such as HD Audio, USB 2.0 and USB 3.0. Along with that, there are 6 addition pins below the PCIe slot, to add the thermistors for a better temperature reading within the case.

Working our way back up the other side of the motherboard, we have an adequate bank of SATA ports. The beige ports on the far right are capable of speeds of 10Gb/s.

Straight opposite the I/O ports, there are multiple more fan headers, USB 3.0 header, 24 pin ATX power connector and ASUS MemOK! button.

I don’t normally take a picture of the top of the motherboard as it’s the typical CPU power connectors and fan headers. On the SABERTOOTH board, there is an additional fan header to the right of the bank of fan headers. This smaller header is to power the bundled 40mm fan that cools the I/O ports.

Concealed under a section of the ‘Armour’, we find the M.2 port. This fits M.2 cards up to 110mm due to being placed in line with a PCI lane.

This board features the standard 8-DIMM slots supporting up to 64GB and 3333MHz RAM when using key RAM memory kits.

Now this section wouldn’t be finished without some Armour shots.

I found that the Crucial Ballistix Elite RAM memory kit suits this motherboard extremely well; it matches well to the bundles DIMM dust protectors.