ASUS Z87 Sabertooth (LGA 1150) Motherboard Review

Included Software

ASUS really go to town on the DVD they provide and you can see there is a huge range of software, drivers and utilities. The majority of the disc contains useful drivers, programs and utilities and ASUS helpfully added an “install all” button for each tab. I would do it on the driver page but they have managed to sneak Norton onto that page which isn’t very nice – its clearly not a driver so why put it there? In my opinion Norton is nothing other than bloatware.

ASUS include a copy of Daemon Tools Pro with the driver disc which is a nice addition. In terms of the software we will be looking extensively at AI Suite III as this is the main software package from ASUS.

AI Suite III

ASUS’s AI Suite III is made up of eight key parts. Thermal Radar 2, USB 3.0 Boost, EZ Update, Network iControl, System Information, USB BIOS Flashback, USB Charger and Remote GO!

The main screen is customisable with different monitoring bars at the bottom.

Thermal Radar 2

Thermal Radar 2 offers a clean intuitive interface to “thermally tune” your system. Basically it calculates heat-spots in your system based on sensor feedback and adjusts nearby fans to account for these.

The three thermistor cables that are provided can be added to provide you with temperatures in three more areas of the case. This will allow you to have a more complete thermal map of your case. The Thermal Radar 2 will calculate a thermal assessment of your system if you run that.

The ability to tweak and tune your fan profiles is a big part of Thermal Radar 2. There is also the unique “Fan Overtime” feature which means the fan continues to run after shutdown for a period of time you can choose.

Tweaking the power control in your system is a huge part of the Thermal Radar 2 because power is directly related to heat output.

USB 3.0 Boost

The USB 3.0 boost feature allows you to tweak certain USB 3.0 devices to operate at higher speeds by using different USB protocols.

USB BIOS Flashback

The USB BIOS Flashback utility allows you to prepare a USB drive for a BIOS update.

USB Charger+

USB Charger+ allows you to enable faster charging through the the super-charger USB ports. You can enable this feature even when the system is in sleep, hibernate or shutdown. It requires that your motherboard is still connected to power supply that is in standby mode.

System Information

This tab offers you key information about your motherboard, CPU and RAM. You can find your BIOS version here.

ASUS Remote GO!

The ASUS Remote GO! package is something ASUS are really trying to push as of late. The Remote GO! package allows you to sychronise various devices over WiFi connections and through the internet in order to facilitate remote desktoping (via a mobile app), media playback and remote file transfers.

EZ Update

The EZ updater allows you to update the Boot Logo or BIOS from within the OS. Of course if this goes horribly wrong for whatever reason you can prepare a USB flash drive with the right BIOS on and use USB BIOS flashback.

Network iControl

ASUS’ network control software is the final part of this AI Suite III package. This allows you to monitor network usage, prioritise certain applications and set different network profiles for different activities – such as a profile that prioritises games over other applications when gaming.