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ASUS Sabertooth Z97 Mark 1 Motherboard Review
By David Ramsey
Manufacturer: ASUSTeK Computer Inc.
Product Name: LGA1150 Intel Desktop Motherboard
Model Number: Sabertooth Z97 Mark 1
Price As Tested: $249.99 (Amazon | Newegg)
Full Disclosure: ASUS provided the product sample used in this article.
ASUS tries to cover all the bases in the enthusiast market, and their TUF series motherboards are aimed at those who prize toughness and stability. Built with military-spec capacitors, chokes, and MOSFETs, and features such as extra ESD (electrostatic discharge) resistance, the Sabertooth Z97 Mark 1 motherboard also includes ASUS’ unique Thermal Armor system and a custom processor to monitor the board’s voltages and temperatures, which is part of the Thermal Radar 2 system. Of course it also includes features common to their other motherboards such as the Digi+ fully digital power system and their best-in-class UEFI BIOS to control it all. A five-year warranty tops it all off.
The Sabertooth Z97 Mark 1 prioritizes reliability over pure over clocking performance and extra features like integrated WiFi and Bluetooth, or NFC support. But that doesn’t mean ASUS has skimped on features, either, as we’ll see in the upcoming sections.
5 comments
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f doggrell
13 May 2014 at 7:44 AM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
will the asus sabertooth z97 mark 1 ( or mark 2 ) be fully compatible with the new broadwell cpu ? when will intel finally start selling the broadwell ? great review . thanks .
Caring1
16 May 2014 at 7:25 PM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
It will be backwards compatible with current gen Intel processors as well, but you will lose some of the functionality. You will not be able to use Broadwell processors on current gen motherboards.
David Ramsey
16 May 2014 at 8:28 PM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Just to clarify: we know you will be able to use Broadwell CPUs on motherboards with Z97 chipsets. Older chipsets, well, I haven’t heard anything official either way.
David Ramsey
13 May 2014 at 8:20 AM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Broadwell support is the main reason for the existence of the Z97 chipset, so yes, any new motherboard with a Z97 will support Broadwell, although it wouldn’t surprise me if you had to update the BIOS when Broadwell comes out. As to when Intel will start selling Broadwell CPUs: well, it was originally supposed to be late 2nd quarter, but has slipped since then. Hopefully some time this year.
James
11 June 2014 at 10:42 AM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Re the mystery pins, I think it actually says “LPC DEBUG” so I’m guessing it might be to hook up something similar to this: http://amzn.to/1oedVBz