d3v

April 27, 2011 at 9:16am

A motherboard with clothes on!

kris79

April 27, 2011 at 5:42am

I like the look but the armor seems totally useless as I water cool everything. Ummm, how many people reading MPC don't water cool anyway - or have a big honking tower with fans over their CPU? Don't think this sexy looking board was designed for us...

makius

April 26, 2011 at 6:13pm

Ok so Gordon said the "thermal amor" on the Asus board works by the principal of air being pushed down onto the CPU/MOBO thereby forcing the air between the "thermal shield" and the PCB and cooling the MOBO.

That sounds great if you're still using the stock heatsink. But I would imagine most people that purchase that kind of MOBO wont be using the stock heatsink. So when was the last time anyone bought an aftermarket heatsink that blew the air down onto the CPU and not out the back of the case? I don't think I've even seen one, besides all the most highly rated heatsinks blow the air out the back.

So my question is: wouldn't that "thermal armor" just create more heat on the MOBO on most "enthusiast" set ups? I mean maybe it would still work if you had a bunch of fans on the front of the case that would blow air across the MOBO? But I still don't see it improving temps at all, maybe keeping them the same at best. That's my theory anyway

If possible I would love to see two sets of tests run. One with a stock heatsink and one with an afterkarket heatsink like a Hyper 212+. It would be interesting to see if the stock heatsink actually generates lower MOBO temps than the aftermarket one.

(sorry for the Wall-O-Text)

 

kustiki321

April 26, 2011 at 3:37pm

How does one check scores from various benchmarks if there's no type of video output.....?

blkpanthr

April 26, 2011 at 7:00am

first look?  this has been out for a while....sheesh...

adonn78

April 26, 2011 at 6:39am

I jsut bought a OPC with the X58 Sabertooth motherboard. its an excellent mobo.  it does not have the thermal shroud but who needs it. And what's the deal with the second board you showed us from gigabyte? Only 2 USB ports?  I need about 8 rear ports and 2 front ones. Do they expect gamers to spend over $200 on a board then go out and buy a PCIe USB card for an additional $20-$30?

maleficarus™

April 25, 2011 at 6:59pm

The Shield can come off from what I read...

spectrex

April 25, 2011 at 6:22pm

I looked at this motherboard when it was announced. My first thoughts upon looking at it are the following. Do they sell this model without the armor? I use a water cooling system. It seems to me that this board would cook itself without a heat sink and fan circulating air through it. Also I have my doubts as to how well this will work. It looks great but in practice it seems to me that leaving the board exposed would keep it cooler than using this setup. Looking forward to seeing your results. I really wish there was a way to use it without a heat sink and fan though, it does look very slick.

Baer

April 25, 2011 at 6:19pm

I do not think this was meant to be a review buty just an overview. As an overview I think Gordon did his usual great job. Now I know initially what I need to know about these two Mobo's and if I want to know more I can get the details.

aarcane

April 25, 2011 at 6:04pm

I was hoping for a little more depth to this review.  oh well, maybe later :)

maleficarus™

April 25, 2011 at 5:41pm

The Sab is a really nice clean looking motherboard! The colour scheme that 90% of todays boards use is that ugly blue. It is nice to see all those trace routes covered up on the Sabertooth as well. Good job Asus!!