ASUS TUF Series Mainboard，SABERTOOTH 55i

[PatRaceTin]

only "concept" as Asus Marine Cool ????

[Mungri]

Guys this board is an obvious fake.

Anyone taking this thread seriously must be a complete clown.

The source link is REALLY REALLY credible, I think not.

Also, if anyone actually thinks that the MemOK, Ceramix and all the other features are any better than the competition just because Asus say so, you are nothing more than a tool for that company and very easilly brainwashed.

How do I know it is a fake? Simple, the board is not announced by asus, and does not appear among their new P55 line.

And it is called an I55 for crying out loud, the obvious fake is beyond obvious, and just about everyone else is taking this thread seriously.

[Raja@ASUS]

Guys this board is an obvious fake.

Anyone taking this thread seriously must be a complete clown.

The source link is REALLY REALLY credible, I think not.

Also, if anyone actually thinks that the MemOK, Ceramix and all the other features are any better than the competition just because Asus say so, you are nothing more than a tool for that company and very easilly brainwashed.

How do I know it is a fake? Simple, the board is not announced by asus, and does not appear among their new P55 line.

And it is called an I55 for crying out loud, the obvious fake is beyond obvious, and just about everyone else is taking this thread seriously.

Then the one we have in the lab must be a mirage.

[K404]

You have been a bit random the last few days Raja Maybe you're dehydrated and showing the first signs of madness

[Raja@ASUS]

You have been a bit random the last few days Raja Maybe you're dehydrated and showing the first signs of madness

Could be the additional heat dump into the room from the ceramic heatsinks.

[Mungri]

Muhahahahaha.



Sorry, that's all I have to say on this

And I'll just QFT this if it is for real.

Nothing more then a joke of a motherboard.

Worst ASUS release ever.

[slim142]

Well is an ugly board with a lot more bells and whistles, but the more choices available, the better

[illuminatiASUS]

In case anyone is actually interested in what is really the premises behind this board please keep reading.

The TUF series is not focused toward the bencher or the overclocker. It is a board that has been designed and validated (the validation process is different for this board than our standard series i.e P6T or P5Q ). This board design is for a segment interested in having a high quality component board that is designed for durability and reliability with additional cooling. Now all our boards we design with a commitment to quality, reliability and performance this is just a board that pushes a little more in a specific mindset. As with all our boards we incorporate enthusiast functionality such as overclocking but this board is not designed for the overclocking community as our ROG series is. Just like our workstation series which end up getting used outside of its designed segment I am sure this board will but it is being focused at the same type of person that may purchased our PRO or Deluxe series board but have a different mindset of how they will run the system. Hope this clears things up a little.

[Leeghoofd]

Well if the ceramix heatsinks work, why not include these in the higher end mobo's, same for the other components... or is TUF an inbetween between the standard mobo's and the ROG series... Too many boards is also not good, makes chosing even more difficult... and makes updating biosses a slow process...

[illuminatiASUS]

I agree sometimes too many choices can be complicated but that is why it is key all parties (us, reviewers) involved correctly report what each boards focus segment and design process is geared towards. Additionally for ROG many users mod their boards so we implement a high quality heatsink solution with spacing to ensure airflow but at the same time factor in whether or not it will be removed. With the TUF series the focus will be the user will run at stock so we want a higher quality heatsink in place because they will not replace it or mod it. Many of you seem to want to criticize our design innovations whether they are small or large but it is also important to remember your usage model falls outside of the intended audience. Additionally without our consistent focus at pushing motherboard design in little and big ways the enthusiast community would not have many of the options and component designs that are used today. I look forward to this release as it is something special essentially an workstation board but with an enthusiast mindset along with some additional hardware and aesthetic design elements that have been incorporated. I look forward to letting this boards feature set and performance and functionality speak for itself when it is released.

[Leeghoofd]

Will have to ask for a sample then When are these foreseen to be available for reviewing ?

[Bodkin]

I agree sometimes too many choices can be complicated but that is why it is key all parties (us, reviewers) involved correctly report what each boards focus segment and design process is geared towards. Additionally for ROG many users mod their boards so we implement a high quality heatsink solution with spacing to ensure airflow but at the same time factor in whether or not it will be removed. With the TUF series the focus will be the user will run at stock so we want a higher quality heatsink in place because they will not replace it or mod it. Many of you seem to want to criticize our design innovations whether they are small or large but it is also important to remember your usage model falls outside of the intended audience. Additionally without our consistent focus at pushing motherboard design in little and big ways the enthusiast community would not have many of the options and component designs that are used today. I look forward to this release as it is something special essentially an workstation board but with an enthusiast mindset along with some additional hardware and aesthetic design elements that have been incorporated. I look forward to letting this boards feature set and performance and functionality speak for itself when it is released.

Nice to get the asus point of view! You make a fair point, this board isn't really aimed at us, I will stick to my watercooled Ramapage 2 :P

[proxis]

...

why would someone want an ASUS board that is more durable than other ASUS boards ?
are you saying that the quality of the P7P55D lineup "could be better"?

[cegras]

I don't see why I should be paying extra for 'extra' validation. A regular joe board will certainly not croak even if used mildly for overclocking, and as you can probably tell Gigabyte's budget motherboards have been newegg's customer choice many times in a row. The biggest beef I have with motherboard manufacturers is unnecessary diversification of portfolios, with a tiny list of features being all that differentiate two models from each other.

[Mungri]

My problem here is nothing to do with the board itself, but rather the ridiculous naming scheme. If the board isnt meant to be a high end, why does it need to be called a 'Sabertooth TUF' with Ceramix and all the other flashy features?

We have a mid range board pretty much being advertised as one of the best boards available.

This is what people are complaining about, not the board itself.

The advertising on the board is what makes it looks like a complete joke. It is far too overdone for a board that is meant to be for the mid range.

[Zorlac]

So will we see a TUF series X58? I think its kinda cool myself.

Also, how about a minimalist/legacy free board (with the TUF mindset) for the folks that do not want PCI, IDE, Floppy, PS/2, onboard audio, onboard NIC, etc. Now that would be different and refreshing to me.

Either way, all these features hitting P55 better start hitting X58 because P55 is starting to look better from a marketing point of view.

[illuminatiASUS]

I appreciate everyone's feedback and it is really great to get to read everyone’s opinion information. With that said in reference to this TUF board it is important to understand you already pay for extra validation when you by any ASUS board (this is not a new practice and has been common on server boards since their inception in general). We have over 100 man team for motherboard R&D and that is just the beginning when it comes to our design and validation process. They are many aspect users as well as reviewers do not take the time to understand or see when you compare one board to the next ( an easy one would be our ESD diodes which we place on a motherboard to safeguard the south bridge , pch or other board components from failing due to esd discharge. These features along with many other aspects of our boards down to the entry level to our highest end board all go through validation and testing to ensure the commitment to ASUS quality we are known for. Now there are some with the perspective these quote on quote features are useless feature because it does not improve your 3d mark vantage or super pi score, while it is true there are some features or design implementations that do ZERO for increasing performance we do not treat board design just for a performance standpoint (although historically I feel with confidence I can state ASUS has set the bar for performance).
http://in.asus.com/news_show.aspx?id=11605
These are also features that end up being appreciated and become inherent to our quality and reliability even thought the user is not aware of them. Ultimately TUF is about extending our already high quality design and validation process to a specific segment just like we did for ROG. There were also people who first saw ROG and were like why? What’s the point I can already overclock on my current board. The point being is sometimes to make new design you need to break away from the segmentation that limits your design implementations. This is where we see TUF going just as we are doing with ROG creating a specific segment where via R&D, Media/Reviewer input, End user input we can continue to develop and refine designs for a specific type of board for individuals that want a high grade enthusiast board but without the gaming or OC focus.

In terms of advertising this is always based in perception and there is no perfect compromise, to some things are excessive and to others they are flat and not distinct enough. I honestly feel there is nothing wrong with the name of the board. The user is the one that judges whether or not it is excessive and whether they feel it promotes a mindset for what we want for this board which is Tough and rugged and designed with that mindset. It is also important to remember the way the information was viewed was not the way the normal end user would see these messages. The presentation file shown here was confidential and for internal reference. We do try and minimize excessive marketing messages on our board packaging and provide the features that are present. I also do not see a problem in advertising the hardware we develop. Tprobe is a hardware that had to be designed and implemented just like Turbo V EVO or Turbo V both required hardware ics on the board. There is a lot that goes into design and development. With all this I feel it is important to help market it so users can be aware of them. Ultimately it is their choice on whether or not it is important to them. At this point I think all we can really do right now is await the board’s arrival and what to see what the users and reviewers say. If anyone as any real questions on a feature or functionality please feel free to let me know and I will do my best to answer it. THANK YOU TO EVERYONE FR THEIR FEEDBACK AND OPINION PLEASE ENJOY THE REST OF YOUR DAY.

[Gautam]

You sure are TUFing it out here

Thanks for your participation.

[Bromptoners]

What does TUF means?? Totally Useless Features??

[Boogerlad]

if the heatsinks are so "high quality", then why is there a freaking plastic cover on the sb heatsink on most of the new boards? What's with the heatpipes leading to other heat sources? Heatpipes are supposed to lead to other surfaces to get rid of the heat.

[Mungri]

What does TUF means?? Totally Useless Features??

The Ultimate Force apparantly.

I dont really see why a midrange motherboard is worthy of such nomenclature, from the advert in OP it seems like it should be the motherboard equivalent of Jesus.

But totally useless features seems a lot more accurate to me.

if the heatsinks are so "high quality", then why is there a freaking plastic cover on the sb heatsink on most of the new boards? What's with the heatpipes leading to other heat sources? Heatpipes are supposed to lead to other surfaces to get rid of the heat.

The heatsinks themselves are barely adequate and below average quality for a motherboard being advertised like this one is, but from my understanding, Ceramix would not be refering to the heatsinks, but rather the thermal paste that they use.

This would be similar to a VGA card company taking a graphics card with stock cooling, but applying a better thermal paste and therefore advertising it as 'The Ultimate Force' because it has better paste and is maybe a few degrees cooler.

The cooling on this motherboard looks like pants, Im pretty sure that both MSI and Gigabyte can deliver much much better quality cooling at the same price point that this board will be aimed at.

The Ultimate Force Sabertooth motherboard with Ceramix, TUF Mofsets, TUF caps and MemOK ...

Is a bare bones, average, and mid range product with minimal cooling.

I think they were just trying to find something better to say then '100% solid steel Japanese mofsets', and some star wars fan working at ASUS came up with 'The Ultimate Force' instead.

[Leeghoofd]

Man give it a rest, if you don't like the board or the way it's being marketed, tell it once and don't nag about it after post post. You have already made an ... of yourself with ya claims, that have already been proven wrong in this thread. And yet you continue to speculate...

You will prolly answer me with freedom of speech or some other silly talk... In fact I don't even care what you reply to my post, just go and flame somewhere else. Try something constructive for once, will be far harder...

If constructors didn't innovate we would still be in the dark ages with big caps, active heatsinks, etc... if you don't like it ignore it and buy something else...

[Mungri]

Whatever.

My point with calling it fake initially was that it was genuinely unbelievable to me. Being a real product just goes to show how out of touch Asus marketting is, and how genuinely guillable some people can be when the words 'TUF, MemOk, Ceramix' etc etc are plastered all across the product.

You made a point about innovation, but what exactly is innovating about this product? Can you care to explain that to me?

I strongly dislike current motherboard advertising practice and have even complained about it on MSI forums, getting the opinion in their belief that this level of ridiculous marketting and also in some cases, strange and weird video game characters on the box is what customers want.

There is absolutely no big deal and nothing innovative about slapping a complex leet speech name on a product and making a big deal out of the thermal paste used on barely minimum heatsinks.

[Leeghoofd]

If the ceramix heatsinks work and dissipate the heat far better than the normal copper plated crap which is found on many many motherboards this might be good. Also it might allow to use smaller heatsinks instead of the bulky, rollercoaster we see lately. Setback might be that they are far more expensive to produce...This might be very good for the watercooling guys as less heat is near the CPU socket, which is a big issue with X58. At least my two ASUS boards heat up enormously in the PWM area due to lack of airflow. Stability is enhanced big time with some extra airflow... I've not tested P55 but will get some gear this week to test the new Corsair Lynfield ram kit... might be interesting to measure some heatsink temps and if I can get this mobo to compare it...

I tested the MemOk on the Gene II and I have to say that it works. Is it a daily requirement ? absolutely no as the users that start to mess with ram timings etc will know how to reset the bios, adjust etc... same for the ram adjustments on the Matrix card, not beneficial for the daily user, for the tweaker it will allow higher clocks and gain him some extra points in his benches.. does everyone need E-Sata, 8 sata ports, 2 raid controllers etc... ? but it will sell better which is why they add these features... to be different then the rest...

I'm absolutely not a fanboy of any special brand, as a reviewer I have to remain objective... colour design is to each his own, features too,... but I have to admit that some times the marketing guys go nuts. Sometimes they are not even aware of the real specs, etc... best example was the phase cooler by Thermaltake keeping an Oc"ed E8600@4ghz (I think) at 20°C lower than the stock cooler lol...

[Mungri]

But rollercoasters, aka heatpipes do their job a lot better than plain aluminium coolers do. Also, copper bases dissipate heat better than these dinky heatsinks will.

If the ceramix does work better, you can always buy some and apply it yourself on a better heatpipe cooler.

Having said that, heatpipe coolers are for people who want to overclock. If you dont want to, then why is this ceramix on a mid range board going to be of any importance?