ASUS Sabertooth P67A B3 Review
Introduction and Technical Specifications
Published: 8th April 2011 | Source: ASUS | Price: £149.99 |
Introduction
At the tail end of last year we received the ASUS Sabertooth X58 motherboard and it quickly wowed us with its combination of great looks, insane performance and cheap price. We consider it the best choice for an X58 motherboard once you take into account pricing and features. High praise indeed. So when the P67 version arrived on our doorstep you can imagine how excited we were.
Following the much publicised problem with the early P67 boards this is a B3 variant which includes the fixed SATA issue.
There is some stiff competition in the P67 sector of the marketplace with a plentiful supply of boards at the high-end and the middle ground, where this particular board slots in pricing terms, is awash with boards.
Does the P67A B3 Sabertooth live up to the incredible standards of its predecessor? There is only one way to find out.
Technical Specifications
A quick sojourn over to the ASUS website reveals the specifications for the Sabertooth.
| CPU | Intel® Socket 1155 for Intel® 2nd Generation Core™ i7 Processor, Core™ i5 Processor, Core™ i3 Processor Support Intel® 32nm CPU Supports Intel® Turbo Boost Technology 2.0 |
| Chipset | Intel® P67(B3) Express Chipset |
| Memory | 4 x DIMM, Max. 32 GB, DDR3 1866/1800/1600/1333/1066 Non-ECC,Un-buffered Memory Dual Channel memory architecture Supports Intel® Extreme Memory Profile (XMP) |
| Expansion Slots | 2 x PCIe 2.0 x16 (single at x16 or dual at x8/x8 mode) 3 x PCIe 2.0 x1 1 x PCI |
| Multi-GPU Support | Supports NVIDIA® Quad-GPU SLI™ Technology Supports ATI® Quad-GPU CrossFireX™ Technology |
| Storage | Intel® P67(B3) Express Chipset 2 xSATA 6.0 Gb/s ports (brown) 4 xSATA 3Gb/s ports (black) Intel® Rapid Storage Technology Support RAID 0,1,5,10 Marvell® PCIe SATA 6Gb/s controller 2 xSATA 6Gb/s ports (gray) JMicron® JMB362 SATA controller 1 xPower eSATA 3Gb/s port (green) 1 xExternal SATA 3Gb/s port (red) |
| LAN | Intel® 82579 Gigabit LAN- Dual interconnect between the Integrated LAN controller and Physical Layer (PHY) |
| Audio | Realtek® ALC892 8-Channel High Definition Audio CODEC - Absolute Pitch 192khz/24bit True BD Lossless Sound - BD Audio Layer Content Protection - Supports Jack-Detection, Multi-streaming, and Front Panel Jack-Retasking - Optical S/PDIF out port at back I/O |
| IEEE 1394 | VIA® VT6308P controller supports 2 x 1394a port(s) (one at mid-board; one at back panel) |
| USB | NEC USB 3.0 controllers - 4 x USB 3.0/2.0 ports (2 ports at mid-board for front panel support; 2 ports at back panel [blue]) Intel® P67(B3) Express Chipset - 14 x USB 2.0/1.1 ports (6 ports at mid-board, 8 ports at back panel) |
| Back Panel I/O Ports | 1 x PS/2 Keyboard/Mouse Combo port 1 x External SATA 3Gb/s port (red) 1 x Power eSATA 3Gb/s port (green) 1 x IEEE 1394a 1 x LAN(RJ45) port(s) 2 x USB 3.0/2.0 ports (blue) 8 x USB 2.0/1.1 ports 1 x S/PDIF Out (Optical) 8 -Channel Audio I/O |
| Internal I/O Connectors | 1 x USB 3.0/2.0 connector(s) supports additional 2 USB ports (19-pin; moss green) 3 x USB 2.0/1.1 connector(s) support additional 6 USB ports 1 x MemOK! button 4 x SATA 6.0Gb/s connectors ( 2 x gray; 2 x brown) 4 x SATA 3.0Gb/s (black) 1 x IEEE 1394a connector 1 x CPU Fan connector(s) (4-pin) 2 x Chassis Fan connector(s) (1 x 4-pin; 1 x 3-pin) 1 x Power Fan connector(s) (3-pin) 1 x Assistant Fan connector (3-pin) 1 x S/PDIF Out connector 24-pin EATX Power connector 8-pin EATX 12V Power connector 1 x Front panel audio connector 1 x COM connector 1 x System Panel (Q-Connector) 1 x Clear CMOS jumper |
| BIOS | 32 Mb Flash ROM , EFI AMI BIOS, PnP, DMI2.0, WfM2.0, SM BIOS 2.5, ACPI 2.0a, Multi-language BIOS, ASUS EZ Flash 2, ASUS CrashFree BIOS 3 |
| Accessories | User's manual 2 x SATA 3.0Gb/s cables 2 x SATA 6.0Gb/s cables 1 x Q-Shield 1 x Q-Connecor (2 in 1) 1 x ASUS SLI bridge cable 1 x TUF Certification card 1 x TUF 5 Year Warranty manual (by region) 4 x screws for Assistant Fan |
A very fulsome specification indeed. The Sabertooth contains everything we'd expect to see from a modern motherboard and ASUS' normal additional feature-set.
Time to take a closer look.
Most Recent Comments
more drool time
please stop putting XXXXXXXXXXX-rated nerd porn on here - my ticker cannot take it
the whole package - awesome boardQuote
please stop putting XXXXXXXXXXX-rated nerd porn on here - my ticker cannot take it
the whole package - awesome boardQuote
Hmmmm.... I need to RMA my B2 P8P67 soon (when I can be bothered) don't know whether to upgrade to the Sabretooth or not but this review certainly has got me thinking about it. 
Quote
QuoteWhat about SATA performance?Quote
Arrggghh I had decided on the UD4 and now you rave about this. My head can't take it. I think i'll go for this simply because it's ALL black.
Great review as per.Quote
Great review as per.Quote
Awesome, love the sabertooth. Speaking of downward facing coolers, when will we see a head to head, a mano a mano,
an owl to owl (lol) between the NH-D14 and the new NH-C14?Quote
an owl to owl (lol) between the NH-D14 and the new NH-C14?Quote
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Originally Posted by zeppas
Awesome, love the sabertooth. Speaking of downward facing coolers, when will we see a head to head, a mano a mano, an owl to owl (lol) between the NH-D14 and the new NH-C14? |
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Originally Posted by hurrakan
What about SATA performance? |
That is awesome. A motherboard with a color scheme the D14 can actually work with? Crazy. Now we need some military-esque looking ram.Quote
Well for my June Sandy Bridge build, I had my eye on this one because of the styling, which I absolutely love. Either this or perhaps the UD7, but this is great bang for buck.Quote
Bryan what kind of temps did you get with the C12P?Quote
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Originally Posted by Tortuga
That is awesome. A motherboard with a color scheme the D14 can actually work with? Crazy. Now we need some military-esque looking ram. |
Ohh thats awesome, looks like gun parts on the top of the ram. Ok now I need a matte military case. lolQuote
I just got one of these boards, with a 2500K, 8GB Corsair Vengeance (2x4G
and a Thermaltake Frio cooler. All going good so far.
Couple things about the installation process I think might be worth mentioning.
1.) The Sabertooth comes with a sticker over the ram slots, which needs to be removed carefully, or else it can tear and leave parts stuck to the slots. Just be careful; I had to take quite a bit of time clearing small parts of sticker off >.>
2.) With a Thermaltake Frio installed and Vengeance in place in slots A2 and B2 (Asus recommend populating these first), there is *no* room left to use slots A1 and B1 with more Vengeance. The Frio blocks slot A1. Ram with lower heat spreaders might fit, I don't know.
It looks like one hell of a lovely board, and I think I'm going to have a fun weekend testing it
Quote
and a Thermaltake Frio cooler. All going good so far.Couple things about the installation process I think might be worth mentioning.
1.) The Sabertooth comes with a sticker over the ram slots, which needs to be removed carefully, or else it can tear and leave parts stuck to the slots. Just be careful; I had to take quite a bit of time clearing small parts of sticker off >.>
2.) With a Thermaltake Frio installed and Vengeance in place in slots A2 and B2 (Asus recommend populating these first), there is *no* room left to use slots A1 and B1 with more Vengeance. The Frio blocks slot A1. Ram with lower heat spreaders might fit, I don't know.
It looks like one hell of a lovely board, and I think I'm going to have a fun weekend testing it
QuoteYou could do a Asrock Extreme 6 review. Same price than the Sabertooth. Asrock boards are showing to be very good today.Quote
Im pretty sure the word you were looking for was bought not brought.QuoteWe've always disliked companies continuing to sell you a product after you've brought it, and this sticker here can be put in that category. Ordinarily this would be a minor issue, but it's vital if manufacturers do want to put sticky things in places you need that the sticker is of the very finest quality, otherwise you have the problem we had. Gently pulling it off it decided to leave bits of it behind. A real pain to clean up. If we've brought the item we know how great it is
wow nice one from asus, shocked by price in positive way Quote
QuoteGood stuff VonBlade.
Nice review; seeing all these close up photos, I feel like borging together a Sabertooth-est cover out of aluminium for a future build. Teh ideas are aflowing.Quote
Nice review; seeing all these close up photos, I feel like borging together a Sabertooth-est cover out of aluminium for a future build. Teh ideas are aflowing.Quote
Too many awesome looking new boards with all more or less the same stuff on em coming out. 
How's a guy to chose what to swap out for.
dunno bout this one though with the shrowd over most of the mobo, on one hand it looks cleaner, on the other seems like the likely hood of dust getting in is actually greater and then you'd have to remove it to clean it anyway. and weather it would actually help with cooling is another thing.
seems a bit pricey too here's the price at one of my local shops. Our Price: $9999.00
That must be one hell of a board
Quote
How's a guy to chose what to swap out for.
dunno bout this one though with the shrowd over most of the mobo, on one hand it looks cleaner, on the other seems like the likely hood of dust getting in is actually greater and then you'd have to remove it to clean it anyway. and weather it would actually help with cooling is another thing.
seems a bit pricey too here's the price at one of my local shops. Our Price: $9999.00
That must be one hell of a board
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Originally Posted by GameOverAUS
Too many awesome looking new boards with all more or less the same stuff on em coming out. How's a guy to chose what to swap out for. dunno bout this one though with the shrowd over most of the mobo, on one hand it looks cleaner, on the other seems like the likely hood of dust getting in is actually greater and then you'd have to remove it to clean it anyway. and weather it would actually help with cooling is another thing. seems a bit pricey too here's the price at one of my local shops. Our Price: $9999.00 That must be one hell of a board |
QuoteYup, i know that. Typical Asian run computer shops around here, they don't know what they actually stock or what hardware is used for what.
The same place also told some guy that IDE is the same as Sata.
well yes it performs the same function but it's not the sameQuote
The same place also told some guy that IDE is the same as Sata.
well yes it performs the same function but it's not the same
QuoteI really really like this board and would be interested in getting this and an i5 2500k if I didn't have a sneaking suspiscion that they'd release 1154 socket in 3 month's time...Quote
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Originally Posted by SirPhilby
I really really like this board and would be interested in getting this and an i5 2500k if I didn't have a sneaking suspiscion that they'd release 1154 socket in 3 month's time... |
QuoteQuote:
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Originally Posted by SirPhilby
I really really like this board and would be interested in getting this and an i5 2500k if I didn't have a sneaking suspiscion that they'd release 1154 socket in 3 month's time... |
EDIT: Even though the CPU costs like £2300.Quote
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Originally Posted by adamjamesroe
No, its all about Socket 1567; would love some company to release a consumer level mobo that supports this 8 Core 16 Threads of pure Xeon X7550 Power!!! EDIT: Even though the CPU costs like £2300. |
QuoteAwesome mobo, the thermal Armor really does work and adding the assist fan on the board really helps to blow the hot air away from the cpu and ram slots. I got a -5c degree change in most censors on the board. Adding a 5.99 assist fan is worth the investment. I haven't overclocked my i5 2500k yet I just have the intel heat sink on the cpu so I'm only going to oc it to maybe 4.3 or so. I just need a little assistance on how to oc the cpu with the Asus bios.Quote
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