Question 1

Is the motherboard compatible Windows 7?

Accepted Answer

Yes, of course. Be careful with this motherboard though. It didnt work when I bought it and needed to call support and update the bios before it even turned on. But other than that it is a great board, I have had 0 problems with it since then.

Question 2

Will this be able to support windows 7?

Accepted Answer

Yes. I am running windows 7 with this motherboard. Latest ASUS Bios 4608 supports Ivy Bridge and the Xeon E5 CPU. I was 6 years between builds and moved to water cooling, 40" monitor, etc. Do some research, this board is very popular and there are plenty of Youtubes to help configure it.

Question 3

I'm thinking about buying a NewEgg combo with the i7-4930k processor and G.Skill Trident X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2400 (PC3 19200). First question: It seems this memory might be overkill for this Sabertooth x79 motherboard, because the mono only supports up to DDR3 1866? Second question: It appears this mono has 8 RAM slots, so if I get 2x8GB memory, I'm going to have 6 unused memory slots. Is it better to have all 8 slots filled with 2GB memory (for 16GB)? Or are 2 sticks going to work just as well? Thanks very much!

Accepted Answer

Honestly it is going to come down to what you are using the rig for. If you are just gaming like I am 8 gigs would be plenty especially at the 2400 speeds but if you plan on doing Any sort of graphic design or development then I'd go 16g. As per the module size it depends on how much your willing to spend later down the road because if you fill more with smaller modules you would get the benefit of the quad channel memory but it wouldn't necessarily be cost effective for upgrades down the road. I recommend the 2x8gig just because you never know what's down the road.

Question 4

What voltage of memory is supported or best suited for this board? I can't seem to find this anywhere.

Accepted Answer

Memory voltage is determined by the CPU in use since the memory controller is embedded there. According to the Sabertooth user manual (p 2-6), DIMM voltage below 1.65V is recommended.

Hope this helps. If you want to confirm this info, the user manual can be downloaded from ASUS' support website.

Question 5

Seriously considering this board for my next build, but a little put off by some of the issues being reported, such as bent pins, and problems booting. This will be only my third build and I have neither the time, patience, or expertise to go through a lot of brain damage. If I'm reading the reviews correctly it looks like most of the boot problems are with the new Ivy Bridge CPU. I'd be happy with a Sandy Bridge if it that's the case. Would I be less likely to have the boot problems with a Sandy Bridge? I'm also about 6mos away from the build and is it possible the Sandy Bridge issues will be worked out by then?

Accepted Answer

The only Ivy Bridge issues that I'm aware of are probably simple user error. The motherboard won't boot with an Ivy Bridge processor if the BIOS is not up to date. Asus has a built in feature for this motherboard that allows you to update the BIOS with only a thumb drive and a single button press (with no CPU even installed in the motherboard.) I'm using this motherboard with an Ivy Bridge and when I first set it up it wouldn't boot because if this issue. I downloaded the BIOS to a thumb drive per the instructions Asus has on their site and then used this method to update it. Absolutely no issues since. I believe most bent pin issues people complain about are related to incorrect troubleshooting of this problem. Hope that helps.

Question 6

Just bought this board, upon boot it doesn't post, shows a red cpu light. pulled everything off tested one at a time everything seems to be working. CPU is set right, memory set in correct slots and on approved list, bought the cpu and motherboard combo from new egg so I figured it would be compatible. Forums have had quite a few customers with smilier issues but no good answers. Any suggestions?

Accepted Answer

I looked at my board, one relight by cpu flashes , second red light comes on, first light flashes one more time, second light stays on for 4 seconds then off and nothing else on the board thru boot.

I have had great success with Asus's tech support.  Specifically the online chat 
www service asus com/ #!consumer/ csn9
They helped solve a board problem on a different system.  You can locate the phone support also.  
What I would do first to diagnose the problem is remove everything except memory and CPU.  When you boot you can hear beeps, this can help Asus help you.  Then I would try CPU only again listen to the beeps.  This will tell if the system board/CPU/memory are misbehaving.  If you get the same beeps that is most likely a faulty board.
Any difference between components will help find the problem.
good luck
dave

Question 7

Can Sabertooth support DDR3 2400 memory?

Accepted Answer

Short Answer: Yes.

Long Answer: Since the board doesn't officially support that speed,  you will need to make sure that you have the speed (and possibly timing) set in the bios to the memory that you have. It will also be (very!) overclocked at that speed, so make sure you have proper cooling for the memory sticks. Try googling the specific memory along with the mobo and see if anyone else has had any problems with that ram. In other words, while yes it will run, be careful!

I personally err on the side of caution and only go with officially supported memory, but that's just me and plenty of people don't do that and have systems that run just fine. Good luck!

Question 8

Will someone confirm that this board does in fact have two USB 3.0 connectors, allowing me to use the FOUR USB 3.0 ports on my rig's front panel?

Thanks in advance.

Accepted Answer

Hello. Of the onboard USB connectors, only one is listed as USB 3.0 for handling front panel connections. The other four are listed as USB 2.0.

Question 9

Does this board support SLI?

Accepted Answer

Yes, I'm running two GTX 670s in SLI with no problems.

Question 10

What is a good cpu heatsink/fan for this mb? Water cooled is not an option.

Accepted Answer

Since August 7, 2013 I have been using this motherboard with an intel i7-3930 cpu.  The cpu is cooled with a Zalman cooler (not water) and does very well.  Unless you plan to do something other than normal processing including video, photo processing etc.  you should not have a problem as long as you use a good cpu cooler.  I took the Zalman from a previous computer and had to get a clip kit for the LAG2011 socket (Newegg carries them for about $9.99).  The zalman was heavy and hard to install but worked well for my use.  I process a lot of video and photo work and have never had a heat problem.  Good luck.

Questions & Answers