Z170 Hero vs Z170 Sabertooth Mark 1

[BigChimp97]

So i will be upgradint my system soon from my old faithful FX 8350 to an i7 6700k and i've been looking at both the Hero and the Sabertooth boards but i'm having a hard time deciding between the two. If anyone could help me out with pros and cons between them then it would be much appreciated, as im having a hard time finding big differences between them.

 

Thanks!!!

[jj9987]

Mark 1 has dual LAN, Hero only one

Hero can support higher frequency memory

Different sound chip (can't tell if either is better than other, I'm happy with my Hero board and it's sound)

Different design (Sabertooth has armor and is durability-oriented while Hero is more gaming-build oriented)

 

These are the key differences. Rest is for you to decide, which one you like more and which features matter more.

 

EDIT: Hero has RGB chipset logo. Also, am not sure, but Sabertooth might be having 2 additional fans under the armor. Not sure if they are optional or actually running there (and how noisy they would be).

[jnkokseby]

Doing a quick google search found this
Hero Pros: (Compared to Sabertooth z170 mk1)

+Better OC

+Handles DRAM better
+And a slightly better BIOS

+AI Suite OC
+3733 Mhz RAM

+(I guess better sound card not sure though)

+DTS support

+Fancy LED's

Saber Pros: (Compared to Hero)
+Workstation oriented

+Better fan control

+3 PCIe 1.0

+8 SATA ports

+ 6 + 3 asst. fan

+Better armor with fans under to keep it cool

[Zyndo]

2 minutes ago, jj9987 said:

Mark 1 has dual LAN, Hero only one

Hero can support higher frequency memory

Different sound chip (can't tell if either is better than other, I'm happy with my Hero board and it's sound)

Different design (Sabertooth has armor and is durability-oriented while Hero is more gaming-build oriented)

 

These are the key differences. Rest is for you to decide, which one you like more and which features matter more.

Yup, also, the sabertooth has 12 power phases, the hero has 10.

Hero has a Q code troubleshooting feature, the mark 1 does not.

the mark 1 is more expensive.

the mark 1 has fans underneath its armor shielding in order deliver air flow across the motherboard. the hero doesn't need this since it doesn't have that motherboard shielding like the mark 1 has, but hey, thats something.

the audio is no better on the hero than on the mark 1, but the hero comes with better audio software to allow advanced tuning and whatnot.

The mark 1 comes with more fan connectors, though i'm sure the hero has more than enough for most peoples needs.

I believe the TUF series motherboards come with a 4 year warranty from Asus, rather than the industry standard 3 years most other motherboards come with. (though you will have to double check this fact to make sure)

 

Realistically, other than the hero coming with better memory OC and a Q code troubleshooting feature, there isn't really anything significantly different about these boards other than the aesthetic. Not anything that consumers could really take advantage of anyway (like having a second LAN port). Even the extra 1 year warranty is largely irrelevant, because if the component is to fail it will likely either be in the first month, or many years later at the end of its life. Its highly unlikely to break between year 3 and year 4.

[BigChimp97]

25 minutes ago, Zyndo said:

Yup, also, the sabertooth has 12 power phases, the hero has 10.

Hero has a Q code troubleshooting feature, the mark 1 does not.

the mark 1 is more expensive.

the mark 1 has fans underneath its armor shielding in order deliver air flow across the motherboard. the hero doesn't need this since it doesn't have that motherboard shielding like the mark 1 has, but hey, thats something.

the audio is no better on the hero than on the mark 1, but the hero comes with better audio software to allow advanced tuning and whatnot.

The mark 1 comes with more fan connectors, though i'm sure the hero has more than enough for most peoples needs.

I believe the TUF series motherboards come with a 4 year warranty from Asus, rather than the industry standard 3 years most other motherboards come with. (though you will have to double check this fact to make sure)

 

Realistically, other than the hero coming with better memory OC and a Q code troubleshooting feature, there isn't really anything significantly different about these boards other than the aesthetic. Not anything that consumers could really take advantage of anyway (like having a second LAN port). Even the extra 1 year warranty is largely irrelevant, because if the component is to fail it will likely either be in the first month, or many years later at the end of its life. Its highly unlikely to break between year 3 and year 4.

By the looks of it. Its whether or not i want higher Ram speeds or a longer warranty. Does the Hero really oc the processor better than the sabertooth or is it how it always has been where the chip is the more important factor?

[Zyndo]

well the mark 1 has 12 (8+4) power phases, the hero has 10 power phases (I think its 8+2 but Asus doesn't have it listed on site). I'm not sure that the hero WOULD overclock the cpu better than the mark 1.

 

that being said, USUALLY your limiting factor in overclocking is either your chip, or your cooling solution. You almost always run into thermal issues before you run into motherboard OC issues.

 

Honestly these motherboards are pretty close. If you're okay with running 2133 or 2400 MHz memory (which is completely fine if your load is gaming, there is almost no performance difference with faster memory) and you don't need the Qcode on the Hero, then just make your decision based on aesthetics. Chose whichever one you think will make you feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside when you look over at your rig. or whichever is cheaper.

[BigChimp97]

On 10/07/2016 at 6:46 PM, Zyndo said:

well the mark 1 has 12 (8+4) power phases, the hero has 10 power phases (I think its 8+2 but Asus doesn't have it listed on site). I'm not sure that the hero WOULD overclock the cpu better than the mark 1.

 

that being said, USUALLY your limiting factor in overclocking is either your chip, or your cooling solution. You almost always run into thermal issues before you run into motherboard OC issues.

 

Honestly these motherboards are pretty close. If you're okay with running 2133 or 2400 MHz memory (which is completely fine if your load is gaming, there is almost no performance difference with faster memory) and you don't need the Qcode on the Hero, then just make your decision based on aesthetics. Chose whichever one you think will make you feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside when you look over at your rig. or whichever is cheaper.

Ah fair enough they do sound very similar. Could you explain what Qcodes are? I saw that it was one of the differences, but im not sure what it means ahah. Better hope that i get a good CPU for OC'ing then ahah. Thanks for help though

[Zyndo]

well most modern motherboards nowadays have Q-LED's These are little LED's on your motherboard that light up during boot when activating specific components. They are also responsible for lighting up when an individual component is experiencing an issue. For example if you tried overclocking your RAM, and you went too far and you couldn't get into windows anymore; Your motherboard would light up the LED corresponding to your RAM to signify you have a RAM problem. The issue with this is, you now have to GUESS what your RAM problem is. All it tells you is that there is a RAM problem, it may not at all be related to your RAM overclock (in this example). A Q-Code takes that one step further by lighting up your RAM LED, as well as displaying a 2 digit code on your motherboard (in the case of the Hero, the code is located in the top right corner). If you get one of these error codes, you can pull out your motherboard manual, look up what that code means, and it will accurately tell you what is wrong. It takes out a lot of the guesswork in troubleshooting. It can also occasionally tell you things that are wrong that may not have a Q-LED assigned to them.

 

I've never used one before, so I don't know more than that. But from my understanding, basically Q-Codes are an advanced troubleshooting tool.

[BigChimp97]

On 11/07/2016 at 8:07 PM, Zyndo said:

well most modern motherboards nowadays have Q-LED's These are little LED's on your motherboard that light up during boot when activating specific components. They are also responsible for lighting up when an individual component is experiencing an issue. For example if you tried overclocking your RAM, and you went too far and you couldn't get into windows anymore; Your motherboard would light up the LED corresponding to your RAM to signify you have a RAM problem. The issue with this is, you now have to GUESS what your RAM problem is. All it tells you is that there is a RAM problem, it may not at all be related to your RAM overclock (in this example). A Q-Code takes that one step further by lighting up your RAM LED, as well as displaying a 2 digit code on your motherboard (in the case of the Hero, the code is located in the top right corner). If you get one of these error codes, you can pull out your motherboard manual, look up what that code means, and it will accurately tell you what is wrong. It takes out a lot of the guesswork in troubleshooting. It can also occasionally tell you things that are wrong that may not have a Q-LED assigned to them.

 

I've never used one before, so I don't know more than that. But from my understanding, basically Q-Codes are an advanced troubleshooting tool.

Sorry for the late response but thanks for clearing that up. I've always wondered what those codes were on the more modern and expensive boards mean, but it seems like it would definitely help me if i run into any issues.

[Sintezza]

On 10-7-2016 at 7:46 PM, Zyndo said:

well the mark 1 has 12 (8+4) power phases, the hero has 10 power phases (I think its 8+2 but Asus doesn't have it listed on site). I'm not sure that the hero WOULD overclock the cpu better than the mark 1.

 

 

The Hero is using a IR35201 pwm which is a fully digital controled 8+0 phase flexmode pwm for the main vrm, which can run in either 8+0 phase mode or 6+2 mode.

In case of the Hero it runs in 6+2 mode.

They took 4 phases doubled them to 8 pwm (virtual) phases using 4x IR3599 phase doublers for VCC.

And the additional +2 phases are used for VCCGT.

Mosfets used are Texas Instruments (TI) Nexfet powerpacks CSD87350Q5D which are 40A dual -N channel mosfets. high-side and low-side fet in one package.

cicuitry for VCCSA and VCCio is located below the socket.

10K caps, 60A Microfine alloy inductors.

 

The Sabertooth Z170 Mark1 is using the same IR35201 pwm for the main vrm.

In running in 6+2 mode aswell.

4 phases doubled to 8 pwm phases using 4x IR3599 phase doublers for VCC.

And +2 phases doubled to 4 pwm phases for VCCGT.

Mosfets on this board are highquality powerpacks from ON semiconductor, the NTMFS4C06N and NTFMS4C09N

cicuitry for VCCSA and VCCio is located below the socket.

10K caps, inductors unkown.

 

For the note input rails you need for Z170.

- VCC = Vcore.

- VCCGT = iGPU.

- VCCSA = System agent

- VCCio = qpi/vtt

- Dram.

 

TL/DR

 

Technically speaking, the Ti mosfets are slightly better for overclocking on the Hero.

But i think that the average user wont notice the diffrence atall.