ASUS TUF Z97 Mark S Motherboard Review: The Arctic Camo Special Edition
by Ian Cutress on November 10, 2014 10:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
- Asus
- TUF
- Z97
- Sabertooth
ASUS TUF Z97 Mark S In The Box
The biggest potential for in-the-box bundles is when a motherboard manufacturer releases a themed motherboard. The majority of themed motherboards are aimed at overclockers and gamers, while channel motherboards tend to be rather thin or heavy on everything. The TUF range, which is a themed range, has a large opportunity to make the purchase of something like the Mark S more of an event than it already is (especially when you opened the package and saw it was #0001).
In the box we get:
Driver Disk
Manuals
White rear IO shield
Four SATA Cables
Rigid 2-way SLI Connector
Q-Connectors
35mm and 40mm fans with assoicated screws
3 PCIe x16 slot covers
3 PCIe x1 slot covers
2 DRAM slot covers
Rear IO Dust Filter
Connector cap set
3 Thermistor cables
7 SATA caps
8 USB caps
2 Onboard USB caps
5 Audio Caps
Many thanks to...
We must thank the following companies for kindly providing hardware for our test bed:
Thank you to OCZ for providing us with PSUs and SSDs.
Thank you to G.Skill for providing us with memory.
Thank you to Corsair for providing us with an AX1200i PSU.
Thank you to MSI for providing us with the NVIDIA GTX 770 Lightning GPUs.
Thank you to Rosewill for providing us with PSUs and RK-9100 keyboards.
Thank you to ASRock for providing us with some IO testing kit.
Thank you to Cooler Master for providing us with Nepton 140XL CLCs.
Test Setup
| Test Setup | |
| Processor | Intel Core i7-4770K ES 4 Cores, 8 Threads, 3.5 GHz (3.9 GHz Turbo) |
| Motherboard | ASUS TUF Z97 Mark S |
| Cooling | Cooler Master Nepton 140XL Thermaltake TRUE Copper |
| Power Supply | OCZ 1250W Gold ZX Series Corsair AX1200i Platinum PSU |
| Memory | G.Skill RipjawsZ 4x4 GB DDR3-1600 9-11-9 Kit |
| Memory Settings | 1600 9-11-9-27 1T tRFC 240 |
| Video Cards | MSI GTX 770 Lightning 2GB (1150/1202 Boost) |
| Video Drivers | NVIDIA Drivers 337 |
| Hard Drive | OCZ Vertex 3 256GB |
| Optical Drive | LG GH22NS50 |
| Case | Open Test Bed |
| Operating System | Windows 7 64-bit SP1 |
| USB 2/3 Testing | OCZ Vertex 3 240GB with SATA->USB Adaptor |
ASUS TUF Z97 Mark S Overclocking
Experience with ASUS TUF Z97 Mark S
While the Mark S uses the Z97 chipset, it is safe to say that overclocking is not its primary concern. Some users will testify that overclocking reduces the longevity of a system, but the benefit of the TUF system is that it should last longer overall. I like overclocking on almost everything anyway, and I came into relatively few issues with the Mark S. But as mentioned, TUF is not focused in that area, and as a result the only way to really overclock the system is via the BIOS. Though if you pile in some good fan settings, there is the opportunity to perhaps knock off a few degrees on a good overclock.
Methodology:
Our standard overclocking methodology is as follows. We select the automatic overclock options and test for stability with PovRay and OCCT to simulate high-end workloads. These stability tests aim to catch any immediate causes for memory or CPU errors.
For manual overclocks, based on the information gathered from previous testing, starts off at a nominal voltage and CPU multiplier, and the multiplier is increased until the stability tests are failed. The CPU voltage is increased gradually until the stability tests are passed, and the process repeated until the motherboard reduces the multiplier automatically (due to safety protocol) or the CPU temperature reaches a stupidly high level (100ºC+). Our test bed is not in a case, which should push overclocks higher with fresher (cooler) air.
Overclock Results
As with most of the Z97 motherboards we have reviewed, our slightly-better-than-average CPU is the limiting factor. We pushed it easily to 4.6 GHz, although the temperatures were getting rather hot during OCCT loading.
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Pontius Dilate - Monday, November 10, 2014 - link
I really would have liked to see pictures of the board with the armor removed. The white PCB sounds like it could be interesting by itself.xthetenth - Monday, November 10, 2014 - link
Yeah, I'd be really interested in how it looks with just the white board, especially since it seems the thermal armor is removable. I think that'd look extra cool in a white case.futurepastnow - Monday, November 10, 2014 - link
Cheap, stupid looking plastic and cheap, stupid looking fans, neither of which serve any purpose. Looks like a winner.JaredNihilist - Monday, November 10, 2014 - link
Have the Z77 Sabertooth. Board fans still working fine and don't notice any extra noise from them. Albeit, I don't notice any benefit from them either, heat-wise - I'm sure they've stopped their fair share of dust.I didn't mind paying the extra for appearance though, I liked that it hid the rest of the board. I found the build the same as others, armour didn't impede anything. Once I upgrade though, shall definitely be removing the armour to customise its look - too scared to do it at the moment as my mainstay PC.
mexell - Monday, November 10, 2014 - link
What a colossal waste of money. However, to each his (or her) own, I suppose.nekoken - Monday, November 10, 2014 - link
I'm pretty dubious about the thermal armor, and its efficacy. I have the Sabertooth 55i and Sabertooth 990FX motherboards and have been quite happy with them. They work quite well in a wide temperature range without that plastic wrap.I'm more than dubious about a modern motherboard that has two different on motherboard fans. I don't ever plan on owning another system that needs an active cooling solution for the stuff built into the motherboard (other than SoC systems.)
xthetenth - Monday, November 10, 2014 - link
Is there any word on whether they'll release one without the thermal armor?Miqunator - Tuesday, November 11, 2014 - link
There is the Z97 mark 2 board that doesn't have the armor, haven't bothered to compare the other features so not sure if you lose something else too.xthetenth - Tuesday, November 11, 2014 - link
I'm hoping they'll do something like the mark 2 with the S coloring, because a white PCB looks super cool and they're promising it'll actually stay white. IIRC the 2 only misses out on an ethernet port and a significant fraction of the cost.CrazyElf - Monday, November 10, 2014 - link
The back might be worth something. It it will serve as a function similar to those GPU backplates, preventing warping from heavy CPU coolers and perhaps triple slot GPUs as well. Gimmicky, but potentially useful in that regard.As far as the front side, it's mostly pointless and maybe harmful (ex: the components may be cooler with the cover off). Dust I suppose, but if you have a DataVac, then this is pointless too. The only protection it might offer is if your screwdriver slips. It also will make removing GPUs a bit of a pain.
The rest of the board I think is underwhelming for the price. At $300, I expect very high end VRMs and a PLX chip.