The First TUF Board

Thermal shock test? Check. Vibration test? Check. Mechanical shock test? Check. moisture resistance test? Check. Solder bath test? Check. The list continues on the certificate of reliability issued by an accredited third-party laboratory that's found with every unit of ASUS' latest motherboard, the SABERTOOTH 55i.

Yes, in case you're still puzzled, the first ASUS' TUF motherboard, the SABERTOOTH 55i is now available in the market. 'TUF', pronounced 'tough', here stands for 'The Ultimate Force', which is ASUS' new series of motherboards that are geared towards stability, durability and all-round compatibility. To ensure that it lives up to its claims, all the capacitors and MOSFETS used on the SABERTOOTH have to pass rigorous testing usually meant for military class components.

It's not the first time that we have heard of PC vendors going for the durability and stability angle, even to the extent of boasting military-grade components. MSI for instance has outfitted some of its graphics cards with military grade components, like the MSI N260GTX Lightning Black Edition. Gigabyte too has been pushing the reliability slant earlier than most, with solid capacitors and an obsession with power phases present in its 'Ultra Durable' motherboards.

So it's not surprising that ASUS has chosen to travel down this route too. Besides the tough military grade hardware, the SABERTOOTH 55i also comes with the vendor's new ceramic-based heatsink coating technology that claims to improve heat dissipation on heatsinks. Throw in the usual multi-phase power design with active phase switching and you can see where ASUS is going with this new motherboard.

Going with the rugged theme, the ASUS SABERTOOTH 55i is decked in fatigue colors of grays and browns.