The ASUS Sabertooth Motherboard -- in "Cases & Cooling"

BonzaiDuck

Lifer
Jun 30, 2004
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Funny when this model motherboard first appeared a couple processor generations earlier, I wasn't paying a lot of attention, but I was whole-hotdog for ducting mods for cooling:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-13131976-L08A

There are variations of the board for X79/LGA-2011:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131801

and AM3+:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131877

but neither of the latter two in any way reflect the ducted mobo cooling of the socket-1150 model.

for the Z87 model, ASUS deploys two 40mm fans -- one built-in to the I/O plate in case rear, and another "option" fan only indicated by the little square plate on the mobo shroud with four corner screws.

So here's the point for all those comfortable with the general tedium of projects on this and other Anand forums. You could pretty much do the same thing for any other motherboard (including the Sabertooths that have modest or no motherboard shroud like the socket-1150 model. With an Xacto knife and some foam art-board, using a 1:1 scale top-down picture of the mobo, you could cut your own mobo shroud, drop it onto the mobo and secure it in some way that elevates it slightly to allow the restricted airflow, and then build into it some 40mm fan "option-opportunities," using something like the Sunon Maglev:

http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/su40ma.html

I've experimented with the earlier 40mm Maglev model, which didn't have a tach-wire. These use so little amperage that you could easily give them thermal control from the right mobo fan-ports, and probably not farfetched that you could wire two in parallel -- powered off the same fan plug.

In my "BonzaiDuck's Big Adventure" here around 2007, I had two San-Ace 120x38mm exhaust fans -- one for the CPU and the other sucking air from a duct pulling air from above and below the motherboard. So I used warmer internal case air passed through the narrow space of the mobo. But that was an oversized server-case mod. We'd like to use more compact case real-estate, wouldn't we?

The ASUS folks certainly improved on that idea, by pulling exterior air into the mobo duct with the small fan. The output leaving the ducted board would then be pulled back out through the CPU exhaust.

Ultimately, whether you buy the Sabertooth fitted like the socket-1150 model, or build-it-yourself, it really boils down to: (a) whether the board provides the OTHER features you want and need and (b) whether you want to spend the time fiddling with something like this if you choose any other motherboard.

Granted -- once you have a rectangular foam-board "plate" to fit, there's not much more "kindergarten" play-time of bending, gluing and other tasks.

With the heatsinks -- some with heatpipes -- and solid-state components used with mobos these days, it seems the limited returns to such a project are even more diminished.
 

Zardnok

Senior member
Sep 21, 2004
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Thanks for the link on the fan; one of my Sabertooth fans recently developed a squeal after 19 months so I unplugged it yesterday until I could find a replacement.

As for developing a custom shroud, it could be interesting, but would art foam retain heat? May need to buy a smallish sheet of ABS plastic and use a dremel to cut it out.
 

BonzaiDuck

Lifer
Jun 30, 2004
15,891
1,554
126
Thanks for the link on the fan; one of my Sabertooth fans recently developed a squeal after 19 months so I unplugged it yesterday until I could find a replacement.

As for developing a custom shroud, it could be interesting, but would art foam retain heat? May need to buy a smallish sheet of ABS plastic and use a dremel to cut it out.

Retain heat? No -- not in any significant way. Nor is it conductive, so no risk there. It's superior to Lexan for the construction, and inferior because you can't see through it. 2'x3' piece at Target or Michaels costs about $3 to $5. You can fold it by merely slicing the paper backing on one side; you can glue it with special foam glue from a hobby shop.

Lexan you can bend at right angles or shape with a heat-gun. But it's more expensive. For just building ducts you don't need to see through, the art-board is tip-top -- the way to go . . .

For a motherboard duct, you just need a flat plate with holes cut for PCI-E slots, maybe fan wires, USB wires etc.

Again -- on the heat-retention angle. I think some of the physicists and engineers would have something to say: to retain heat, the material has to have "mass." Art-board has none. It might be a good thermal insulator -- per your typical Igloo camping cooler. But you're just pushing air through narrow spaces with a duct -- to take the heat off the components and exhaust it.
 
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