Do I really need to use the extra mini fans on the Asus Sabertooth Z97 Mark 1? (TUF Thermal Armor)

your evil twin

your evil twin

your evil twin

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Last week I ordered an expensive "pro-gamer" midi tower system using the system configurator.

I went with an i7 4790K 4.0Ghz (that I'm having overclocked to 4.5Ghz), and for the graphics I chose two MSI GTX 970s in SLI. For RAM I went with Kingston HyperX 16GB (2x8GB) 2400MHz. For hard drives I went with two 500gb Samsung SSDs (for Windows, games library, recording gameplay videos and for video editing) and a big 3TB haddrive for storage.

While I want my system to be fast and powerful, I also want it to be quiet, so I phoned up and got the case changed to a special "Noise Dampened" Lian Li PC-7FNWX and I got the CPU cooling fan changed to the "Be Quiet! Dark Rock 3" Also the reason I chose the MSI 970s is that its fans only turn on when the card gets hot when playing games; during general web browsing etc it stops the fans. Everything to get it as quiet as possible.

For the motherboard I chose the Asus TUF Sabertooth Z97 Mark 1 Intel Z97 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard

MB-607-AS_89054_600.jpg


I don't know much about motherboards, so I chose it because:
1) it was one of the most expensive
2) aesthetically, it looked really cool
3) I searched online and it had positive reviews, and reviewers were pleasantly surprised that the Thermal Armour wasn't just a gimmick, it did have a good effect
4) it is supposed to help keep things cool, and since I'm having an overclocked processor and two graphics cards in SLI, I figured cooling could be important.

However, now that I've fully read through one of the reviews I've discovered that the one downside is that the motherboard actually includes its own mini cooling fans, and those fans are REALLY LOUD. In this kitguru review, the last paragraph of the "Thermal Armor Features" section: http://www.kitguru.net/components/m...s-sabertooth-z97-mark-1-motherboard-review/3/

With 35- and 40-mm fans mounted to the board, spinning at over 3700rpm each under an idle state in Windows, there is no denying that Thermal Armour becomes a loud solution. At load speeds of over 5100rpm, the noise is borderline irritating. Using the standard fan speed level, the two small fans were clearly perceivable over the rest of our test system’s components at idle.
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And again on page 13, the last page of the review:

A downside of the Thermal Armor design is its two fans. Although not critical to stable operation, the 35- and 40-mm fans are audible under idle operation and borderline irritating under high loads. I would be inclined to use just one unit, or none at all.
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It seems that my efforts getting all these quiet components may end up for nothing if the motherboard has these really loud miniature fans!

thermal-armour.png


The review does say "I would be inclined to use just one unit, or none at all," so I'm wondering if it might be safe to use this motherboard without the fans. My fear is that if the motherboard is covered in all this "thermal armour" and doesn't have these fans blowing air through it then maybe heat and/or dust will build up, so the armour would have have the opposite effect to what was intended.

I haven't a clue, though. kitguru don't suggest that using the fans could have some kind of downside, and I read another review which also suggested the fans were optional.

Overclockers hasn't started building my system yet because they are still waiting for the graphics cards and the CPU cooler. Should I ask them to replace the Sabertooth Z97 Mark 1 with the Mark 2 version? The Mark 2 is essentially the same motherboard but without the armour and fans. (It also has slightly fewer connectivity options, though, and it is slightly cheaper.) But I really like the aesthetics of the Mark 1 armour! I don't want to change to the armourless Mark 2 unless I have to.

So, what do you guys think?
 
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I doubt theyre needed tbh. Im using the Z87 maximus 6 formula, which has a similair armour shield on it. Board doesnt heat up at all and it doesnt feature fans like theese.
 
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Ah thanks everyone! If I stick with the Sabertooth I'm simply ask them to not install the fans then. :)

Divine Pain said:
edit: I would recommend the Hero board http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-608-AS&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=2811

Matches with your GPUs :) Unless youre dead set in the sabertooth board and the 5 yr warranty if that is what youre after.
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My only concern is that I think my case will have a blue lighting scheme, so I'm not sure how good a red motherboard will look.

CA-505-LL_49099_600.jpg


Of course that's an image of an empty case, I dunno how blue everything will look when it's full of components.

Originally I was reluctant to get the red MSI graphics cards for that reason, until Nocky24 posted to show off his MSIs inside his blue-lit case:

Nocky24 said:
Didn't think the MSIs would look very good in my case as it's a blue theme, but I was wrong. Not a great pic as the S4 camera is naff in low light, but you get the idea.

20140925_211425_zps9d148229.jpg
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So yeah, those two red MSI cards actually look quite nice in the blue lighting, it's a nice contrast/highlight. But if the entire motherboard looked like that? Not sure. I'm definitely willing to consider it, though!
 
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You don't need to install the fans. You don't even need the plastic motherboard cover for that matter. My friend has the Z77 version and took the fans off because they were noisy. His system has been fine 24/7 for a couple of years so far. All the motherboard temps also seem fine.

No need to change the board, no need to put up with the noise.
 
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