ASUS, one of the world's leading vendors of computer platforms and motherboards, is expected roll out a new series of high-end motherboards, designed to provide users with support for the latest hardware, but in a high-performance platform. The new series, titled TUF Series, will debut with a new P55-based motherboard, the ASUS SaberTooth 55i, which will enable support for LGA1156-compatible Core i5 and Core i7 processors. Although ASUS is yet to officially detail the product, the board has already leaked online in a hands-on session.

 

The gang over at Xfastest.com have been lucky enough to snatch an early sample of ASUS' upcoming high-end enthusiast motherboard, providing us with some pictures and a couple of technical specifications of what this board has to offer. According to available information, the new board will feature a 12+2 phase power design, support for Intel's latest Lynnfield processors, compatible with the new LGA1156 socket, four DDR3 memory slots and two PCI-Express x16 slots that provide support for both SLI and CrossFire multi-GPU technologies.

 

Additional features of the new SaberTooth board include a CeraM!X coating for the chipset and MOSFET heatsinks, which is said to enable a better cooling and increased performance for the board's built-in hardware. There's also a T.Probe chip, one eSATA and no less than eight SATA ports, Gigabit Ethernet, 7.1-channel audio, Power and Reset buttons and also a bundled CoolMem! frame, which will enable users to cool down the RAM modules by installing a fan.

 

Specifically designed for performance, the upcoming SaberTooth motherboard from ASUS seems to have been developed on one of the company's previously showcased design projects, namely the Marine Cool concept, which the Taiwanese company showcased during this year's CeBIT 2009 computer show, in Hanover, Germany. We still need to find out the details regarding the board's pricing and availability.