ASUS ROG X470-F Gaming things you need to know before purchase

[exp0devel]

I bought ASUS ROG X470-F Gaming motherboard for my high-end 2700x Ryzen build. It works pretty well but I figured several frustrating issues with it after 5 months of usage that I would like to share with community here. This is a high-end ROG motherboard and I expected quality for the money. Apparently this is not the case with ROG brand anymore. There are hardware and software issues with this motherboard and it is nearly impossible to reasonably explain it to anyone on the Asus team.

 

1) Support team responds according to their standard answer sheet and is not helpful at all. And trying to post anything on official ROG forums is a tough quest. User is required first to PM some dude on the forum in order to get your profile verified to be able to post. I did. I never got verified. Just being able to find his profile and message button took me some time.

 

2 No proper VBE (VESA BIOS Extensions) support. This is especially annoying with ultrawide setups. Latest motherboard BIOS still does not have proper VBE support and will not properly detect your GPU until after OS boots up. Meaning that every time you boot it looks like your OS is having seizures because of re-scaling. And forget about nice looking smooth boot loaders like Clover. I dual boot Ubuntu and Windows. And this frustrates me every time I have to watch my PC boot.

 

3) RAM OC is unreliable. I am not very well experienced with this, however sometimes mobo fails to boot with XMP profile enabled,  and motherboards leds indicating RAM failure.  Boots up after few restarts, sometimes resetting all the settings back to defaults. RAM sticks are ok. Tested with AsRock motherboard.

 

4) Terrible ASUS software. System monitoring and control.

 

Asus AI Suite is terrible and there is no SpeedFan support for this motherboard and only option you are left with is purchasing Argus Monitor. Software that comes with the motherboard is terrible. Other than ASUS AI Suite not being able to properly install itself (sometimes some of the utilities are missing even tho I use same installation package and tick same options) it is also caused my PC to crash. I get BSODs with latest AI Suite for my motherboard. Downloading newer AI Suite for higher tier mobo fixes this particular issues but comes with other problems like not being able to take full control over your fan speeds. 

 

Advertised AI Quick Charge just doesn't work. I've tried multiple different versions. It just sits there in your trays with disconnected icon over it. Other people reported this on the internet. But ASUS just doesn't care. You bought the product already.

 

ASUS Aura has major security issues and has been used by cheaters to execute malicious code in games. Any game using EAC (pretty much every Unreal Engine 4 game) will not launch unless you manually kill LigthingControl process from task manager. According to EAC team, Asus have been informed about the issue and have done nothing.

 

Some rant.

Idk why business still insist on using proprietary software solutions for motherboard software. It gets outdated very quickly, they never fix the bugs and/or listen to the community feedback. And even every software iteration is often exclusive to one specific motherboard which means using newer versions for other same chipset/line up motherboards does not often work.

 

I owned Gigabyte motherboard before and it had similar issues with the software, however I found a workaround by using newer version of software intended for other motherboards on same chipset. However once product was officially out of life cycle you basically receive no more updates for the motherboard software and often manufacturers purge/remove download links and files. I expected quality from the pricy ROG brand. Product quality, after sales support quality and software quality. Apparently I expected too much.

 

So after 5 months I can't use any of the advertised ASUS features like quick charging and RGB control or even monitor/control my system sensors without help of paid thirty-party software. Definitely do not recommend. 

 

 

 

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Edited May 20, 2019 by exp0devel
Added GOP/VBIOS status screenshot

[2SidedPolygon]

Yeah, ROG boards really aren't the best choice this gen. Gigabyte is the way to go if you ask me. Thanks for the informative post in any case, OP.

 

Also, as a side note, the whole XMP not working thing probably has less to do with the board and more to do with, well, XMP. Just clock your RAM manually.

[GoldenLag]

Asus boards with exception of the cream of the cream of their boards have been "meh" in the latest generations. Which have been known for quite some time.

[Jurrunio]

1. Giving fixed answers is pretty much standard behaviour in the industry

 

3. All boards can do this, even boards with the same AGESA revisions in their bioses can act differently.

[luigibell78]

Must be general Asus board issues. I bought a b540 prime plus and have pretty much the same observations and issues you have. 

 

Should have went with msi?

[exp0devel]

4 minutes ago, luigibell78 said:

Must be general Asus board issues. I bought a b540 prime plus and have pretty much the same observations and issues you have. 

 

Should have went with msi?

I think all manufacturers are pretty much same when it comes to software and customer support. And there is a room for improvement and competition. I will go with whatever manufacturer figures it out first and does it right. My rant is specifically about ROG brand since it is supposed to be user friendly and premium for the price people are paying. At current state of hardware issues in the industry I can't vouch for PC gaming being 'easy' and 'accessible'. Honestly thing that made PCMR really glorious are slowly fading away and it is sad.

[miagisan]

Asus has always had shitty support ( I own one of their mobos and 2 tablets) their only saving grace is looks and I like their bios. 

 

I much prefer asrock, msi and gigabyte in terms of the hardware. 

[exp0devel]

1 hour ago, Jurrunio said:

1. Giving fixed answers is pretty much standard behaviour in the industry

  

3. All boards can do this, even boards with the same AGESA revisions in their bioses can act differently.

I understand that they need an answer sheet for common issues. But the thing is they never respond to specific, detailed and well written requests. And it's infuriating. It is like trying to talk to a wall.

[Jurrunio]

1 minute ago, exp0devel said:

I understand that they need an answer sheet for common issues. But the thing is they never respond to specific, detailed and well written requests. And it's infuriating. It is like trying to talk to a wall.

apart from Asrock which seems to hand out beta stuff you cant get elsewhere happily to complaining customers, everyone else does that or ask if you would like to RMA.

[Princess Luna]

With ASUS you're paying for the ROG Branding and not for a great experience mate.

[r2724r16]

6 hours ago, Princess Luna said:

With ASUS you're paying for the ROG Branding and not for a great experience mate.

*with newer ASUS motherboards. Older boards are fine.