Allegations of Unusually High Failure Rate Among Ryzen 5000 and 500 Series Motherboards by System Integrator

leadeater · February 18, 2021

10 minutes ago, Bombastinator said:

Like agp?

Nah like SXM2 or like this (below) which is the CPU and Memory expansion board for a DL560 Gen9 (for CPU 3 & 4)

OmniPower · February 18, 2021

Let me add my disappointing story to this topic, which makes me glad it wasn't just me having terrible luck. I bought all the top of the line components about 2 months ago for my first ever AMD ATX build. All builds I had done in the past had been Intel CPUs and mostly Asus components. I carried over some of the components of my previous build to this one and started building as soon as I had the rest. As you all are very aware, it wasn't easy getting these premium components due to the pandemic, scalpers, supply issues, etc.

Originally the first motherboard I went with was the ASUS AMD AM4 ROG Strix X570-E Gaming ATX Motherboard, when I was done with the build it didn't post. I ran the gamut of troubleshooting steps, including random unrelated suggestions I saw posted in various forums. It would never post BIOS using PCIe x16 Slot 1, just a black no signal screen(no matter if it was HDMI or DP) and Q Error Code 02 with the VGA and BOOT troubleshooting LEDs lit up on the mobo. When I tried PCIe Slot 2 it had no issues which allowed me to update BIOS, drivers, etc using that slot. I even tried other hardware like my old video card(Asus ROG Strix 1080Ti OC Edition), different RAM and a different Power Supply to try to get it to post with Slot 1 and nothing worked. So I contacted Asus support... after running out of troubleshooting tips as well scripted responses they deemed the Mobo was defective and recommended I either return it to the seller or RMA it with them. So I decided to return it to Newegg and try purchasing a completely different mobo model from Asus again. This time I went with a newer/pricier X570 mobo, the Asus ROG Crosshair VIII Dark Hero ATX AM4 Motherboard which at the time was just as hard to find as the new CPUs/GPUs. I rebuilt my system on this new mobo just to have the same exact issue with no post, the same Q Error Code 02 with the VGA and BOOT troubleshooting LEDs light up again. On top of it all PCIe Slot 2 would post just fine, it let me get into BIOS where I updated first to the non beta BIOS. When those updates didn't work, I went to the latest beta BIOS update just to be disappointed yet again. I proceeded to update all drivers, windows updates and all that using PCIe Slot 2 but whenever I would try to jump back to PCIe Slot 1, nothing but darkness.

I contacted Asus support again, went through the same steps with the support rep and when we reached the same verdict of "Return vs RMA" I decided this time to go through the RMA process. I sent them my mobo in its original box with all the accessories, they told me the process could take anywhere between 7-10 days not including shipping time. It has already been 7 days since they've received it and when I checked the progress on their website they no longer had an estimated date of completion... So now I'm waiting with very little hope that whatever mobo I get back, whether it's refurbished or brand new, will give me the same negative results... I have been extremely disappointed considering I bought what was supposed to be a "Badass top-of-the-line-PC" that doesn't post because PCIe Slot 1 was DOA on two completely different motherboard models which both had Ryzen 5000 series certification stickers on the box... It's basically the equivalent of buying an expensive sports car that won't start.

While I've been waiting to receive my RMA mobo, I've been researching this issue online and have come across various forums, articles and reddit posts talking about this issue with the x570 Motherboards as well as the 5000 series CPUs having issues... Good to know I wasn't alone but at the same time, I think something like this could have been avoided with better quality assurance testing... It's also very annoying that AMD still doesn't offer on board video on their mobos which makes troubleshooting hectic if you only have 1 GPU. Right now I still don't know if there's something wrong with my GPU or CPU since I don't have enough duplicate components for a test bench. So most likely if I run into the same issue with whatever mobo I get back from the Asus RMA, I'll have to escalate the issue further with them or take it to Best Buy's Geek Squad to have all the components diagnosed...

Sorry for the long post but this is something I needed to vent about in a place where people would understand my frustration. Thanks to those who read all the way through and if anyone has a potential fix I would be very interested in hearing about it in case I run into it again...