BURNING MOTHERBOARDS AND UNSUPPORTED MEMORY = STRESS AND CONFUSION

[Nozyspy]

Hey everyone, i could really do with some advice on my new build.

So i bought a 12700k and Maximus Z690 Hero (so i could get the Asus cashback) only to read this morning that these motherboards were having trouble with a couple of the chips burning or even setting directly on fire, for an as yet unknown reason. 

 

https://wccftech.com/asus-rog-maximus-z690-hero-motherboards-might-have-a-serious-defect-several-reports-of-boards-burning-up/

Added to this is the fact that i have been waiting for ages for some DDR5 memory to come in stock anywhere before i can even start the build. Yesterday i was browsing Overclockers UK and happened to see some Corsair Dominator Platinum 5200mhz CL40 and 5600mhz CL36 on sale. I jumped on the 5600mhz thinking 'finally!' only to realise when i double checked this morning that the Hero doesn't have this speed on the memory QVL anyway!

ARGH!

Can someone first of all why neither this Corsair 5600mhz CL36 memory nor the 5200mhz CL40 is supported by this mobo? Is this some kind of hard compatibility problem or is support likely to be added via a bios update at a later date? The Hero supports other manufacturers high speed memory, but not Corsair's, it only supports the 5200mhz CL38 Dominator kit from Corsair (other than the Vengeance kits), which is unavailable EVERYWHERE.

Secondly, should i just cancel my cashback claim and return the mobo and processor now, to avoid any headaches with burning motherboards, and just plump for a ridiculously priced Extreme and 12700k bundle to get the cashback on that? (For some reason Asus made the Formula white and the Apex is for overclockers)

I have always bought Asus motherboards for my previous builds and i am loath to consider going with a different brand as Asus has so far been rock solid.

Any advice would be much appreciated!

[240zg]

Time to go team Red.

[Blue4130]

10 hours ago, Nozyspy said:

Can someone first of all why neither this Corsair 5600mhz CL36 memory nor the 5200mhz CL40 is supported by this mobo? Is this some kind of hard compatibility problem or is support likely to be added via a bios update at a later date? The Hero supports other manufacturers high speed memory, but not Corsair's, it only supports the 5200mhz CL38 Dominator kit from Corsair (other than the Vengeance kits), which is unavailable EVERYWHERE.
 

It will likely work just fine. A qvl does not mean other ram won't work. A qvl is only a list of ram tested. There are thousands of types and configurations of ram. So many that it is unrealistic to test them all. 

 

That ram may not be on the qvl now, but may be added on later. 

[Nozyspy]

5 hours ago, Blue4130 said:

It will likely work just fine. A qvl does not mean other ram won't work. A qvl is only a list of ram tested. There are thousands of types and configurations of ram. So many that it is unrealistic to test them all. 

 

That ram may not be on the qvl now, but may be added on later. 

Is it worth keeping the order then? I noticed that all the Corsair memory on the Z690 Hero QVL (as well as another Asus board i looked at) are Micron, whereas the 5600mhz is Samsung. Is there something about Samsung chips that an Asus board wouldn't like or something?

 

I am assuming that in any case, the memory would work just fine at standard 4800mhz speed if the XMP profiles were unstable?

 

Aside from that i still dont know what to do about the potentially exploding motherboard...

[Nozyspy]

It appears the issue may have been found, one of the capacitors on the motherboard is the wrong way around:

 

Jay and Buildzoid have also done videos on it.

 

[Blue4130]

55 minutes ago, Nozyspy said:

It appears the issue may have been found, one of the capacitors on the motherboard is the wrong way around:

 

Jay and Buildzoid have also done videos on it.

 

Thats just rumor and speculation based on the printing being upsidedown. And on pcb's, very common. Unless he has a scematic or desolders and looks at the printed diagram (if there is one) I am not so sure that I buy his conclusion *at this point* (needs more concrete evidence)

[Nozyspy]

3 hours ago, Blue4130 said:

Thats just rumor and speculation based on the printing being upsidedown. And on pcb's, very common. Unless he has a scematic or desolders and looks at the printed diagram (if there is one) I am not so sure that I buy his conclusion *at this point* (needs more concrete evidence)

Someone on the Reddit thread tested the polarity as well apparently and found theirs to be the wrong way around. It seems a reasonable conclusion at this point in time, in the absence of any word from Asus, since all of the pictures of the burned boards have the capacitor markings upside down.

[Blue4130]

16 minutes ago, Nozyspy said:

Someone on the Reddit thread tested the polarity as well apparently and found theirs to be the wrong way around. It seems a reasonable conclusion at this point in time, in the absence of any word from Asus, since all of the pictures of the burned boards have the capacitor markings upside down.

Half of the chips on my motherboard have the markings upside down. That's a terrible way to determine an issue. 

 

If they measured the polarity, sure. But I would want them to actually know what they are talking about (ie - be an electrical engineer or have the scematic, not just a random dude with a multimeter) before I take their internet post as gospel. 

[Nozyspy]

1 hour ago, Blue4130 said:

Half of the chips on my motherboard have the markings upside down. That's a terrible way to determine an issue. 

 

If they measured the polarity, sure. But I would want them to actually know what they are talking about (ie - be an electrical engineer or have the scematic, not just a random dude with a multimeter) before I take their internet post as gospel. 

Oh no, im not taking it as gospel, but the evidence so far is in favour of that explanation. There have been a few posts on the Youtube videos as well of people who have worked with the machines that place the chips explaining how its possible for them to be placed in the wrong direction when they're upside down in the cartridges. It does make sense.

 

Also check this post from the Asus forums about the polarity of the capacitor: https://rog.asus.com/forum/showthread.php?127013-ASUS-Z690-Maximus-Hero-Motherboard-Burnt-with-QCODE-53-and-QLED-Orange/page6#post852231

 

Hopefully Asus will come out with an official explanation soon, but in the meantime this is the best explanation we have. 

 

Check out this vid for more of an explanation:

 

[Nozyspy]

In case anyone was in the same boat as me and has not seen the news, ASUS has admitted the problem. Turns out it was upside down capacitors.   The markings on the cap denoted the polarity, so when installed the wrong way around that was obviously causing the problem.

 

https://www.tomshardware.com/uk/news/asus-owns-up-to-fiery-z690-motherboard-flaw-starts-recall-program

 

Thankfully my boards capacitor has the markings the right way around and the serial number isnt one of the affected boards. Phew!