ASRock offering replacements for motherboards with sticky RAM slots

[Spotty]

Summary

ASRock's latest X670 motherboards have been facing issues reported by customers where the sticker placed over the RAM slots has been difficult to remove cleanly, resulting in paper and sticky residue remaining in the RAM slots, potentially causing the RAM slots to be defective due to the residue blocking the contacts. The sticker placed over the RAM slots was to warn users of the long boot times with the new motherboards and corresponding memory, with in some cases taking several minutes to boot the first time.

 

Quotes

^{(Source: Reddit)}

 

 

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In an official statement by ASRock earlier today, the company announced that it would allow anyone who has issues peeling the DDR5 memory installation sticker off their AM5 motherboard to return it for a newer version if necessary. Some users report that the sticker can leave significant adhesive traces behind, potentially blocking some of the DDR5 contacts in the DIMM slots.
 

Thankfully, these stickers are going away, according to ASRock. These stickers are only present on the first shipment of ASRock's AM5 motherboards due to abnormally long boot times. With the first wave of BIOS revisions, the first boot could take several minutes, depending on the memory capacity.

But thanks to new BIOS updates, these initial lengthy bootup times are now gone. As a result, ASRock will no longer be applying these stickers onto their DDR5 AM5 motherboards.

^{https://www.tomshardware.com/news/asrock-ddr5-sticker-mayhem}

 

Quote

 

ASRock AM5 Motherboard Memory Installation Guide Sticker Residue Statement

TAIPEI, Taiwan, September 30^th, 2022 –The leading global motherboard, graphics card, and small form factor PC manufacturer, ASRock, is aware of the feedback from some customer about the Memory Installation Guide sticker residue on AM5 motherboard's memory slots. Part of ASRock AM5 motherboards in initial shipment came with the Memory Installation Guide stickers to illustrate the situation that end-users would face for the first boot with the first version of BIOS. Gladly, with the concerted efforts of ASRock and AMD engineers, the first booting time is shortened a lot after updating the new BIOS version. The motherboards without Memory Installation Guide sticker are all updated the BIOS.

If the customer feels concerned about the memory read and write operation due to the residue caused by tearing off the Memory Installation Guide sticker on ASRock AM5 motherboard's memory slots. They can contact local retailers and e-tailers for the exchange service.*

We apologize for any inconvenience caused and thank you for your continuous support.
(*)The exchange service policy may differ by region.

 

My thoughts

First off, did nobody at ASRock try removing the stickers to see if they came off cleanly before applying them to thousands of boards? And why did it need to be glued down across the full length of the slot, why not just have a tab glued down to the board on the side next to the slots with the warning label folded over the slots, would have been much easier to remove cleanly.

Considering how much these motherboards cost it would definitely suck buying one of these on launch day and ending up ruining your $500+ motherboard with torn pieces of sticker stuck in your RAM slots because it didn't come off clean.

To their credit ASRock has been quick to put out a statement, acknowledging the issues and offering replacement motherboards to those affected. It doesn't seem like many people have been affected, and newer boards which have the latest BIOS update applied won't have the stickers applied due to the reduced boot times the newer BIOS provides. If you do receive a motherboard with the sticker just be mindful when removing it, and it would probably be a good idea to update the BIOS as well since the newer BIOS fixes the boot time issue.

 

Sources

https://www.asrock.com/news/index.us.asp?iD=5000

https://www.tomshardware.com/news/asrock-ddr5-sticker-mayhem

https://www.techpowerup.com/299450/asrocks-x670-motherboards-have-numerous-issues-with-dram-stickers

[emosun]

Asrock taking the JC Penny approach to sticker removal

Ever since my 4-core dual sata2 died...... Asrock has been dead to me. What a terrible board that was.

[Arika]

2 hours ago, Spotty said:

If you do receive a motherboard with the sticker just be mindful when removing it, and it would probably be a good idea to update the BIOS as well since the newer BIOS fixes the boot time issue.

As i was reading this i thought you were going to make a joke like:

 

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If you do receive a motherboard with the sticker just be mindful when removing it, and it would probably be a good idea to update the BIOS as well since the newer BIOS fixes the sticker problem.

 

[TrigrH]

Asrock tell me you're the cheapest motherboard brand without telling me you're the cheapest motherboard brand:

 

*saves 0.03c by using a paper sticker instead of a plastic one*

 

[ZetZet]

3 hours ago, TrigrH said:

Asrock tell me you're the cheapest motherboard brand without telling me you're the cheapest motherboard brand:

 

*saves 0.03c by using a paper sticker instead of a plastic one*

 

The funny part is that they could have saved even more money by not putting anything there AND this issue wouldn't exist. 

[TrigrH]

6 minutes ago, ZetZet said:

The funny part is that they could have saved even more money by not putting anything there AND this issue wouldn't exist. 

If a board takes minutes to boot cos the bios is shit, id like to know in advance. But I agree there could be a better location for it.

 

Most users myself included would turn the PC off before that memory training would finish.

[ZetZet]

17 minutes ago, TrigrH said:

If a board takes minutes to boot cos the bios is shit, id like to know in advance. But I agree there could be a better location for it.

 

Most users myself included would turn the PC off before that memory training would finish.

Put a card in. Put it in the manual. Put it on the box. 

[Doobeedoo]

Heh what kind of glue ate they using for something like that...

[CTR640]

 

Seriously, the fuck is wrong with them to pull such braindead moronic BS...? Incredible.

[Quackers101]

a sticky situation, that's what he said.

At least its not his fault, but a very ass glued sticker.

[Beerzerker]

It was the sticker guy - He gets paid by the sticker and made damned sure these weren't coming off until inspector 12 saw them all for max pay.

[StDragon]

19 hours ago, Spotty said:

First off, did nobody at ASRock try removing the stickers to see if they came off cleanly before applying them to thousands of boards?

Ahh, the joys of material science! More than likely, there wasn't any testing performed to see how easily the stickers could be removed after being placed over the slots. Secondly, an increase in ambient temperature (different in climates depending on how and where they were shipped too) could have changed the adhesive material to "run" and then harden. Basically a change in material chemistry.

[Kisai]

20 hours ago, Spotty said:

 

My thoughts

First off, did nobody at ASRock try removing the stickers to see if they came off cleanly before applying them to thousands of boards?

What they should have done was put a cardboard "ram stick" under the clip, it would have solved the same problem in requiring the user to remove it, without any of the sticky.

 

What most likely happened was someone ordered the wrong sticker type, as they didn't want the version 1.0 boards going out and being returned because "it doesn't seem to boot/takes a long time to boot" , and they didn't realize it was wrong until after all the boards were shipped.

 

Normally when a sticker is put on the board, it's put on a plastic clip that fits over the thing, eg the cpu socket. I'm not sure what happened here, but I think there wasn't supposed to be a sticker in the first place, and the time requirement to go and open all the boxes and flash all the bios chips was deemed too much effort once the boards were already ready to ship.

 

Either way, this feels more like a "rushed to market" problem. Where both the bios update and the sticker itself are consequences of.

 

[TetraSky]

Why is there even a need to put a sticker on RAM slots is beyond me... Even more so one that leaves residue behind. 

[StDragon]

26 minutes ago, TetraSky said:

Why is there even a need to put a sticker on RAM slots is beyond me.

It's been said this new platform results in extended first time POST sequences as it trains on the memory during initial setup. At least, more so than normal for AMD. Probably due to the new AGESA code.

Anyways, the concept of notifying the DIY market isn't a bad one. They just choose a poor method of doing so.

[NumLock21]

I think I may have seen stickers on ram slots before and the way to remove it, is by peeling it very slowly. As for the sticker in that pic, it can still be peel clean off without leaving any residue.

[HenrySalayne]

On 10/3/2022 at 5:55 AM, NumLock21 said:

As for the sticker in that pic, it can still be peel clean off without leaving any residue.

 

I wouldn't be so sure. The screw hole has a diameter of 4 mm for reference.

This sticker should have probably be soaked in Isopropyl alcohol until it fell off by itself.

[NumLock21]

13 hours ago, HenrySalayne said:

 

I wouldn't be so sure. The screw hole has a diameter of 4 mm for reference.

This sticker should have probably be soaked in Isopropyl alcohol until it fell off by itself.

Those sticker can easily be removed, it's not that difficult, like how some made them out to be.

[HenrySalayne]

7 hours ago, NumLock21 said:

Those sticker can easily be removed, it's not that difficult, like how some made them out to be.

No. Those sub-millimetre flakes can easily be overlooked and end up in the slot sticking to contact springs. Replacing these boards is the right move.

If you can tear your sticker off just fine and you don't need a replacement, you don't have to get one.

[NumLock21]

14 hours ago, HenrySalayne said:

No. Those sub-millimetre flakes can easily be overlooked and end up in the slot sticking to contact springs. Replacing these boards is the right move.

If you can tear your sticker off just fine and you don't need a replacement, you don't have to get one.

So some never bother to double check for any foreign objects or debris in them slots and on the contacts before installing?

I just don't see the problem with the sticker, like what you've mentioned, if it can be peel off and everything looks fine, the board does not need to be replaced. Them millimeter pieces, with the right tools or some ingenuity they can be removed too. The problem now is with them stickers on the board, some would immediately jump to the conclusion, that board is going to have problems.

 

It's the same with thermal paste, old layer must be cleaned off and a new layer applied, every time the CPU cooler is removed. Those who bought into that idea, where you must do this, would also immediately jumped into the conclusion, that if you don't follow this rule, your PC is going to have problems, but in reality removing and reinstall the CPU cooler without changing the thermal paste, the CPU will continue to work just fine.

 

Asrock should have use something that isn't sticky to begin with, but stickers still has its uses, say board that supports combo ram. A sticker on that would definitely let them know, not to use both at the same time, as not everyone would have the habit of reading the manual first.

[BlueChinchillaEatingDorito]

Am I the only one getting iBUYPOWER vibes?