ASUS Strix MB broken LLC a OC3D review/rant

[PopReference]

Seems the CoffeeLake troubles with motherboards seem to keep coming with Tom Logan getting fed up with a lack of a proper response from Asus over the load line calibration not working on the Strix branded Z370 boards. This lead to the incomplete review being released today with little to no chance of a redux.

 

This is great that people who care about fully working boards will get more attention, but I do wish he would have covered this sooner so consumers would not be caught with boards that put their expensive processors at risk.

 

Review: https://overclock3d.net/reviews/cpu_mainboard/asus_z370_strix_e_and_strix_f_review/1

Not all bad news though:

Quote

Overclocking

As you will see below there is a good reason why we're not running a batch of overclocking tests today. When the integrity of our process relies so heavily upon identical hardware the last thing we're willing to do is risk some of it because a manufacturer can't be bothered to fix how many volts are pumping through your test CPU. However, there clearly is some potential within the Strix as we reached the all important 5 GHz mark without too much strife beyond a sweaty brow and dry mouth.

But

Quote

Without ASUS being willing to fix the Loadline Calibration we've only got the stock results to bring you today. Perhaps doing something so alien to our way of working might be the metaphorical cattle prod that prompts them into action.

Rant vid:

TL:DR

Spoiler

-TTL finds LLC not working correctly

-Contacts ASUS about LLC not working

-Waits for new BIOS

-2 weeks go by

-ASUS emails back instructions to find the LLC options in bios menu

-TTL "FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU"(or something)

Is this a big deal or just over reacting? Will anybody change their builds knowing this, or wait for the update before making a purchase?

[Bananasplit_00]

ASRock also release semi broken shit, but at least they seem to fix it. either way im never touching ASUS again as long as i live in the EU, support has been about the equivlent of a slap in the face and everything ASUS i have ever had has been broken. no thanks to that, i really like some of what they have done and do but im not going to be buying any of it

[BagelMonster]

I purchased one of these boards and now I'm not sure if I should hold out on a bios update or return it. I don't have my 8700k rn anyway so I guess I don't mind waiting (though IDK how long asus will take). I'm not too familiar with the technical side of things, but can someone explain how bad this is? Should I pretty much not try to overclock it at all until its fixed? Also if anyone has suggestions for an alternative mid-range motherboard that doesn't have any issues I'd like to hear them, because it seems like most of the big brands are having issues with SOMETHING 

[PopReference]

6 minutes ago, BagelMonster said:

I purchased one of these boards and now I'm not sure if I should hold out on a bios update or return it. I don't have my 8700k rn anyway so I guess I don't mind waiting (though IDK how long asus will take). I'm not too familiar with the technical side of things, but can someone explain how bad this is? Should I pretty much not try to overclock it at all until its fixed? Also if anyone has suggestions for an alternative mid-range motherboard that doesn't have any issues I'd like to hear them, because it seems like most of the big brands are having issues with SOMETHING 

He does explain in the video about this, but basically to overclock you would need to set the voltage very high to offset the voltage drop for the processor to run stable. So it's not recommended to overclock.

[Cheddle]

the asus x399 zenith extreme also has broken LLC 

[Taf the Ghost]

38 minutes ago, BagelMonster said:

I purchased one of these boards and now I'm not sure if I should hold out on a bios update or return it. I don't have my 8700k rn anyway so I guess I don't mind waiting (though IDK how long asus will take). I'm not too familiar with the technical side of things, but can someone explain how bad this is? Should I pretty much not try to overclock it at all until its fixed? Also if anyone has suggestions for an alternative mid-range motherboard that doesn't have any issues I'd like to hear them, because it seems like most of the big brands are having issues with SOMETHING 

Important detail is that, now that the rant is live, it'll more than likely be fixed pretty soon. 

 

On motherboards in general, there's always problems on launch. It normally takes 1-2 months to sort out which is good/bad/still has issues. 

 

Now, the really fun question: these boards automatically OC the 8700 and 8700k with MCE on by default. Are some of the other issues people are having because it's actually running an unstable OC? It would explain the high power draw we've been seeing with the 8700k at "stock".

[BagelMonster]

1 minute ago, Taf the Ghost said:

Important detail is that, now that the rant is live, it'll more than likely be fixed pretty soon. 

 

On motherboards in general, there's always problems on launch. It normally takes 1-2 months to sort out which is good/bad/still has issues. 

 

Now, the really fun question: these boards automatically OC the 8700 and 8700k with MCE on by default. Are some of the other issues people are having because it's actually running an unstable OC? It would explain the high power draw we've been seeing with the 8700k at "stock".

If we're gonna manual OC it anyway, do we just turn off MCE and OC ourselves? Not too sure how this new MCE thing works. Or does our mannual OC just override the MCE? Also is MCE just an Asus thing or is it found in other boards as well?

[Taf the Ghost]

2 minutes ago, BagelMonster said:

If we're gonna manual OC it anyway, do we just turn off MCE and OC ourselves? Not too sure how this new MCE thing works. Or does our mannual OC just override the MCE? Also is MCE just an Asus thing or is it found in other boards as well?

MCE sets the CPU to run at its max single-core turbo. 8700k goes to 4.7 Ghz, all-core while the 8700 goes to 4.6 Ghz. The ASUS boards are set to do that as standard at the moment, so it caused some really wild Benchmark results. A manual OC would turn it off, but it's really just a semi-Auto OC anyway. It's on most z-boards, it seems.

[Misanthrope]

5 hours ago, PopReference said:

This is great that people who care about fully working boards will get more attention, but I do wish he would have covered this sooner so consumers would not be caught with boards that put their expensive processors at risk.

It's a delicate balance: The only reason they usually get boards early is because manufacturers send em as review samples. Now that doesn't means that you have to point out glaring flaws an issues right away without consulting so reviewers usually ask about issues since there might be literally working on a fix at the time they go live with the review but failing that well, if you decide "They're taking too long to respond I'll just report on it" and release right away well let's just say that you'll soon find yourself not getting any more review samples from that brand.

On the other hand if you screw reviewers by not answering or assisting with troubleshooting and make them miss embargo lifts and launch traffic well, you'll get rants like this as well and they might not even care if you don't sample them again (because to them, you became useless).

 

Though it is weird Asus would not address this: I'd think someone like JJ would be far more quick to reply and knowledgeable enough to address things like this in a more timely matter (And if JJ isn't his company contact well get him on the fucking phone whomever talked to Tony) but I guess we'll see if anything comes out of it.

[Trik'Stari]

I bought a 7700k.

 

I am happy with it for now, performance wise. But Intel's moves as of late have basically screwed me in terms of upgrading, without building a completely new system.

 

As a result, in the future, I will be going with AMD and Threadripper. While I currently have absolutely no need of that kind of performance (I want 8 dimms damnit), I don't know what kind of work I will be doing in the future, and I may want/need that kind of horsepower (I do want to get into 3d design for making my own cases because I have some ideas I don't see anyone making).

 

Basically, show me no loyalty as a company, and you shall get none from me as a consumer.

[Jito463]

10 hours ago, Trik'Stari said:

But Intel's moves as of late have basically screwed me in terms of upgrading, without building a completely new system.

Careful, some people on this forum will claim you never had a need to upgrade just your CPU, so they'll say you're "whining" needlessly.

[MyName13]

10 hours ago, Trik'Stari said:

I bought a 7700k.

 

I am happy with it for now, performance wise. But Intel's moves as of late have basically screwed me in terms of upgrading, without building a completely new system.

 

As a result, in the future, I will be going with AMD and Threadripper. While I currently have absolutely no need of that kind of performance (I want 8 dimms damnit), I don't know what kind of work I will be doing in the future, and I may want/need that kind of horsepower (I do want to get into 3d design for making my own cases because I have some ideas I don't see anyone making).

 

Basically, show me no loyalty as a company, and you shall get none from me as a consumer.

You could have simply bought competitor's CPU then instead of that i7, what exactly is the problem?

[NumLock21]

Rant now

Praise asus for awesome board in the next video *big grin*

[Sauron]

It is a big deal, and ASUS should fix it as soon as possible. With that said, it's probably nothing a bios update can't fix, so when they do get around to doing that it will probably be a good motherboard. Personally I'm more concerned with overclocking being enabled by default, which tainted some of the coffee lake reviews to the detrement of the consumer - it's fine to show great performance at mild overclocks, but if you're comparing them to stock ryzen it must be made clear.

10 hours ago, Trik'Stari said:

As a result, in the future, I will be going with AMD and Threadripper. While I currently have absolutely no need of that kind of performance (I want 8 dimms damnit), I don't know what kind of work I will be doing in the future, and I may want/need that kind of horsepower (I do want to get into 3d design for making my own cases because I have some ideas I don't see anyone making).

To be honest, I would recommend waiting until you actually have a need for more power to upgrade. Unlike a couple of years ago, waiting a few months right now will probably reward you with significantly more performance or at least a much better deal and it looks like this will be the case for a few years to come.

 

But I do agree with the general sentiment. I was lucky enough to pull the trigger on a sandy bridge chip, back when intel at least pretended to care, and it's ended up being the best purchase I've ever made. If and when I decide to upgrade, intel had better have a very compelling offer for me to go with them again.

[DildorTheDecent]

12 hours ago, Cheddle said:

the asus x399 zenith extreme also has broken LLC 

Not a board I would have expected to have broken LLC. 

 

More disappointed with that outcome that the Strix board being borked.