ASUS mobo returned, need a new mobo

[Rawr]

This is my concern, who is OK to use now?
This leaves ASRock and MSI?
With all the issues Asus are having I keep seeing reference to them being less stable than ASRock. If ASRock is the benchmark for poor stability that really doesn't encourage me. Plus at least the Steel Legend, maybe others, seems to have slightly worse than expected m.2 performance (probably not noticeable if you don't run benchmarks).
Which leaves MSI? I bet a few days after I finished a build with an MSI board there would be reports of how with MSI the 1.3v limit doesn't work but with MSI when it goes it takes out the CPU, motherboard, RAM, PSU and for some reason the GPU...

For what it's worth from my experience of the MSI board the LLC they use to at least seem to stick a lot closer to what is set in the bios. When I had the original bios that pushed 1.35v the worst I saw it go was 1.356v-1.358v and that was under load like cinebench/prime95 etc. On the new bios where it was set to 1.3v, the worst it got was 1.306 or so.

Of course this is assuming the HWinfo values are correct, but considering level1techs got the same result on a different MSI board while properly measuring that makes me think it might be.

So I don't think MSI are saints in terms of getting the original voltage correct, they at least might be better at sticking to the values they're showing.

Just read the bios flash process in the manual and there's no mention of format the drive in fat 32 which is likely to be the problem.

This is poor

It's not just requiring fat32, the process also just seemed to need to like certain USB drives too. You can find countless reports on the internet of people struggling to get usb flashback work on motherboards from loads of different manufacturers because they're just incredibly picky with what they accept.

What most people recommend is a USB2 smallish sized (ie 16gb-32gb or something) FAT32 MBR partitioned(which requires a bit of messing since windows defaults to GPT partitions now with their usb drive format feature) empty USB drive with only the bios file renamed on. But even that doesn't always seem guaranteed.

It's such a messy feature.

 

[Arclite]

May be this is what people call the "early adopters" teething stage we are going through. Surely, it should get better from here on in.

 

[Arclite]

What a load of rubbish...Asus - after being caught out by GN and JZTC - now recanting what they said previously.

How can they instantly go back on "Beta Bios is not covered under their warranty" to this....

ASUS BIOS updates and warranty coverage for ASUS AM5 platform motherboards with Ryzen™ 7000 series processors | News｜ASUS USA

We want to address the concerns that have been raised by our users about whether recent BIOS updates will impact the warranty of ASUS AM5 motherboards. We would like to reassure

www.asus.com

 

[GoogalyMoogaly]

Seeing that Asus have released a new non-beta bios I'm getting tempted to maybe just keep my Strix X670E-F as I'm finding it so hard to find a replacement I'd be happy with. The X670E Carbon from MSI is probably the one I'd go for, but it's £80 more expensive and I'm not sure if it's worth the extra.

 

[Arclite]

Seeing that Asus have released a new non-beta bios I'm getting tempted to maybe just keep my Strix X670E-F as I'm finding it so hard to find a replacement I'd be happy with. The X670E Carbon from MSI is probably the one I'd go for, but it's £80 more expensive and I'm not sure if it's worth the extra.

could it be that they can't seem to fix it? Because if they could, surely a non-beta version should've been out by now.

 

[GoogalyMoogaly]

could it be that they can't seem to fix it? Because if they could, surely a non-beta version should've been out by now.

It was released today.

 

[random_matt]

B650E Taichi gets my vote, that famous US store sells it at like £300 and something (VAT added). Although sending it back for warranty if needed would be a pain in the arse.

 

[rare]

How can they instantly go back on "Beta Bios is not covered under their warranty" to this....

Probably because the warranty statement is a cut and paste statement that’s been on BETA BIOS releases for years and years, it’s never been a problem up to now. Should it have been there in this instance? No, but I don’t think it’s malicious intent, it’s just the bloke uploading the bios uses the same statement on every beta bios…I’m glad it’s been removed but a lot of people are jumping on the ‘ASUS BAD’ bandwagon.

 

[rare]

Seeing that Asus have released a new non-beta bios I'm getting tempted to maybe just keep my Strix X670E-F as I'm finding it so hard to find a replacement I'd be happy with.

Just keep it, why change it? I’m sure it will be absolutely fine especially now there is so much focus on them sorting it out. It’s a software issue ultimately so it will get rectified.

 

[Rawr]

I saw earlier that buildzoid put out a motherboard round up if it helps anyone.

 

[Arclite]

I saw earlier that buildzoid put out a motherboard round up if it helps anyone.

Thanks!

 

[Arclite]

Probably because the warranty statement is a cut and paste statement that’s been on BETA BIOS releases for years and years, it’s never been a problem up to now. Should it have been there in this instance? No, but I don’t think it’s malicious intent, it’s just the bloke uploading the bios uses the same statement on every beta bios…I’m glad it’s been removed but a lot of people are jumping on the ‘ASUS BAD’ bandwagon.

Yeah makes sense but in all fairness, doing what they have done in this manner has only hurt their reputation. I mean the issue may be far from over for other manufactures but Asus chose to get in the firing line openly.

 

[random_matt]

You know you can change the voltages manually right?

 

[Arclite]

You know you can change the voltages manually right?

I think the issue is not just the manual adjustments of voltages needed, it is the fact that Asus in particular telling customers to use their "Beta Bios" potentially at their own risk and not covering the warranty in case things going south. This is more of a slap in the face when other independent testers are showing that their beta bios are still not fixing the issue. Then there is a case of them telling not to use EXPO which kind of defeats the purpose of why people spend money on the new platform when its clearly designed to make use of the EXPO performance. Yes, they have now recanted on some of these things but only after the response from notable youtubers. Had they not alerted the consumers of this, I wonder if Asus had any reason to do what they have done now.

 

[Greebo]

You know you can change the voltages manually right?

And even manual with Asus boards, if you set SOC to 1.3v and it read 1.3v in bios and hwinfo, if you put probes on the board and read the voltage directly, the bios was still applying 1.36v to the cpu. Thats inexcusable. Even 1.25v was still over volting at 1.31v And since any voltage above 1.3v can slowly damage your cpu permanently, its not good.

So your only safe option with Asus was to not use EXPO. The beta bios still had the issue of the voltage in use being more than stated even manually. They may well have fixed that now.

 

[random_matt]

And even manual with Asus boards, if you set SOC to 1.3v and it read 1.3v in bios and hwinfo, if you put probes on the board and read the voltage directly, the bios was still applying 1.36v to the cpu. Thats inexcusable. Even 1.25v was still over volting at 1.31v And since any voltage above 1.3v can slowly damage your cpu permanently, its not good.

So your only safe option with Asus was to not use EXPO. The beta bios still had the issue of the voltage in use being more than stated even manually. They may well have fixed that now.

My advise to someone who is asking for advise on what to build with would be Intel then. It has got to the point now where it is not worth risking now, maybe next gen.

 

[Arclite]

I really hope that swapping platforms is not going to be something I need to consider at this stage. Equally, I would be interested in knowing how many folks have or are experiencing these issues with voltages on the 7800x3d chip.

 

[Greebo]

My advise to someone who is asking for advise on what to build with would be Intel then. It has got to the point now where it is not worth risking now, maybe next gen.

Well I have seen now with the latest asus bios that what it says in bios now matches probes from the board so they have fixed that at least now.

I suppose the biggest now for all AM5 motherboard manufacturers affected is how much damage has already been done to the cpu and how much might it shorten its lifespan?

 

[Arclite]

So the vendor where I RMA'd the MSI tomahawk replied today saying that they can offer a replacement or a refund as the motherboard was faulty. I have asked for a refund...again.

So is there any hope of finding a stable x670e motherboard at that price point?

Are there any motherboards that you can buy with the most latest AGESEA bios update installed and working?

May be the above is very obvious and this is just pure frustration on my part.

 

[mickyflinn]

So the vendor where I RMA'd the MSI tomahawk replied today saying that they can offer a replacement or a refund as the motherboard was faulty. I have asked for a refund...again.

So is there any hope of finding a stable x670e motherboard at that price point?

Are there any motherboards that you can buy with the most latest AGESEA bios update installed and working?

May be the above is very obvious and this is just pure frustration on my part.

Ain't many manufacturers left to try, Asrock next maybe ? Steel Legend

Although I would have gone for a replacement tomahawk board.