ASUS Z170 Pro Gaming ATX RAM Slot Failure? Help??

[demonic186]

Hi,

as the title says I've noticed that two of the four ram slots on this motherboard no longer function at all, I've tried various configurations and brands of RAM but when you place any in A2 and B2 the system will fail to boot, no beeps, no display - just the DRAM LED stuck on red.

I've already had to RMA the corsair h100i GTX due to pump failure and only just re-installed it to now have this issue - I've reseated the CPU, CMOS, Cables, Jumpers, GPU, HDD/SSD/NVMe Drives you name it I've tried it but the two ram slots fail to work.

The system thankfully is working A-OK minus those extra sticks but it's an absolute ball-ache to say the least.

Does anyone have any clue what could be wrong?? or is this a lost cause and requiring an RMA? the motherboard was purchased in january 2016 and has been used daily since.

I've already contacted ASUS but they refuse to RMA it and tell me to contact the retailer, which I've done but they too say to contact ASUS - even though it has a 3-year warranty I'm stuck in this endless loop and at my wits end, I do not have the extra £100 to go and buy a new mobo or I would just to get rid of this issue. (the retailer is not overclockers) just throwing that out there.

I've emailed all the ASUS and retailer areas I could + facebook/twitter pages but each one says to contact the other despite.

 

[stulid]

Check for damaged/bent socket pins.

Or over tightening a CPU cooler can bend the pcb.

 

[pastymuncher]

The retailer is fobbing you off. The whole of the Asus warranty is covered by the retailer and always has been. Asus do not deal with the end user unless it's one of the workstation boards. You need to persist with the retailer.

 

[HoneyBadger]

Where did you buy the board from? If it's not working, RMA it. Sounds like you're being fobbed off, ring the retailer you purchased it from and insist they do something, explain that Asus are saying you have to use them.

 

[demonic186]

Thanks for the replies, I've already checked it for bent/broken CPU pins + it is not too tight as the screws with this cpu cooler lock just after finger-tightening and that's not the issue, PC has been running stable from 8am this morning till now minus the two-extra sticks of RAM - I purchased it from box.co.uk - they are being painfully slow, ASUS did eventually reply and just said they will contact the retailer on my behalf to move things along, to that I quizzed why they will not help instead.

 

[demonic186]

*UPDATE* for those interested

The retailer finally for in touch and have since received the motherboard, they confirmed it is faulty and will be shipping it off to ASUS for either manufacturer repair and/or replacement - they have said that this could take upto 28 days all varying on how long it takes ASUS to receive it and check it over.

If anyone has had to RMA a board or other parts with ASUS before any word on how long this takes would be nice - I also went down the route of RMA'ing the CPU incase that was at fault with the memory controller going kaput and I'm just waiting to receive the replacement from intel now, thankfully they are much much quicker and very helpful.

I tested the other components too - RAM and PSU/GPU etc in a friends system just to rule those out and it's not any of those at fault.

 

[demonic186]

*bumping old post doing such a sin here* - long story short, ASUS received the board around the 14th of July and stated it would be mid-august before I receive it back if at all as they have yet to see if it can be repaired which is too long of a wait IMO so I have bit the bullet and jumped ship back over to Gigabyte, used them for many years prior to ASUS and never had any issues with them at all and haven't had to RMA one before - upon researching though if that is required then Gigabyte are much quicker and much nicer about doing so.

Installed the new motherboard 2-days ago now and have got my system up and running again + the CPU replacement intel provided after the last one went kaput runs much cooler, currently at 4.2Ghz 1.22v and no issues at all.

For those unaware my CPU cooler kicked the bucket - the water-pump failed which ultimately led to my previous CPU being fried - with a new AIO cooler fitted that CPU was still idling way too hot at 50-60c with 1.25v and 4.0ghz stock clocks hence that being replaced too, and well, intel is much quicker - received that replacement within a week.

 

[pastymuncher]

Does your bios have the option of setting cpu temp alarms? It would avoid frying expensive cpu's due to pump failure if you can do this.

The situation with the Asus mobo is simply unacceptable and the retailer should just give you a brand new replacement although they seem to be as bad as Scam. Yet another retailer to avoid like the plague.

 

[demonic186]

Does your bios have the option of setting cpu temp alarms? It would avoid frying expensive cpu's due to pump failure if you can do this.

The situation with the Asus mobo is simply unacceptable and the retailer should just give you a brand new replacement although they seem to be as bad as Scam. Yet another retailer to avoid like the plague.

See, that's the thing, the Asus motherboard did have that feature and it was setup in such a way that the system would shut off if the cpu got too hot to avoid damage, however that didn't happen and it allowed the system to hit 100c at stock speeds when under load as soon as I seen it hitting that temp I cut the power to the system of course but believe the damage had been done.

The retailer has been as helpful as possible and if Asus do not respond by I believe the 6th of August (a month after I initially requested the RMA) Then they are required to provide a replacement and/Or a refund for the price originally paid for the motherboard.

My new motherboard has also got the temp alarm/shutoff feature for when or should I say if the cpu/motherboard/pch etc gets too hot and I have of course configured it all. "Fingers crossed this never happens again though"

 

[demonic186]

Hate to bump old posts but final update: As mentioned ASUS received the board on the 14th of July and only got around to looking at repairing it on the 15th of August, this has gone past the 28-days mark now if my math is right > received an email from the retailer who were handling the communication with ASUS on the 17th of August to be told that ASUS will not be repairing the board, it is basically dead and they will not be issuing any form of replacement as there was apparently damage to one of the USB 3.0 headers on the motherboard not covered under warranty (bent pins or such) that I can safely say was not caused by myself.

I was then told that to fix that would cost £25 however there was no guarantee that the issue I was having with the board would be fixed at all, the main issue being the system failing to boot when all four RAM slots were occupied.

So of course, me trying to play it safe asked if they could provide proof of the damage and they wouldn't, from there I asked if it would be at all possible to receive some form of refund minus the £25 repair fee for the "damaged USB Header" and received no answer to that, I then very unwillingly offered to pay the £25 they asked for the repair and also received no answer to that. (bare in mind these messages were being forwarded onto ASUS from the retailer)

Come the 18th of August, I received an email from the retailer stating that ASUS have dispatched the motherboard to there warehouse and once they receive it (the retailer) they will post it back to me - not repaired, not replaced, no refund under warranty for a faulty motherboard. nada.

So long story short, waited over 1-month for an RMA to be processed to receive zilch. ASUS well.. now I understand why people hate their RMA process with a passion.

Fair enough I did go buy a different motherboard though that was 2/3 weeks into the 4/5 weeks I was waiting for ASUS, had I not done that I'd still be without a PC which gets used heavily for work purposes.

 

[pastymuncher]

That is just a shocking outcome and that is another retailer to avoid like the plague. To be fair to Asus it was the retailer that caused the delay due to not accepting the RMA in the first place. Asus has never dealt direct with the end user unless it's a workstation board and RMA's have always been through the place of purchase. I would place 99% of the blame with the retailer who has given you appalling customer service throughout and I wouldn't be surprised if it was them that damaged the board.

 

[demonic186]

That is just a shocking outcome and that is another retailer to avoid like the plague. To be fair to Asus it was the retailer that caused the delay due to not accepting the RMA in the first place. Asus has never dealt direct with the end user unless it's a workstation board and RMA's have always been through the place of purchase. I would place 99% of the blame with the retailer who has given you appalling customer service throughout and I wouldn't be surprised if it was them that damaged the board.

That's something I have considered to be honest as the retailer did state in one of their emails that they would look at the board themselves prior to sending off to ASUS, so I am thinking that it could well have been them that damaged it.

Either way I'll be receiving a board back that can only really be sold for spares/repairs now which is really disappointing - I had hoped to use it for a secondary build given that now I have a different motherboard it would have been put to use in a basic gaming machine.

 

[demonic186]

*update* - still not received the broken motherboard back yet, have had to email the retailer and asus multiple times only to be told it will be dispatched soon. Safe to say I will be avoiding both the retailer and asus from now on, too much of a salty experience with them.