EXPO fried motherboard / CPU issue?

PaulW · 10 May 2023 at 17:50

Hi,

Whats the news on the whole EXPO fried motherboard / CPU issue? is it even worth getting overclockable ram this generation if it voids your CPU / MB warrenty if it happens to you?

Paul

Haz123 · 11 May 2023 at 03:09

The AM5 platform is a bit of a mess but this is mainly because the bios are not where they should be when we are over 6 months from release. The main fault is totally at the feet of Asus for pumping 1.4v through the cpu when the other manufacturers were keeping it more within spec at 1.2-1.25. There was also a massive flaw with the over current protection , it just did not work and that is why the cpus were melting. I did not like Asus mobos before this issue and I cannot understand how they maintain their grip over their cult when they release such terrible products ....and by terrible products I mean all of their AM5 mobos are suspect at this point in time.

It was not inherently an EXPO issue because there was a Gigabyte mobo that killed the cpu when EXPO was not enabled.

It is totally worthwhile getting 6000mhz cl30 ram for a 7000 series chip but it is a lottery whether the cpu you get will run at the speeds you want even if the ram is on the mobos qvl list.

PaulW · 12 May 2023 at 10:21

Haz123 said:
The AM5 platform is a bit of a mess but this is mainly because the bios are not where they should be when we are over 6 months from release. The main fault is totally at the feet of Asus for pumping 1.4v through the cpu when the other manufacturers were keeping it more within spec at 1.2-1.25. There was also a massive flaw with the over current protection , it just did not work and that is why the cpus were melting. I did not like Asus mobos before this issue and I cannot understand how they maintain their grip over their cult when they release such terrible products ....and by terrible products I mean all of their AM5 mobos are suspect at this point in time.

It was not inherently an EXPO issue because there was a Gigabyte mobo that killed the cpu when EXPO was not enabled.

It is totally worthwhile getting 6000mhz cl30 ram for a 7000 series chip but it is a lottery whether the cpu you get will run at the speeds you want even if the ram is on the mobos qvl list.

so what advice would you or other people recommend? not to buy and ASUS board? wait a few months?

henry hoov3r · 12 May 2023 at 10:22

PaulW said:
so what advice would you or other people recommend? not to buy and ASUS board? wait a few months?

Check out MSI’s offferings imo.

john_smith · 12 May 2023 at 10:27

Don't buy ASUS. Buy MSI or Gigabyte. Simple. I've a 7088x3d on an MSI board with EXPO etc all enabled.

Haz123 · 12 May 2023 at 10:31

PaulW said:
so what advice would you or other people recommend? not to buy and ASUS board? wait a few months?

I have been recommending Msi mobos for the past year or so but with AM5 Gigabyte seem to have the best bios. I have never had an Asus mobo last over a year so cannot recommend them.

The main problem I see with Asus is that they just do not care how much Voltage they use. They have released beta bios that limit the Vsoc to 1.3v.......AMD have said the maximum this value should be at is 1.25V and the other big 3 manufacturers do not go over that limit. It is that sort of attitude I am worried about.

henry hoov3r · 12 May 2023 at 10:35

Mine never goes over 1.2 with expo enabled B650 Tomahawk

KompuKare · 12 May 2023 at 10:52

PaulW said:
so what advice would you or other people recommend? not to buy and ASUS board? wait a few months?

I'm only watching here, but if Asus don't see a decline in sales they will never change will they!

They may never change anyways (way way back when magazines existed Computer Shopper or a similar mentioned Asus overvolting their boards to get slightly higher performance scores so they've been doing it for ages), but consumers certainly should not reward them. (Says me on an Asus AM4 board - only bought it as this warehouse MSI Mortar I was going to get was faulty and the Asus had a good layout of PCIe slots for my tight mATX case.)

Joxeon · 12 May 2023 at 11:20

This sort of thing is why I'm glad I chose to avoid AM5 for at least the first year, that and the board prices being ridiculous.

Nelly · 12 May 2023 at 12:57

Like I mentioned in another post. I don't think I would touch ASUS or MSI anymore for GPUs or motherboards even though I like their BIOS layouts - both are just fancy marketing, branding and nothing else, their RMA is crap 6+ weeks, relying on the retailers to step in. Gigabyte or ASRock for me.

Check out this MSI RMA for a GPU, they woudn't deal with it, even if they do it goes to MSI Poland and seen numerous reports of refurbished replacements/repairs not working etc. MSI have gone down hill big time.

Link: https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/threads/my-horrible-rma-experience.18971161/

PaulW · 12 May 2023 at 13:28

this whole thing is a bit of a nightmare. unfortunalty i have to buy this gen, my PC atm is ten years old and i cant wait for another year.
i have regard for Gigabyte Mobos, my last ine was a Giga and would happily go with them again. trouble is their products this time round have been more expensive for less features companred to ASUS and the compitition.
so it looks like i may have to go with a gigabyte board after all and put and extra £100 in for that piece of mind.

Brizzles · 12 May 2023 at 16:14

Haz123 said:
The main problem I see with Asus is that they just do not care how much Voltage they use. They have released beta bios that limit the Vsoc to 1.3v.......AMD have said the maximum this value should be at is 1.25V and the other big 3 manufacturers do not go over that limit. It is that sort of attitude I am worried about.

Wrong, your hatred of Asus is blinding facts.

1.3v is the limit implemented by ALL mobo vendors.

We have root caused the issue and have already distributed a new AGESA that puts measures in place on certain power rails on AM5 motherboards to prevent the CPU from operating beyond its specification limits, including a cap on SOC voltage at 1.3V. None of these changes affect the ability of our Ryzen 7000 Series processors to overclock memory using EXPO or XMP kits or boost performance using PBO technology.

Asus B650E-E (1.24 SOC Auto set by Asus BIOS ) + 7800X3D + Ram @ 6000 C30 - no issues here.

Haz123 · 12 May 2023 at 16:35

Brizzles said:
Wrong, your hatred of Asus is blinding facts.

1.3v is the limit implemented by ALL mobo vendors.

Asus B650E-E (1.24 SOC Auto set by Asus BIOS ) + 7800X3D + Ram @ 6000 C30 - no issues here.

Since I posted that I have read that indeed 1.3V is the recommended AMD limit and most vendors actually run the soc at 1.2V to 1.25V. I am glad Asus got your bios correct but I hope you have checked the actual values with HWinfo whilst the system is stressed.

I do not hate Asus but I am anti Asus because all of their mobos I have had were hot garbage and lasted less than a year, all 6 of them. 5 of them were from an SI so nothing to do with me because I did not build that PC and it spent most of its time going back and forth to South Yorkshire. I am very much pro consumer more than I am anti anyone and I just want quality products that have been properly tested and in that scenario we are all winners

The main question that needs answering is why they were pumping 1.4V into the Vsoc on a premium $700 mobo ?

Jamin280672 · 12 May 2023 at 20:45

Brizzles said:
Wrong, your hatred of Asus is blinding facts.

1.3v is the limit implemented by ALL mobo vendors.

Asus B650E-E (1.24 SOC Auto set by Asus BIOS ) + 7800X3D + Ram @ 6000 C30 - no issues here.

ASUS X670E gene here, 32gb (2x16b) G.Skill Trident Z Neo CL32 running at 6000mhz, FCLK at 2000mhz, 7900 non X, no issues here either, hard locked the soc to 1.2v and it bounces a little between 1.99v and 1.208v under stress, otherwise it sits at a constant 1.20v, VDDIO / MC voltage hard set to 1.25v.

Got no intentions of sending the board back, I love it, I think this time round ASUS are the only ones who have put any flair into their boards, all the other boards look like a 1970's dishwasher, especially Gigabyte's lineup, MSI's Carbon isnt too bad, so unless you're happy to pay £800 for something like an MSI MEG ACE X670E which is EATX.

PaulW · 12 May 2023 at 22:25

Jamin280672 said:
ASUS are the only ones who have put any flair into their boards

i have no idea what to get atm considering these MSI MAG X670E TOMAHAWK, MSI MPG X670E Carbon WiFi, Gigabyte B650E AORUS MASTER but untill this issue i was pretty set on the ASUS.

i'll agree from an style point of view Asus does a pretty good job compared to the rest. but i'd rather have a board that i know would last, work and handle everything i threw at it.