Facepalm: Asus has lastly issued a recall of the ROG Maximus Z690 Hero motherboards that customers final yr reported may catch hearth. Just a few fashions are affected by the problem, but when yours is, it is best to ship it in for a free alternative instantly.
If you happen to missed the saga because it unfolded in December, it started one thing like this: a few dozen customers posted photographs of their Z690 Heroes with the 2 MOSFETs above the board’s reminiscence slots burnt-up or melted. After some head scratching on Reddit and YouTube, BuildZoid finally discovered that the polarized capacitor that fed the MOSFETs was put in backward on some boards.
Within the best-case state of affairs, the MOSFETs or the VRMs they had been related to would fail with out fanfare and forestall the board from detecting the put in reminiscence sticks, in flip stopping it from posting, or returning an error code 53.
Within the worst-case state of affairs, the MOSFETs would consumption an excessive amount of present and slowly overheat or abruptly catch hearth. Asus stated that it acquired 10 experiences of that occuring however no experiences of accidents. It inspired affected customers to contact buyer assist and stated that it was engaged on a alternative program…
…and eight months later, that program has sort-of launched. On Thursday, the Client Product and Security Fee (CPSC) introduced the voluntary recall of Z690 Heroes with serial numbers beginning with MA, MB, and MC.
The CPSC is telling customers to cease utilizing their motherboards instantly and to move to asus.com/us/website/recollects to request a free alternative, transport included. However, should you click on that hyperlink, you will discover that Asus’ website redirects you to a weblog submit concerning the situation from final yr that does not point out the recall. Useful.
In line with the CPSC, there have been about 10,000 affected boards bought in-store at Greatest Purchase and Micro Middle and on-line by Amazon and Newegg between October and December final yr. They retailed for about $600.
You may examine in case your Z690 Hero is affected by taking a look at its serial quantity and coming into it into the Asus checker instrument. You’ll find it on a sticker situated on both the highest or backside of the board, or should you’ve received the field helpful, it will be on a sticker on the facet of that. Alternatively, you possibly can watch BuildZoid’s video, and he’ll present you tips on how to examine which method the capacitor is put in your self.
Presumably, Asus is engaged on a touchdown web page for the recall. In the meantime, you will get in contact with their buyer assist or the shopper assist of wherever you introduced it from and get a alternative issued that method.
Masthead credit score: SJ (@sjcbrn)