[SOLVED] ASRock Z390 Pro4 bad spot on the back of the board. Heat damage? Or extra epoxy?

RichardPowell

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Feb 15, 2012
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18,510
I wanted to believe that this was just some extra epoxy spilled on the board. The more I look at it... it looks like heat damage. I've built many pc and have never seen a spot like this in my life. I have until January 31st to return it to Amazon. Please help.

135950024_3091590280873177_7488729713349659748_o.jpg
135874254_3091590290873176_4797498277209377404_o.jpg
136134475_3091590387539833_3408436584217665352_o.jpg
136323287_3091590354206503_2646099943738100391_o.jpg
 
Solution
Either the soldering on the board wasn't up to par or you're running a processor that's demanding more of the board than the VRM area can provide. What processor are you working with on that board and what sort of an overclock do you dialed in?

I'd also suggest listing your specs here for us to see.

In the interim period, keep ASRock in the loop as well as Amazon in case you need to RMA it ASAP, though I'm sure it's going to be sooner than later.

Lutfij

Titan
Moderator
Either the soldering on the board wasn't up to par or you're running a processor that's demanding more of the board than the VRM area can provide. What processor are you working with on that board and what sort of an overclock do you dialed in?

I'd also suggest listing your specs here for us to see.

In the interim period, keep ASRock in the loop as well as Amazon in case you need to RMA it ASAP, though I'm sure it's going to be sooner than later.
 
Solution

DSzymborski

Titan
Moderator
Honestly, if it's something you did, it's really just better to return it to Amazon as defective and get another one. And RMA during the typical 30-day window doesn't really make sense unless it's something that's really hard to replace (such as an RTX 3080 or something).
 

RichardPowell

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Feb 15, 2012
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Here are the same 3 Capacitors from the backside view. You can clearly see the middle one is heat damaged and the solder looks wrong. The image looks a little better now, as I flaked off some of the bubbled up epoxy with my finger nail.
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RichardPowell

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Feb 15, 2012
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Either the soldering on the board wasn't up to par or you're running a processor that's demanding more of the board than the VRM area can provide. What processor are you working with on that board and what sort of an overclock do you dialed in?

I'd also suggest listing your specs here for us to see.

In the interim period, keep ASRock in the loop as well as Amazon in case you need to RMA it ASAP, though I'm sure it's going to be sooner than later.


After closer inspection, it appears the motherboard is heat damaged. Looks like a bad solder on the 2nd capacitor down. I've only used this motherboard for 7 days and haven't overclocked anything. Looks like it's going RMA.

To recap, I find the entire situation very strange, as I'm still using the computer right now. Restart to Bios and all temps ok, download Speccy from ccleaner and all temps ok. Normally a fried board won't even boot up.
 

RichardPowell

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Feb 15, 2012
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ASRock emailed me and told me not to use Tom's Hardware Forums, even though they post a link to Tom's Hardware on the ASRock website...
https://www.asrock.com/support/forum.asp

Here's the official response...

"Instead of sending the photos to the forums , you should ask ASRock about this issue .
I doubt the forums give you the correct answer to solve the problem.
ASRock had sold thousand of the model since the first released on 2018 and you are the first person with the type of problem .
Send us a clear image of area you mentioned is damaged ."
 
Kinda funny that they tell you not to ask people in this forum for answers. I have joined this forum months ago and this place is amazing. I have seen hundreds of threads being closed by amazing helpers.

"I doubt the forums give you the correct answer to solve the problem."

People that tells you stuff like this are the one not knowing anything. So how can he even begin to know what happens on this forum? ;)
Like this person will probably take your pictures and send them to someone so it's not like he or she knows.

But I agree. I would just return that board.