Question is Asus Ex A320M gaming a inherently faulty motherboard or it is my fault.

[seriouseditview]

Asus Ex A320M, is an inherently faulty motherboard. (From Experience NOT ONCE BUT THRICE)

My config is

Processor: AMD Ryzen 3 2200G

Motherboard: Asus Ex A320M gaming

Ram: Gskill Ripjaws 1 X 8GB

Graphics Card: Gtx 1050Ti - Zotac Mini

PSU: 1st Corsair vs 550, 2nd Antec Atom 550, 3rd Again Antec Atom 550, and now Ant Esports 500 (The reason I had to change this many PSU was because of PSU failures, PSUs just burst while working, I keep my PC turned on 24/7, since my work is based on that, except during periods of sleep, I leave it turned on even if I go out).


In the first nine months of the purchase, the PC was working fine then one rainy day when I tried to start the PC, the led lights on the motherboard turned on but on pressing the Power button on the CPU case the fans would not run with no post.

Then I found that on exposure to sunlight, it does turn on.

From then on If I have to turn on the PC after like 4-5 hours, It will not turn on, the LED on the motherboard will glow, but fans will not run and no post, so every single time I had to expose the whole PC in sunlight by keeping the whole PC case outsight in the warm sunlight for 10-30 minutes, then I have to bring it back into the home to turn it on.

This went on for like 1 year 2 months(in the meantime the Corsair PSU just burst while working which I replaced with Antec, which too got burst after a long time, the time for which Antec worked fine was till its warranty period got over so I could not apply for a replacement for Antec), after which even after exposure to sunlight the fans will start running, but there would be no display on the monitor on the Graphics Card port as well as the Motherboard's HDMI port. , I thought it might be the monitor's fault, which I checked by connecting the HDMI cable to laptop the display appeared on Monitor, so Monitor is not the fault here, now I came to the firm conclusion that it is the motherboard which is the faulty one since it was still under warranty, I applied for a replacement, the replacement might take a month or two, so I purchased the SAME EXACT MOTHERBOARD again (I did that because I was not interested in again reinstalling my windows, since changing a different motherboard, may force me to reinstall the OS again),.

Now, the above description is the 1st Experience.


Now the recently purchased Asus Ex A320M gaming worked well for like 3-4 months, again the same problem appears which is- LED on the motherboard will turn on, but on pressing the power button on the PC case the fans won't run, and no post. So again I had to keep the PC in sunlight, for 10-20 minutes, to turn it on, it went on for few months and again the final problem, which is - even after keeping in PC the fans would run but no display on the monitor on the Graphics Card port as well as the Motherboard's HDMI port.
So this is the 2nd Experience


Still, it is under warranty I will apply for the replacement soon, but in the meantime, I replaced it with 1st RMA replaced the motherboard, which again worked well for a few months, and it will not turn on after 4-5 hours unless exposed to sunlight, so I can take it for granted that within few months I will face the SAME EXACT issue of no display on the monitor on the Graphics Card port as well as the Motherboard's HDMI port.
So this is the third experience.


Also every single time I turn on the PC after exposing it to the sunlight I found the time is lagging behind, the lag depends on how much time it was in the OFF state.


So It is quite abundantly clear that the Motherboard Asus Ex A320M gaming is inherently faulty or maybe it is not optimized to work in the South Asian climatic conditions.



I never overclocked my CPU

I never overclocked my GPU.

My brother played a bunch of AA games(for the past years), but it was never overclocked.

The most I did was to increase the fan speed of GPU to 100% using MSI afterburner while playing Red Dead Redemption 2, that too I restored it back to normal once the game was completed.
Also, I forgot to mention my Graphics Card too went faulty I was replaced with a brand new one since it was under warranty. It has been like 8-9 months since it was replaced.

 

[Colif]

PSU: 1st Corsair vs 550, 2nd Antec Atom 550, 3rd Again Antec Atom 550, and now Ant Esports 500 (The reason I had to change this many PSU was because of PSU failures, PSUs just burst while working, I keep my PC turned on 24/7, since my work is based on that, except during periods of sleep, I leave it turned on even if I go out).

i suspect this is the cause of the motherboard problem. Asus are from Taiwan, I assume they know how to make motherboards that work in South East Asia.

Why do power supplies just burst? It must be power supply to location causing it. Do you use surge protectors? I would fix this before suspecting its the motherboards.

 

[seriouseditview]

Thanks for responding.

i suspect this is the cause of the motherboard problem.

Yes it is indeed motherboard problem, the fact that 3 motherboards of the same models displaying the same exact problem is quite good indicator that the problem is with the model and make itself. May be this model(EX A320M) of motherboard is not made to run 24/7, I don't know.plus the lag in time in the windows every time I turned it on after exposing it to sunlight is also a indicator that the problem is motherboard.

Why do power supplies just burst? It must be power supply to location causing it. Do you use surge protectors? I would fix this before suspecting its the motherboards.

I don't use surge protectors, I just connect the power cable of the PSU and the monitor to the wall socket.
And regarding the reason why PSU burst:
I don't know the reason why the first PSU (Corsair 550VS) burst, I just connected all the usbs, wires in the motherboard after exposing it to sunlight(since without exposing the sunlight the cpu won't start after being off for more than 3-4 hours) and was working in it. Then suddenly I heard a burst, screen went black, then found PSU burst.
The second PSU- Antec (Atom 550W) also burst but it worked fine for a very long time, the time for which worked fine was till the warranty period(2 years) got expired, so I think this Antec PSU did a good job, and served well for the required period.
The 3rd PSU which is again the same - Antec Atom 550W burst exclusively because a low voltage (poor electricity supply).
Now I am using a 500W PSU.

 

[Unolocogringo]

If you keep using low quality power supplies, you will always have problems.
Cheap low quality power supplies slowly over time destroy parts with out of spec voltages.
Your motherboard is NOT the problem.
Your choice of cheap power supplies for 24/7 usage is.

 

[seriouseditview]

If you keep using low quality power supplies, you will always have problems.
Cheap low quality power supplies slowly over time destroy parts with out of spec voltages.
Your motherboard is NOT the problem.
Your choice of cheap power supplies for 24/7 usage is.

Thanks for the suggestion, I will get bronze Certified PSU next time.
And thanks for reading my posts.

 

[Unolocogringo]

NO. Gigabyte offers terrible power supplies.
A bronze rating is only efficiency not quality.
look for one with at least 5-7 years warranty and gold rated.
Most bronze power supplies are crap.

 

[seriouseditview]

NO. Gigabyte offers terrible power supplies.
A bronze rating is only efficiency not quality.
look for one with at least 5-7 years warranty and gold rated.
Most bronze power supplies are crap.

I will get 'DEEPCOOL PM750D 750 Watt 80 Plus Gold Certifications Power Supplies' (next time) it is has 5 years warranty.

 

[Colif]

I just connected all the usbs, wires in the motherboard after exposing it to sunlight(since without exposing the sunlight the cpu won't start after being off for more than 3-4 hours) and was working in it.

the need to show it sunlight is odd.

 

[seriouseditview]

the need to show it sunlight is odd.

Yeah, I know it is odd.

But it has been going on for a long, time, when I turn off PC before I go to sleep and then on the next morning, when I try to switch ON the PC by pressing the power button on the pc case it just won't turn on(only the led in the motherboard will glow, none of the fans would spin), but if I expose it to sunshine for some 10-25 minutes, It will start, and not once, I mean literally not once, it failed to start after exposure to sunshine.

This routine keeps going on, then on one finally after exposure to sunshine, the PC will turn on but the display on the monitor won't appear, that's when it means the motherboard is done for.

This is been the case for not just one motherboard but all the three(of the same model), and that's the reason made me firmly believe the problem is not with any other parts but exclusively to the motherboard, adding to this, the fact that time lags in the system is a another strong indication of the problem being in the motherboard. If I firmly established the problem is with the motherboard model itself(since I experienced the same problem with 3 different motherboards of the same model), then I feel obliged that I should bring this problem to the attention of the authorities in Asus, they may correct the mistake or they may stop producing the model.

And thanks for responding and reading my posts, you suggestion and help are much appreciated.

Edit: And I build my PC on september 2018,

 

[Colif]

How long has it done that for? On all power supplies?

the lag in time in the windows every time I turned it on after exposing it to sunlight is also a indicator that the problem is motherboard.

what time is behind? BIOS time or Windows?

 

[seriouseditview]

How long has it done that for?

I build the PC in September 2018, till September 2019 I had no problem, but between September 2018 and September 2019 on one occasion I think, I was not able to switch on the PC by just pressing the Power button on the case, but after disconnecting and connecting the power cable of the PSU, the PC turned on, other than this in the period September 2018 - September 2019, I did not have any problem.

But around September 2019 on one rainy day the power was down so I was working on my laptop, with the mobile hotspot, then when the power came back, I tried to switch the PC on as usual by pressing the power button on the PC case, it did not turn on(only the RGB in the motherboard will glow, none of the fans would spin), I disconnected and reconnected the PSU power cable-did not have any effect, I saw a youtube video where it was advised to change the CMOS battery, I rushed to the nearby store, and got a pack of CMOS batteries, and inserted the new CMOS battery - still no effect. I decided to take the PC to the showroom where I got it assembled on the coming weekend when I had the time, the next day I tried to switch on still no response, but there was window open in the room, and the sunlight feel on the case(which was open, so the sunlight can directly fall on the motherboard I never planned it to keep the PC that way, it was by sheer luck that the PC was kept in the specific spot where the sunshine can come through the window, I did not even get the idea that showing it to sunlight might help to start until now), just by a sheer instinct, I thought that might have some effect, and closed the PC case and tried switching it ON, guess what, it helped to start the PC, the PC which I tried to start for one whole day, by removing and disconnecting various parts, replacing the CMOS - which all still had no effect, finally switched on exposure to sunshine, then on the same day I turned off the PC before I went to sleep, and tried to switch it on the next morning, again the same problem it won't start, the RGB on the motherboard would glow, but none of the fans would run, this time I took the PC outside and kept in the spot where there was enough sunshine, and left to be exposed for some 30 minutes, and brought it back, and one pressing the power button of the case, it would switch on, so this routine of keeping the PC in sunshine whenever I have to start was going on, then around January 2020, for cleaning I disassembled all the parts, and left all the parts in the sunshine, then brought it back and again assembled them, switched on the pc, and continued my work, I heard the burst which was PSU, then I purchased a Antec Atom 550W psu, but still the same routine of exposing it to sunshine was going on, but every now and then when I bring back the pc after the exposure to sunshine I will get no signal message on the monitor for which I had to connect and disconnect HDMI cable for a few times to finally get the display on the monitor, but around December 2020, when I brought the PC after exposing it to sunshine, I never got a display neither in the motherboard's HDMI port nor in the graphics card's port, I tried numerous time connecting and disconnecting, and finally fed up, applied for a RMA process as the motherboard was still under warranty. In the meantime before I received the RMA replacement, I myself bought the same exact motherboard (since I did not want to reinstall my OS), this new motherboard(the one I purchased again) was working fine for like 4 months again it started showing the same problem, which is it won't turn on after it is switched off for more than 3-4 hours, so the same routine of taking it to sunshine started, (in the meantime in between this the Graphics card problem arose, which I applied for a RMA, and was using the inbuild HDMI port of the motherboard, I got the graphics card replaced), and then on one final day, when I brought the back PC after exposing it sunshine, the fans will spin but no display whatsoever neither on the HDMI nor on the Graphics card, so I swapped the motherboard, the one which I got replaced by the RMA process, it was working fine for again 3-4 months again, the same problem, which is it won't turn on after being off for 3-4 hours it has to be exposed to sunshine, so I can now take it for granted that this motherboard will also one day will not display anything, and when that happens that is the end of the motherboard.

what time is behind? BIOS time or Windows?

Both and the time gets frozen 2/3 hours+the time I turn it off, for eg, if I turn it off at 12:00 pm and then when I restart my pc after exposing it to sunshine, the time I will find the time in the windows would be like 1 or 2 am. At most sometimes it would be around 3 or 4 am.

I have not seen what is the lag in the BIOS but I noticed the Lag in BIOS too, since I went into bios once or thrice for updating the BIOS FIRMWARE.

 

[Colif]

i will read this tomorrow, but i think I add some spacing into first part as 30 lines with no spacing is a bit much at 3am.

 

[DRagor]

I would assume it's not sunlight that does the work but temperature. Easy way to check it out - next time use hair dryer or some similar source of heat instead of sunlight to make it run.

 

[seriouseditview]

i will read this tomorrow,

Thanks a lot,
What I wrote was literally a summary of the my PC's behavior for the past 3 years.

 

[DSzymborski]

That is incredibly hard to read.

What I don't understand is why not get a good PSU once instead of junky PSUs over and over again? You're spending way more money than you're possibly saving.

 

[seriouseditview]

I think I have a clue now what might have affected my motherboard, I think it might have to do with the arrangement of the CASE fans, all these days, there was no air intake inside the case, but only air being taken out, ie. there is an exhaust at the rear of the case and another 120mm fan in the front which pulls the air out, in other words, both the fans on the rear and front, take the air out (but the traditional and the ideal approach is to have a fan which intakes air and another fan which lets the air out), now this might explain why a brand new motherboard within some 4-5 months can't boot or show post after being turned off for more than 3-4 hours, without being exposed to sunshine.

Now I have changed the direction of the fan in the rear which is near the CPU fan, now the rear fan is letting air in and the front fan is taking the air out, in this arrangement the temperatures are really low.

 

[Colif]

Most people have the exhaust fan at the rear. having no intake doesn't help.

did you make the PC? not all cases are set up with one in, one out. I have more exhausts than intakes. It can work but it does help to have some intakes. Some cases are specifically designed for negative pressure which is what you get if you only have exhausts. Air still gets in, just not through the fans.

curious why it needs heat to start. the fans would have been sucking any cold air out of PC on start up, now all you doing it sending more in. PC shouldn't be that hot at startup to make a difference?

 

[seriouseditview]

having no intake doesn't help

Yes, all these days(ie for the past three years) I have worked with this faulty arrangement of the case fans, until now.

did you make the PC?

A technician assembled in the showroom, I gave him details about where should be the HDD but didn't say anything about the direction of air flow. So he arranged it as he pleased.

curious why it needs heat to start.

That's a real bizarre mystery, for which I do not have any good answer or explanation but I saw a video on youtube where a guy face the same problem as I have faced he uses a hairdryer to heat up the motherboard to start it, but I will say this, not once did the PC failed to start after exposed to the sunshine, it starts every single time. And also please read this and this, the people who posted in the given links also face a similar problem like myself.

 

[Karadjgne]

Exposure to sun does nothing. There's nothing inside a pc that's photosensitive. Instead it's more likely exposure to heat from the sun on the case.

Time lags when the pc is off is a battery issue. It means the bios is being reset at startup to factory defaults, a long boot.

That many psus blowing (even cheap ones) would point towards a case issue. Those cheap psus do not have much in the way of protective circuits, just the atx standard 3 basically.

I'd be looking for how the motherboard is mounted, maybe a long solder joint, warped motherboard tray, etc.

Also, check your house electric, the voltage, the outlet, cable and look for any irregularities, melted or burned sections, try a different cable.

Something is seriously wrong if the fan in front is set as exhaust. I've never seen any factory screw up that badly to mount it as such. Toilet paper test (just dangle a sheet on the outside of the case) will define if it's really exhaust or intake.

 

[Colif]

does anything light up if you don't give it time? fans move? any sign of life?

if so, and it needs time to "heat up" it could be the PSU - link

but if its constant, external things like above mentioned can also be cause. If it happened on multiple PSU.

 

[seriouseditview]

does anything light up if you don't give it time? fans move? any sign of life?

Yeah the RGB on the motherboard glows(see here), but none of the fans, would spin on pressing the power button on the case.

if so, and it needs time to "heat up" it could be the PSU

Remember I said the PSU burst after which I procured an Antec 550, when I first installed this brand new Antec PSU, after unboxing and fitting it in the case, I tried to switch on the PC by pressing the power button(without exposing it to sunshine), but none of the fans would spin, only the RGB in motherboard will glow, then I had to take the case outside and expose it to sunshine, to switch on the PC, So it can be quite safely concluded the problem is not with the PSU.

but if its constant, external things like above mentioned can also be cause. If it happened on multiple PSU.

My speculation is that the total lack of intake(lack of intake also means lack of airflow/circulation, a google search shows that a home with a good airflow helps evaporation of the moisture, see here) all these days might be the caused the accumulation of humidity on a brand new motherboard, and at one stage the moisture that got accumulated was to that extent that it affected the motherboard to boot/to show post unless it is exposed to sunlight to get warmer, this is just my speculation.

 

[DRagor]

all these days might be the caused the accumulation of humidity on a brand new motherboard, and at one stage the moisture that got accumulated was to that extent that it affected the motherboard to boot/to show post unless it is exposed to sunlight to get warmer, this is just my speculation

That is a very valid speculation. I suppose air humidity where you live is high so it makes a lot of sense. Moisture could be a reason your motherboards die each in the same way.

 

[Karadjgne]

Not humidity. Or the TV would be blowing up. The microwave, toaster oven, hairdryers, vacuum cleaners, ceiling fans etc. All those electric or electronic items seeing any use would be turning to rust and/or blowing too as motors get warm, anything not stainless steel will rust with any level of condensation accumulation.

I've seen motherboards warp in high humidity areas, but only when subjected to heavy cpu cooler heatsinks like the Noctua NH-D15 etc. And that process took years to accomplish.

In order for condensation to form, the case/motherboard would need to get hot, and then get cold, and that is extremely rare. Air-conditioning removes moisture, and cold air is generally dry, not super moist. The pc would need to be located in an area that does get a lot of moisture accumulation, and that would mean a serious amount of mold buildup locally.

As far as psus, it's far more likely the pc case is exposed to direct sunlight, sitting next to a heat vent, is placed to get hot and is exceeding its rated tolerances on the daily. Those cheap psus are not built nor tested to supply anything close to rated wattage at anything more than 30°C. Above that, it's pot luck if they survive.