Older stock motherboard

[mstrmind5]

Hello All,

Just bought a new motherboard - Asus Z170 Maximus Hero 8. Taking it out of the box and inspecting it physically, the board seems fine, the box has some external damage as you would expect. Looking at the serial number I notice that the boards maunfacture date is July 2015 - 21 months ago! I was a little shocked, I know the z170 series boards came out about August/September 2015 meaning this board has been sitting on the shelf/in a warehouse all that time. I'm reluctant to put the system together and test it because of this. I'm used to getting pc components that are manufacutured within 12 months of my purchase date not almost 24 months. Is this a common thing, or how could this board just have been sitting there all this time? I feel I should contact the retailer and tell them what I found, maybe they could source a newer motherboard, I don't know.

Thoughts and feedback warmly appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[Dunlop0078]

That would not bother me in the slightest, the board is not going to degrade sitting on a shelf for less than 2 years. It certainly would not keep me from building my pc. Not sure what the retailer is going to do for you, I doubt they are going to send you a newer board because you feel yours is too old. I have seen mobo's of MUCH lesser quality than that maximus last a decade or longer with constant use, if longevity is what you are concerned with that mobo will likely last until it is obsolete and then years after that regardless of if it was sitting on a shelf for 21 months before hand.

 

[10tacle]

If the board is new in box and nobody else opened it, I would not worry. About the only difference between that board and a newer built board would be a newer BIOS version which can be easily taken care of with a flash upgrade from the manufacturer website.

However, if there are known issues with the early version of your board, then I'd reconsider. For example the old Sandy Bridge first generation ASUS P8P67 Pro motherboards (v1.0) had problems that were resolved with the v2.0 boards.

 

[mstrmind5]

Thanks guys.

Anyone know what the code/number on small white sticker on the motherboard represents? Also do motherboards have unique idenitifiers in their bios?

 

[10tacle]

Not sure what that sticker would be other than serial number and model number? It should have similar numbers on the outside of the box too. Regarding BIOS checking on version, when you first boot it up, it should give the version on the flash startup screen (the one saying ASUS, etc.).

Checking out the BIOS downloads for that motherboard on ASUS's website shows that it has about 15 BIOS revisions since August 2015 (WOW!). The latest is v3201 released this past February. **Stay away from the Beta BIOSs!!**