Discussion Very disappointed with ASUS $1000 X670E Extreme motherboard

[V8VENOM]

I've been using ASUS for my Motherboards for a couple of decades now and they've been reliable and consistent regardless of CPU/Chipset (Intel or AMD).

But the new ASUS Crosshair VIII X670E Extreme board ($1000 board) has some problems:

1. After about 1 month, the Marvell 10G NIC started to flicker (Disconnected/Connected) ... in Device Manager I could see it going enabled/disabled state every second which was causing many other issues I was having as an internet connection is pretty critical these days. So I disabled the Marvel NIC and switched over 2.5G Intel and so far so good.
2. So I started having more problems about 1 week later with the USB port physically located right below the Marvell 10G port ... again similar symptoms with the USB port enable/disable when I bring up Device Manager ... so I disconnected the device and plugged it into a separate USB PCIe card.
3. I converted my ASUS 4090 to use an EK waterblock (front and rear block) but because ASUS put one of the (two) status displays right next to PCIEX16_1 slot there was no room for the 4090 to fit into the slot. Not a big deal I thought, I moved the 4090 over to PCIEX16_2 ... then I discovered that PCIEX16_2 is NOT and CAN NOT operate at X16 speed, only X8 ... so one might ask why is the slot identified as PCIEX16_2 if it can NEVER operate at X16 speed (regardless of other slots used or not used).

So overall, ASUS has really dropped the ball on this $1000 motherboard. I expected higher quality control for this price range. ASUS ranks #1 in the world for Motherboard design/manufacturing so it was somewhat of a surprise after so many decades of ASUS. Is ASUS having financial problems or is COVID impacting their quality ... have they lost engineers to competitors?

Maybe I just got a one off bad Motherboard, but I've seen many folks posting issues with ASUS and X670E, anyone else having troubles with latest and every expensive ASUS motherboards?

 

[drea.drechsler]

Sounds like you'll have an opportunity to check out Asus's warranty coverage.

About the PCIeX16_2 problem...well, that is why they publish specifications. If you check it out, they're obviously sharing PCIe lanes between the M.2 slots and the two PCIe sockets.

AMD Ryzen™ 7000 Series Desktop Processors
2 x PCIe 5.0 x16 slots (supports x16 or x8/x8 modes)*
AMD X670 Chipset
1 x PCIe 4.0 x4 slot
*When the PCIe 5.0 M.2 card is installed on the PCIEX16(G5)_2, PCIEX16(G5)_1 will run x8 only.
*When M.2_2 is enabled, PCIEX16(G5)_1 will run x8 and PCIEX16(G5)_2 will run x4.

Lane sharing like that is a very common practice with most any motherboard these days where high-bandwidth PCIe lanes are very expensive to board designers in several ways. You should have checked the specs before buying the board if this was the configuration you wanted to run it in. Even though, I do feel for you after spending all that money for a board that's really no more flexible and useful than one at 1/2 or even 1/3 the price.

 

[Zerk2012]

So overall, ASUS has really dropped the ball on this $1000 motherboard

I would never even think about buying a 1K motherboard OUCH.

I would try to return the board for a refund and buy a board in the 300/400 buck area.

 

[V8VENOM]

The pre-purchase specs say nothing about this limitation. Download of manual says nothing about the ONLY PCIEX16_1 as the only slot that’s X16 capable.

I fully understand the lane sharing but both PCIEX16 slots have physical 16 lanes, the problem is ASUS don’t provide necessary circuit switch to use ONE OR OTHER slot for X16 … agree can’t have two occupied at 16X and I have no expectation of that.

Also makes no sense to identify the slots as PCIEX16 when in reality only the first PCIEX16_1 slot is capable of 16X.

 

[DSzymborski]

The pre-purchase specs say nothing about this limitation. Download of manual says nothing about the ONLY PCIEX16_1 as the only slot that’s X16 capable.

I fully understand the lane sharing but both PCIEX16 slots have physical 16 lanes, the problem is ASUS don’t provide necessary circuit switch to use ONE OR OTHER slot for X16 … agree can’t have two occupied at 16X and I have no expectation of that.

Also makes no sense to identify the slots as PCIEX16 when in reality only the first PCIEX16_1 slot is capable of 16X.

He's quoting page 7 of the manual.

And yes, the second slot is x16, if certain other slots aren't being used.

I can't think of a motherboard that allows you to switch which PCIE slot will stay x16 when an M.2 drive or other component that needs the lane is installed. They're not getting all lanes from the same source.

 

[V8VENOM]

And yes, the second slot is x16, if certain other slots aren't being used.

But it's not, trust me, I've tested this over and over and verified with a variety of tools and hardware configurations (one M.2 at various locations). ONLY PCIEX16_1 is X16 in all cases, PCIEX16_2 will be 8X max regardless of any other configuration of the 4 potential M.2 locations.

 

[drea.drechsler]

But it's not, trust me, I've tested this over and over and verified with a variety of tools and hardware configurations (one M.2 at various locations). ONLY PCIEX16_1 is X16 in all cases, PCIEX16_2 will be 8X max regardless of any other configuration of the 4 potential M.2 locations.

Yah...well it seems like you already have a good reason for warranty action with the intermittently functional Marvel NIC. I'd also give it a go with Asus' tech support for the 2nd PCIe x16 not functioning correctly per published specifications.

You might also check your manual...up-featured boards are often highly configurable with BIOS settings that can over-ride device-presence defaults that could be tripping you up. IMO the tech support folks should help you with that too; I mean what does $1000 buy if not a little help when you need it.

 

[sonofjesse]

Sorry about that, I would warranty it.

I can't under a 500 dollar board, no idea what a 1000 board gets you that is critical. Must be a very special use case.

 

[V8VENOM]

This will be my first board to warranty under ASUS. Does anyone know how the ASUS warranty process works?

If it requires that I'll be without a motherboard for 4-6 weeks as they verify RMA, then I'll probably just buy a different manufacturer like MSI or Gigabyte ... sadly EVGA don't make AM5 boards. I'll also check clearance from the slot closest to the CPU to make sure I have clearance with my EK front/back water block on the 4090.

It seems the ASUS forums are still "down for maintenance" ... going on 3rd week now. Being a software engineer and working in 24/7 production routing to "down for maintenance" for 3 weeks would simple NOT happen ... I guessing ASUS forums got hacked or held for ransom ... that's the ONLY situation where I could see a production website be down for so long.

Regardless, I'll start my RMA process with ASUS, probably just buy another board now and sell the replacement when/if it arrives.

EDIT: Case number created for RMA request, it was easy just needed to provide my serial number ... website here.

 

[andrew3d]

Regardless, I'll start my RMA process with ASUS, probably just buy another board now and sell the replacement when/if it arrives.

EDIT: Case number created for RMA request, it was easy just needed to provide my serial number ... website here.
[/QUOTE]

Are you still waiting to hear from ASUS ?
Just curious if they treated you right.
Appreciate your sharing your experience with them. How someone else was treated helps the rest of us.

 

[V8VENOM]

Are you still waiting to hear from ASUS ?

ASUS system is automated, I got an RMA quick and shipped (just take MB in box down to UPS store and provide scan code I got from ASUS), took several weeks to get the MB back and ASUS indicated they couldn't find a problem. I retested the board on my workbench setup and the USB port and LAN slot exhibited same problems ... so if you want a $1000 ASUS Extreme board I have one for sale for $500.

In the meantime I moved on to Gigabyte X670E Aorus Master AM5 motherboard for $460 US. The Gigabyte board allowed me to use my EK full coverage front/back waterblock on my 4090 GPU in the PCIe X16 slot without any water block clearance issues I had with the Asus board. Took a tad more work but running at 6Ghz and the Gigabyte performance numbers are as good as the Asus board and GPU performance is about 5% better because I can use the PCIe X16 slot in the Gigabyte that I couldn't use in the Asus (due to poor design and placement).