Asus has found itself at a crossroads recently as its reputation has been questioned by several big names in the PC hardware space. With reported issues with over-voltage and resulting Ryzen processors burning, some Asus owners may be wondering if their components are safe to use.
Currently, the company has released an official statement on the solution to the problem. Meanwhile, it seems that many buyers are choosing to return their Asus motherboards. But is the controversy surrounding Asus really the culprit here?
The image above shows a Micro Center rack filled with Asus motherboards. Yellow-tagged ones are open-box returns, meaning a previous customer bought the board and opened it, but then chose to return it within the allowed time frame (usually 30 days). That’s a lot of revenue; it is not surprising Reddit The user who took the picture wrote the comment “Asus mobo (motherboard) disassembly on display at Micro Center.”
At first glance, it seems really terrible. A few weeks ago, we reported that some users were having issues with Ryzen 7000 processors on Asus motherboards. In a case in point, a Redditor reported finding a dead Ryzen 7 7800X3D processor with a visible bulge and a burn mark on the motherboard. Another user said they had a similar problem with their Ryzen 9 7950X3D. No user overclocked anything other than memory through AMD EXPO.
Both reports have one thing in common – an Asus motherboard. Later, further reports were given. No one expects one of the best processors to fail so quickly and completely, so this was bad news for Asus (and affected customers).
An affected user posted his hardware to a YouTube channel called Players Nexus. YouTubers weren’t happy with Asus, criticizing it for releasing faulty BIOS updates that allowed its Ryzen 7000 processors to run at dangerous voltages. Gamers claimed that Nexus also pushed a BIOS update for the Crosshair X670E Extreme motherboard that voided Asus’ warranty. Finally, Asus is said to encourage users to stick with standard memory profiles by repeatedly disabling AMD EXPO on AM5 motherboards.
Asus kept quiet when the overvoltage issues first started to surface. Now, however, in the midst of these disputes, he placed one official statement About BIOS updates and warranty coverage for Asus AM5 motherboards.
“We want to address the concerns raised by our users about whether the latest BIOS updates affect the warranty of ASUS AM5 motherboards,” Asus said. “We would like to reassure our customers that both beta and fully validated BIOS updates for ASUS AM5 motherboards are covered by the original manufacturer’s warranty. We would also like to confirm the following points:
- ASUS AM5 motherboard warranty also covers all AMD EXPO, Intel XMP and DOCP memory configurations.
- All recent BIOS updates follow the latest AMD voltage guidelines for AMD Ryzen 7000 series processors.”
This is a big change from Asus; this can be called a 180 degree turn. Now Asus seems to go above and beyond by even including something that isn’t usually covered under warranty – EXPO profiles are considered overclocking, which is why most of Asus’s competition excludes them.
Now the question is: Is Asus pulling back in a hurry to save face due to the large number of returns, as the Reddit post suggests? The answer is difficult, but the photo of the Micro Center shelf is also misleading.
Most of the motherboards pictured are Intel Z690 models. This means it has nothing to do with the ongoing AMD Ryzen 7000 controversy. Many customers may have suddenly lost faith in the brand due to the issues, but it may also be because Micro Center sells motherboard and CPU packages, and the recent change has forced many people to return their old boards.
The package used to include a Z690 motherboard and a Core i7-13700K, but Micro Center has reportedly replaced it with a Z790 motherboard, allowing users to return Z690 models for a quick upgrade. This would certainly explain the large number of comebacks. In the end, it might be a bit of both – the hype mostly explains it, but it’s hard to deny that this kind of bad press could leave a mark on Asus’ reputation that will last for a while.
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