The blood reached the river and in some cases endangered more than one CP and possibly catastrophically perhaps more than one house. But it is that the problem that ASUS had with its ROG Maximus Z690 HERO is not typical of the year we are in, when many plates literally ended up in flames. Fortunately, the error has already been detected and the company has spoken to offer an optimal solution.
Looking at the article we posted this week on the issues and number of complaints in official ASUS forums, such as Reddit, it was obvious that so many different setups, so many users and of course so many ways to using a PC was not an obvious reason to exempt the component which ended up burning or broken in any case. The common thread was clear, now it was necessary to know what was going on and how to fix it, if necessary.
ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 HERO, that’s the problem
A simple DDR5 RAM memory capacitor is the culprit in all the mess that has had more than one user in a state of permanent anger with the brand. And it is that there have not been a few that have received a replacement model to which it was broken and they have been reviewed with the same problem for the second time, and even for the third time in some case.
The answer to the uncertainty is already there and it is nothing more than a failure in the assembly of a very specific product: an energy capacitor / capacitor that has been placed upside down and soldered into some units of this motherboard.
This would produce the typical RAM memory error 53 at best, and at worst, the motherboard would catch fire.
But how did this happen? Apparently, in the assembly line, the robots took a batch of capacitors that were rotated horizontally 180º which, when soldered, exchanged the correct position on the base plate.
ASUS rises and already offers solutions
The problem was very concrete and very specific because not all ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 HERO cards have this problem. The company has provided the specific lots and ensures that all plates with the following code are affected: 90MB18E0-MVAAY0, as well as all those whose serial number begins with MA, MB or MC, which can be seen on the label that has the box of each unit.
In any case, all units were manufactured in 2021 and ASUS already offers a solution via an official press release:
To our valued ASUS customers,
ASUS is committed to producing the highest quality products and we take all incident reports from our valued customers very seriously. Recently we have received reports of incidents related to ROG Maximus Z690 Hero motherboard. In our ongoing investigation, we have preliminary identified a potential ‘reverse’ memory capacitor issue in the production process of one of the assembly lines that can cause debug error code 53, not failing basic card POST or damaging motherboard components. The issue potentially affects drives manufactured in 2021 with part number 90MB18E0-MVAAY0 and serial number starting with MA, MB, or MC.
You can identify your part number by looking at the product packaging.
On December 28, 2021 a few incidents were reported in North America. Going forward, we will continue our in-depth inspection with our suppliers and customers to identify all potentially affected ROG Maximus Z690 Hero motherboards in the market and work with relevant government agencies on a replacement program.
Thank you all for your patience and support as we work on the replacement program.
If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact ASUS customer service.
Contact possibilities
Yours sincerely,
ASUS team
On December 28, 2021 a few incidents were reported in North America. Going forward, we will continue our in-depth inspection with our suppliers and customers to identify all potentially affected ROG Maximus Z690 Hero motherboards in the market and work with relevant government agencies on a replacement program.In view of the statement, it is important to contact ASUS through the common communication channels to process the warranty directly with them if the store does not have stock or units available, as the first two years are precisely the store that offers warranty and seeing the problem from the manufacturers, there should be no hindrance to it.
Of course, attach the statement to the store so that they send you a motherboard which is not affected by this problem in the ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 HERO, because if the replacement is affected, it will fail again and logically break . If the store does not want to take care of the replacement and sends you to RMA with ASUS (you do not have to go through the above), the contact details of ASUS Europe are as follows:
- Customer service -> 932938154 (from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. LV excluding public holidays)
- E-mail -> https://www.asus.com/en/support/
From this website you can do all the procedures directly explaining the case and as if that was not enough, here you have the ASUS repair / service centers in our country.
