A Youtuber has detected a disturbing anomaly on his Asus Z690 Hero motherboard. According to him, some of them could go up in smoke due to an inverted capacitor. Several users have complained about a similar issue on Reddit and the Asus support forums. The manufacturer officially admitted his fault in a publication on its site.
If you are having trouble with your Asus Z690 Hero motherboard, know that you are not the only one. Indeed, a YouTuber discovered that the motherboards in question may go up in smoke due to a reverse capacitor. This videographer, who is called Builzoid on the Actually Hardcore Overclocking channel, decided to investigate the matter after the publication of numerous complaints on Reddit and on the manufacturer’s forums.
According to testimonies, some motherboards started to smoke in the same place: at the level of the two MOFSETs, insulated gate field effect transistors, next to DIMM slots and Q-Code reader. In a video posted on its channel, BuildZoid diagnoses the problem based on the various photos posted by users on the web.
He found that the text on the capacitor is actually upside down, a clear sign that it is not correctly installed. As our colleagues at Tom’s Hardware remind us, an inverted capacitor results in an inversion of polarity, which may cause the MOFSET to malfunction and burn.
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Asus recognizes an error on the production line
After the publication of his video, Asus has indeed confirmed the theory of the videographer. “In our ongoing investigation, we have preliminarily identified a potential reverse memory capacitor issue in the production process of one of the production lines that can cause debug error code 53, that is, component damage. motherboard ”, explains the builder.
He pursues : “The issue potentially affects units manufactured in 2021 with part number 90MB18E0-MVAAY0 and serial number starting with MA, MB and MC ”. If you are worried about whether your motherboard is affected, be aware that it is possible to find the serial number and part number of your Z690 Hero on the side of the packaging as well as on the sticker placed on top.
In this regard, the company posted a link on Facebook to a free tool allowing to check if your Z690 Hero motherboard is affected by the problem in question, depending on the serial number. Asus also undertakes to replace defective motherboards at its expense. “Going forward, we are continuing our in-depth inspection with our suppliers and customers to identify all potentially affected ROG Maximus Z690 Hero motherboards in the market and we are working with the relevant government agencies on a replacement program ”, says Asus.
Source: The verge
