Multiple users report that their ROG Maximus Z690 Hero are dying

Multiple users are reporting problems with their ROG Maximus Z690 Hero motherboards through the Asus forums, on Reddit, and on various other sites, all related to an integrated circuit related to powering the RAM memory burning and in some cases have even caught fire for a few seconds. After this, the system does not detect the RAM, leaving an orange light in the boot process and the code 53 on the DEBUG screen, both referring to problems with the RAM.

Here are some testimonials along with images of how the motherboards were after the incidents:

u/Rockman 4 and Reddit

Another Z690 Maximus Hero with Q-Code 53 that I have received from a Newegg combo with G.Skill 6000CL40 memories (F5-6000U4040E16GX2-TZ5RS). I was running stress tests with no problems. After that while just browsing the web I heard a loud pop and the system immediately froze, the motherboard was glowing in the upper right corner, and I smelled burned electronics. Mine shows PCB damage, however not as extreme as the ones seen on the Asus forum.

u/TheMaxXHD en Reddit

Hi all,

As the title mentions, it appears that there is potentially a problem with the Z690 Hero motherboards. I have built a new computer myself using the new Hero board. Purchased direct from Newegg with a combo including DDR5 due to a lack of DDR5 at the moment. I bought all the components and assembled the system. I turn it on, install windows, and everything is fine. Around five o’clock, while just browsing the internet, it suddenly turns off, as if the power has been cut. I try to turn it on again, but nothing. I smell a burning smell coming from the motherboard.

To see what failed, I went to Microcenter and bought three items, another 12700K (in case the first one died with the motherboard), another Z690 Hero, and another corsair RM1000x (in case it was the power source). I saw that the power supply was not dead, and the motherboard was. So I replaced the motherboard (Luckily no other components were taken including my GTX 1080). I reset everything to zero again, making sure there are no wires misplaced or installed where they shouldn’t. I turn on, it works, and I configure everything to keep it running. As a sanity test, I run AIDA64 on the CPU and ram, and Furmark on the GPU, both for two hours, to make sure nothing is really wrong. All good, no problems. I play a bit of Battlefield 2042 later, there were no problems there either. Then later in the evening while I’m surfing the internet it shuts down again, and this time when I look at the motherboard I see a component literally on fire. I quickly turn off the fountain and unplug it from the wall (The motherboard was also attempted to reboot during this process before I turn off the fountain and pluck the cord from the fountain connector to ensure that it won’t set my house on fire.)

At this point I start to get suspicious. A bad lemon, good. Two, with exactly the same flaw, it’s no coincidence. […] So I go to this reddit to see if maybe, just maybe someone else said something. To my surprise, I find that more people struggled with the exact same component.

In addition to these users, there are many other testimonials such as u / Syke408, u / Duhjano where also in the comments there are other affected users, and the list continues in other forums, such as this post in the Asus forum.

At first, everything pointed to a problem with the G.Skill Trident Z5 RAM since the first cases happened with G.Skill models that were not on the list of memories compatible with the Maximus Z690 Hero, although later cases appeared with other memories, so everything indicates that it is simply a motherboard problem. Some users report that they updated to the latest bios as soon as they assembled their PC and have not had problems of this type, although some say that even with this BIOS they had hardware failures such as those previously shown, so it is not yet clear what the problem is. problem, and less how to fix it. At the moment, the Asus representatives who responded to the various publications simply limited themselves to offering motherboard replacements, although none provided an explanation as to what is causing this problem.

For now, we recommend refraining from acquiring this motherboard until it is known what causes this problem and how to solve it. In Argentina this motherboard costs up to $ 85,000, a number that clearly nobody wants to throw away, so if you were thinking of buying this motherboard, wait a bit until there is a clear solution, or choose a different model to stay more calm. .

What are your thoughts on these issues with the ASUS ROG Z690 Maximus Hero? Do you know someone who has had something similar?