Corrosion Risk on Z790 Formula? And the End of ASUS x EKWB Coop

[@Ghrifter]

It's a good thing Asus fixed their mistake, hopefully they'll do the same with the price. $800 for this is too expensive, at this price range they should at least provide a full copper VRM waterblock to justify the price. The product is lame but the video is awesome, really good analysis. Thanks der8auer

[@Mack_Dingo]

MB prices in general have gotten ridiculous. Their probably be a class-action in 5yrs from now like the RAM price fixing scandal

[@-opus]

@@Mack_Dingo They can only sell overpriced products if people are willing to pay those prices.

[@Xfade81]

@@Mack_Dingo the problem with that is, that there are still budget friendly options around. so price fixing will be hard to prove. These kinds of boards are only "vote with wallet" fixable.

[@BRB499]

Yes mobo prices has only gone 1 way and thats up.. and at the same time the features has gone down... Asus isent alone in doing this.. sadly

[@PREDATEURLT]

If motherboard is more expensive than the best CPU for that motherboard, that is just ridiculous.

[@aelaan12]

Man, you must be the mad scientist? Very interesting approach, and good feedback to the manufacturers. In the end it will only make the products better.

[@Attila_Gobor]

The best IT journalism available today. No drama, no bashing, facts.

[@hayleyxyz]

Really cool video. Would love to see more engineering themed videos like this :)

[@marinipersonal]

ASUS cutting corners, I’m not surprised. Managed to shave 10C on PCH of a B650F-E simply replacing their poor thermalpad. Same with NVME and the TUF 4080. MSI uses a much better thermalpad to start with.

[@hasyidanparamananda]

Even Asus Customer Service can't give me size thermalpad I need for X570 Formula. After so long they give me the size but not telling me what size for what place... So useless...

[@AdmiralFloof]

Their Strix 30 series were also pretty bad. Thermal paste dries up within a year and the pads gets flaky soon after.

[@hayleyxyz]

@@hasyidanparamanandacan't you just measure it? I understand that Asus should be able to give you that information, but after so long I'd just get out my calipers, or even just a tape measure should do.

[@AlfaPro1337]

Stop buying ASUS then. They are cutting corners because they are sponsoring most of the Tech KZbinrs.

[@hasyidanparamananda]

@@hayleyxyz I want to buy it before I taking apart My PC, Why? So I can put my PC again and back to use it faster then waiting week or more because waiting for delivery.

[@stevewatson6839]

Top content. I don't shop Asus or Intel myself, but this is reassuring for those that have bought this board already. That it isn't an EK block and "cheaps out" to boot would be more reason to hesitate buying at the price the Formula carries.

[@BleepBlop-rh9lm]

The previous gen was EK and it was pure aluminium. EK is pure garbage.

[@Xfade81]

@@BleepBlop-rh9lm EK isn't "pure garbage". Asus just took a license on their name and had some odm like coolermaster build the heatsink and slapped a EK sticker on it.

[@NivalisJKK]

@@BleepBlop-rh9lm HE just said in the video that Aluminium part was from ASUS? EK only provided the Monoblock :D Are we even watching the same video :)

[@BleepBlop-rh9lm]

@@NivalisJKK It doesn't matter. It says EK, they had a chance to control the product and confirm. It's EK.

[@BleepBlop-rh9lm]

@@Xfade81 Why EK is not suing them then?

[@jcughan]

Thank you for testing this! Good to know for sure the composition of the VRM block. I had the z690 formula, and I was able to get the VRM block replaced after waiting on ASUS for 4 months (Their CS is a nightmare). I had stability issues with my 13900k and Corsair Dominator Platinum 5600 DDR5 though, and got the z790 Formula instead, which is rock solid now and running a 14900k and Corsair Dominator Titanium 6000 DDR5. I didn't pay a dime for any of these part upgrades btw, they were all changed out for upgraded parts under warranty because of stability issues that couldn't be pinpointed via troubleshooting. The board is pricey, but I attribute it to the white tax. There really isn't a better white board right now with the same features for Intel z790, or even z690. I certainly don't need to add the VRM block to my WC loop, but I'm going to because this is my mid-life crisis Convertible Corvette - just in the form of a PC instead.

[@matthewbless7116]

I just got my replacement and they were short on stock. Hoping stock was low due them using the same block on the z790 board

[@RUFU58]

I very nearly purchased one of the z690 formula 😮‍💨 but went for the ASU’s gaming-e instead, which is a fantastic board! Great informative video as per usual keep up the absolute quality content 👍 💪

[@Beezzzzy_]

Asus selling cheap garbage at a high price tag. Glad I’m done wasting money with that horrible company.

[@ellafoxoo]

Glad you dug deeper into that plastic looking part. In my head before you tested it, I thought it looked like glass fiber reinforced polycarbonate. I think the material analysis shows that I could be right 😄

[@jerrywatson1958]

Damn man you have the coolest tools to play with. Please tell us what machine that was you used. Maybe take a tour of the company that makes it. When I was 19. I worked at a electroplating plant in Bristol, Ct. USA. I learned so much metallurgy that summer before going off to college. I got to use a XRF (X-ray Fluorescence) analyzer to determine what the metal we had to plate was made of and what the quality was before sticking them in the pot. Not to spec metals didn't plate well and was an expensive waste. All raw parts were checked before being put on the line. Sometimes the owner rejected whole batches! (he was pissed) I went to work in nuclear power plants a couple of years later. That experience started my 1st career. Lab tools, machine tools, all that are big boy toys to me. I love working with that level of tech. Thank you for sharing this info. HEY maybe you can teach Mercedes Benz a few lessons and get them to cut their losses in China.. Export your products there IF THEY HAVE THE MONEY. Otherwise the average Chinese person can't afford German Quality. They certainly don't make it. That's why that previous version of that MB corroded, MADE IN CHINA. They cut corners or outright lied about the material. Asus did NOT do due diligence in quality control. They kept the extra money to would cost for themselves. That's a high priced cheaply made product. Really the price should be 300 euros less in my book. How much does the B.O.D need to live? The average Taiwanese gets paid $4/hour working the line. Common man how are people supposed to afford Asus products now. I've been their customer since 1998. If corporations don't pay a living wage none of us can afford their products. I think you know that yourself. Love your work and your products.

[@robtronic]

This type of video is so helpful! objective data with evidence! thank you for taking the time to film in English!

[@Bluelagoonstudios]

I think I will wait for a solution from EK, we all know it's always trustworthy. I just keep aluminum far away from my loops. Even they are nickel plated. It's just ridiculous from Asus, not to stick with copper and nickel.

[@winsucker7755]

Look on the bright side! Your motherboard is 40cents cheaper!

[@BleepBlop-rh9lm]

z690 formula was EK and it was garbage. WTF are you smoking?

[@Detroittruckdoctor55]

Especially for the price

[@pegasus5599]

I am Japanese. I should have found your video earlier. Now I am in a simple water-cooled environment for CPU only, but I rate it high in self-satisfaction.

[@liamcaroline448]

I’ve never had a motherboard or GPU other than from ASUS in my systems, but the last few years have shown that it’ll be a long time before I buy another ASUS product.

[@Boogie_the_cat]

I remember when i got into pc's in the 90's, ASUS had a good reputation. I've owned good ASUS products in the early 2000s. Never had issues with them. But it seems like they're very sloppy \ negligent these days

[@liamcaroline448]

@@Boogie_the_cat I started building in the mid 2000s; last purchase was an x370 and gtx1070; and will be sticking with that system for a while still the way hardware has been going.

[@muhdkamilmohdbaki7054]

Chiq ( the ginger cat ) is interested with the Z790😸.

[@LifeIsButaBluff]

Asus holds itself as a premium producer of premium products but seems to have started the slide down from previous high position and good brand name by attempting to reduce production costs to increase profit margin, a very slippery slope....

[@nicolaspaglione]

Matrix with copper heatsink and factory LM

[@izz3r154]

My guess is contact corrosion due to the use of different materials or simply too low layer thicknesses in the coating. In addition, nickel layers are only really free of pores and "closed" from a layer thickness of 30µm and more. The silicon that was measured in the coating can also be so-called "endogenous inclusions" that originate from the aluminium manufacturing process.

[@izz3r154]

i looked again at the surfaces, and i can see some indicators that the nickle coating is not okay.

[@Deja117]

You have all the fun tools :D

[@Karibanu]

Fortunately the X570 Formula doesn't seem to suffer ( or at least mine hasn't ). Asus seem to have gone rather downhill since those days - I think I'm basically stuck with Asrock for future builds ( until they explode again ) because all the others are demonstrably terrible. Fancy producing motherboards? :D

[@ScaryGuyID]

asrock basically sister company of asus I think,

[@pickleadaykeepsthedoctoraway]

@@ScaryGuyID This was true over a decade ago.

[@sturm7130]

The heatsink is Al with a Cu plated flash layer then the Ni plated top layer. That is the usual plating process sequence. Decorative parts would then be Cr plated. If you polish the cut/filed section the layers would be clear and you would spectroscope the layers in the section.

[@DazModeWatercooling]

This was a nerdy delight. Thanks!

[@zap7759]

Aquacomputer always seemed like the real top dog, both quality and performance. EK looks cleaner and does monoblocks so is popular I guess.

[@Simon_Denmark]

Watercool for blocks and Aquacomputer for controllers/monitoring for me.

[@Apollo-Computers]

My favorite gpu waterblock is the aquacomputer 2080 ti in nickel. The mems use paste, not pads.

[@legion3343]

My leakshield bricked itself on a firmware update and they just left me in limbo :(

[@Decenium]

der8auer has the best gadgets

[@flamixin]

It’s amazing to see how much engineering efforts Asus paid to cut the corner they’re not supposed to cut.😂😂

[@leonardol8158]

That equipment for material analysis is cool af, I am impressed.

[@danytoob]

Way too cool. I'd look forward to going to work everyday if this kind of investigation was my job. Brilliant stuff Roman ... thank you once again!

[@gungyeon6208]

People complaining about Motherboard prices 🤣 the Z790 Formula probably can't overclock like the Apex/Apex Encore but at least it has more features. A lit up ROG logo, screen in the middle. Nice back plate, and it's white. Premium feel all around and it doesn't feel like a cheap $200-300 motherboard.

[@KenSvensson]

Z690 Extreme Glacial doesn't have this issue, which is a solid co-op between EK and ASUS.

[@Apollo-Computers]

Well, I would hope so for a $2000 motherboard.....

[@fredEVOIX]

@@Apollo-Computers had the z690 it was trash a 2k single pcie slot MB where you cannot use the 5.0 nvme port (like all motherboards btw) because it HALVES your gpu slot bandwith (it's x8 period not x8 of 5.0...which means your 4090 runs 13gb/s instead of 26) and disabled the 2nd pcie slot, so again a 2k single pcie slot MB where you cannot use the 5.0 nvme slot it was so great I'm on a z790 ddr4 tomahawk DDR4 today motherboard now that i paid 460$ and that has 3 pcie slots useable and i can populate all 4 nvme slots (4.0) everything running at full speed oh and I can actually use 4 slots of ram unlike ddr5

[@arudanel5542]

Same here- MSI Z790 Tomahawk D4 and it's rock solid, 4 DIMMs running at 3600 MT for 128GB total (I wish browsers were more optimized- just saying.) Since I got this MSI board I have had zero issues, and it cost about the same as budget ASUS board. I mean I have a NH-D15 cooler, and vertical GPU, the motherboard isn't even visible anyways! @@fredEVOIX

[@floodo1]

I haven’t populated more than one pcie a lot in more than a decade. To each their own

[@ShuhDonk]

I had the z690 formula and mine was all corroded inside the vrm block as well. Not related but I also had tons of stability issues with that board, I was not happy with it, loved the look though.

[@jcughan]

I had stability issues with the z690 formula and corsair dominator 5600 RAM, after talking with tech support at Corsair (who was awesome btw, upgraded my dominator platinum to the new titanium even though the issue was the CPU) they told me the z690 chipset is the cause of the stability issues with DDR5, especially trying to OC it. the z790 does a much better job.

[@Plutonium239MXR]

I already bought this board and currently using it. I am glad to find out it won't cause corrosion issues in mu loop.

[@GLHerzberg]

Awesome str8-fwd analysis of Asus' clumsy Z690 fiasco and recovery. Valuable content!

[@BelowAmbient]

I like how EK doesnt get blamed, like ever...

[@j340_official]

Asus also uses 5 GbE on this z790 board vs 10 GbE on the z690... so a regression there.

[@george_christov]

Very informative video! Z790 Formula is in my shopping list already after I saw it how it looks.

[@BleepBlop-rh9lm]

exactly like z690 formula but with slightly fixed vrm waterblock.

[@computer6800]

Absolutely amazing video! I was considering this board and so this video was perfect!

[@nagi603]

FWIW, Gigabyte did the same mixed metals thing with their gpu blocks. But they did not ever fix it.

[@gazyates5228]

Great video 👍👍 I am really geeked out over how awesome the lazer machine is 🙌👍

[@Born_Stellar]

active VRM cooling just isn't needed on the z690/z790. Back when i was running a ryzen build, an especially for FX I was running 40mm noctua fans on the VRM, but when I did my last build with the 13900k, VRM's only get to 40-45C while the cpu is pulling almost 300W. Fans just aren't needed on the VRM's, so I moved them to the m.2 ssds which do need some active cooling under those motherboard slabs.

[@BleepBlop-rh9lm]

it's needed if you want to keep the temps inside the case cooler. VRM gets really hot.

[@frankhong6313]

Wow, you applied materials science to conduct an inspiring review.

[@hokiturmix]

I still use Maximus V Formula. It is a water and air cooler. I have a heat sensor stuck in between the fins. Usually reads the same with the CPU temperature. On idle.

[@oweny7814]

Doing the lords work, making sure less consumers get scammed.

[@EinSwitzer]

Emery Board and sand the chip edge and minor surface if needed / chips thermal capability it’s acoustic dampening has effects on polish and cleaning

[@4500MHz_Jay]

"For those who dare" to throw away money on unnecessary components.

[@JustDizzq]

I bought the formula z690 in 2021 and I think like 4 months later I fund something in the vrm block that blocked but I just cleaned a bit and moved on. Later 2023 when the news got I open my vrm this time and fund a lot of corrosion. Contacted my pc store in sweden and got a full refund. I will probably never buy any formula again even if it fixed now. Bought the apex z790 instead and Im very happy. But if the vrm got corroded that means my rad, block, and fittings is fucked too? I didnt find any on my block.

[@MrTefe]

I was thinking of getting this but its so damn expensive. I used to have the Z690 formula until the whole mobo broke and had to return it. The ram slots are also too close to the socket and i couldnt fit my AIO wires trough there without them pushing on the ram.

[@WCxColosus]

they did the same thing on the Z97 Maximus formula board, they used aluminum, idk why they didn't just use cooper.

[@alexz1232]

Formula boards used to be overpriced, now they are also bad. Impressive.

[@floodo1]

truueee

[@ZackSNetwork]

This board doesn’t have those problems it’s just overpriced.

[@3dmotormaker]

You should introduce the cool cat. I think people would like to meet him !!

[@mart446]

800€ ! :O Mad respect for buying that piece of shait motherboard. Even for a video this is mad expensive. Nickel coated aluminum. Ffs, Asus :(.

[@awetisimgaming7473]

I would buy a board at that price if it had ipmi, or watercooeled vrm done properly, but that seems like the kind of cost cut version you'd see on a $600 version of the same board or something. Them passing this off as premium after the screw up last time just makes ASUS look even worse than they already do. I wish they didn't sacrifice function for form, and then charge the customer like they hadn't compromized on anything.

[@themeeksproject9785]

this content really justifies everything and the review is good ...good job bruh

[@hungdohoangminh2064]

better if they make a solid path instead of two-layer paths. It will be good for the liquid cooler.

[@hyperionxxxxx]

Great content! Could you please do an investigative piece on the ek velocity2 direct die kit aswell? I have spent way too much time and money trying to get it to work but having the same problems as everyone else, it's impossible to get it to mount properly. Right now I'm contemplating just getting the iceman instead but the velocity2 looks so beautiful and I'd have to redo the hardlines aswell so I'd much rather have it on there. :/

[@Born_Stellar]

I'm using the iceman and just got the almost identical barrow block, super easy install and great temps. I do like the look of the EK block but I didn't want to spend 3x as much once I found out the Ek wasn't as good. Good luck to you.

[@Detroittruckdoctor55]

Man i was gonna buy this for my first water cooling build. Not now...

[@TheFallenAngel13524]

They’ve been using that exact fin style vrm block since at least the Maximus X Formula. Idk why that style is “odd” unless you’ve never opened a formula vrm block. The only thing they’ve changed is materials.

[@JCustom]

This is the same block as the replacements sent out for the z690 version or if you sent it in.

[@MrPruske]

2:48 Kinda like the MSI mobis with ek mono locks, actually subpar cooling. Just ek in name

[@jimbodee4043]

Showing off your new toys/tools :P

[@Ace33blue]

@der8auer EN Hey Roman. I think that the 14th Gen TG Frame is completely broken on ASUS z790 boards. Completely destroys memory stability on the encore. Others have reported the same thing. Is there any way you can check on this and maybe see if there's a solution to it? I'm past my return date for Amazon.

[@pirojfmifhghek566]

Copper-coated aluminum? _WHY?_ That's like selling a jar of peanut butter with motor oil in it.

[@arudanel5542]

Agreed. First thing they teach you as an electrician is that copper and aluminum actually react together- the metals will corrode each other. That's why you can't mix wiring in a house without this special paste stuff to protect them. This is just a bad idea. I mean when buying water cooling parts they specifically tell you do not put aluminum parts in a copper loop of vice versa. They apparently hate each other so much they can't get along on the same waterway with no actual contact, so WHY are manufacturers fusing the two together? It's a 700 dollar board retail, and the cost difference between aluminum and copper is pennies per pound realistically, this is all nickel and diming things into oblivion to make shareholders happy. We need a new EVGA to set things right again!

[@pirojfmifhghek566]

@@arudanel5542 Step 1 is gonna be to let these $400+ boards collect dust on the shelves. The more reviewer videos we see about this stuff, the more people are gonna realize that it's not only placebo for their systems, but poison.

[@Born_Stellar]

@@arudanel5542 if you start to research different metals in regards to galvanic corrosion, you find that technically the 2 metals need to be both 1: in the same liquid and 2: also electrically connected. engineers for aquatic structures, like bridges, follow this rule and it works fine. In theory, aluminum and copper are fine as long as they are not also electrically connected in the loop. however, I believe that the speed of the liquid in water loops can carry the electrons around to the other metals, so something that isn't an issue in the scientific literature becomes one in a closed loop. if you just put copper and alu in a bath there would be no issues, but then cycling the water past each part like 10x a minute it does start to occur. I actually ran aluminum radiators and copper blocks in a build, I was very careful to make sure to use rubber gaskets to isolate the radiators, but the aluminum still seemed to deposit itself on the other metals. not really corrosion, but some sort of migration happened.

[@jordanturner7821]

I heard that this board handles 4 memory modules @ 192gb in a far superior way vs any other board. Can you test the memory handling of this thing? No one who has reviewed this board tried more than 2 sticks. A lot of modern industries require as much ram as possible now, and if this board does 192gb @ 6800mhz, it would be really worth considering despite the price (even if you dont watercool) Like maybe the supported teamgroup kit CTCED596G6800HC36DDC01 x2 at it's stock settings.

[@ITG-GMG]

I would like to point out that he is only referring to if you are using water cooling. Me personally I would never take that risk. As it may allow the PC to have lower temps, there is no downfall to traditional DC or VRM cooling.

[@HeyMaruniko]

even EK also boycotting ASUS lol

[@Elinzar]

Asus begin Assus, what a surprise

[@razorsz195]

These fin blocks within the VRM loop channel remind me of the Galaxy Geforce 6600GT AGP, it has the same weird design from solid copper that is over the memory chips, a very weird solution.

[@MrFordAddict]

In Australia this MB costs around $1399 AUD.

[@xXDarthBagginsXx]

Didn't Asus have this issue back in the day during SandyBridge/Haswell times with their watercooled VRM boards - one of the reasons they collaborated with EK for the Formula line to fix this. Seems like you're better off getting a Hero board and spring for an EK monoblock, will more than likely end up at the $800 pricepoint but with a decent quality block.

[@rickyvanass7192]

Maybe that black cap is ceramic and that is why it shows silicon.

[@Raintiger88]

All the cool Keyence toys. . .

[@JohnnyManu40]

And this kind of thing is why I just won't use water cooling. There are just too many potential unknown variables unless you put it all together yourself; and even then that's not perfectly reliable. Then to top it all off, you are constantly running a risk of a leak somewhere if some supplier/manufacturer was F'ing around instead of doing their main job of not F'ing around. Sure, warranties exist; but that's a pain in the butt. One that shouldn't have to be a pain in the butt. But is. And sure, fans can fail too on normal heatsinks; but they are super easy to replace and don't come with 20 extra steps just to make sure you did everything correctly. And sure, it's not 'hard' to do water cooling correctly. It's just that it's so much easier to just keep your room colder, and buy good fans instead of cheap ones. As for noise? Again, just keep the room colder. Fans won't be a noise problem then. And due to the constant possibility of replacing parts due to leaks, etc and so forth; probably a heck of a lot cheaper too to just run the A/C now and then. End result? Similar performance to liquid cooling methods, without as much hassle; and more comfort to boot. Oh, and you don't run the risk of dumb things like mixing metals... And before anyone replies, please be aware... while I may not have taken all 5 levels of the course to work in nuclear facilitie, I am trained as a boiler operator; and basically everything they teach in that applies to liquid cooling. I may not be an expert, but I do know more of what I am talking about than the average person. (Including possibly you, person replying. But not for certain. Exceptions will be folk like Der8auer.)

[@pickleadaykeepsthedoctoraway]

What does a warm room/colder room have anything to do with air cooling/water cooling? Heat is heat my man. If you put 100w into a water cooling loop, it will output that heat just the same as an air cooler. The air cooler will expel the heat faster in most scenarios (I'm sure there's some edge case somewhere), but a relatively colder room will have the same affect on an air cooler and a water cooler.

[@kromkromic2458]

What is situation with x570 formula and its block??

[@MainstoneMedia]

outragiously cool analysis - subed :)

[@Lue1337]

Only critical problems i had so far(including components dying) were with Asus products, sad to see such a big company build such terrible products

[@Elvewizzy.]

Just chasing margins. They'd rather spend 5 cents less per board if it meant a 10c increase in temps, within spec, for the VRM. It's all about making money and how much the consumer is willing to pay for features and not about making the best possible product at competitive prices (Blame the entire industry for that one) Theres no reason to pay 800$ for a motherboard, but when the basic model now starts at 400$ and the competition also just doubles their prices, why not. This shit ends the moment a majority stops buying new products.

[@redaxe13]

@@Elvewizzy. Boards do not start at $400.. You can buy a current gen asus mobo for under $150.

[@Elvewizzy.]

@@redaxe13 It was a figure of speech.. An example if you will that if company A increases their basic model to 400, company B will match the price rather than try and get marketshare.

[@redaxe13]

@@Elvewizzy. This is a market with company A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, ETC, so not really true.

[@Elvewizzy.]

@@redaxe13 You'd be suprised. Cartels are illegal, but here we are...

[@OCXChile]

For $800 I'm expecting a monoblock from EK or something like that. MSI EK X MBs come with that and are much cheaper in comparisson.

[@sykoteddy]

I'm not a big consumer of this kind of hardware, and I rarely even overclock anything. I mostly watch der8auer for the level of testing and to learn. But one thing I get irritated about is that all the VRM cooling and such that is specifically for just one version of a motherboard I think is a shitty move. I never buy the latest hardware, there's simply no need for me to have it for that price, and then also maybe have problems because of it being cutting edge. So when I a couple of months to years after being released, there's still water blocks for specific motherboard models that hasn't been sold. Instead of getting to that point they could have made those water blocks to be a bit more universal. I'm not saying it has to fit many different brands (but that would have been the best in my opinion) but should at least fit other models of the same brand. We already have a big problem with electronic waste, we don't need to add more components from computers to add to the problem. If anyone have been to a "scrap yard", you probably have seen what a waste there is. For something to get to be scrapped in a certain way, the amount of the same product has to be enormous. Which already disqualify these types of products. I have a hard time even imagining they asked for the the whole mother board back (unless it was easy to fake the buying invoice or something) to have people sitting depopulating it and to replace the components and send back. Since maybe just replace the motherboard with a new one and not having to pay for postage the one way from customer to Asus. I could be totally wrong, but I can also accept that.

[@shintsu01]

Sad to see this brand slowly move to a Budget brand. Last time i bought a asus was a X99 Deluxe Motherboard i bought quite a bit of asus boards in the past but now i moved to other brands

[@iclimbeverything2990]

For £800 it better be a solid board... This market is fucked, it's not even surprising that an £800 Asus motherboard is trash at this point like huh??

[@StephenMcGregor1986]

Hmm, that plastic cover... Polycarbonate? Polyoxybenzylmethyleneglycolanhydride? or some sort of CF infused composite perhaps?

[@EinSwitzer]

Pcb power ram independent tuning , have fun

[@StatsGam4er]

Why do I love this guy ?

[@zMeul]

Al base with a Cu "heatsink", nothing wrong !?!? plenty

[@seitenryu6844]

It just seems that at €800, most buyers of this have budget to spare. Why spend that kind of money instead of a full cover block or separate vrm block? It's aimed at enthusiasts, so asus cutting corners is insane. Maybe they don't actually like making products in this class, so poor sales give them an excuse to stop. It's certainly low margin.

[@noxious89123]

Watercooled VRMs on high end boards baffles me. It makes zero sense it all scenarios. Low end boards have crap VRMs that can get very hot when used with a high end CPU; they need cooling. However, those boards and cheap and often don't even get a basic heatsink. Meanwhile, high end boards might have a VRM capable of supplying 1000A, far in excess of what anyone will ever use. This overbuilding of the VRM means it doesn't really get very hot at all. 50°C is nothing to components that can tolerate 120°C. Slap a slab of aluminium on there and call it good, which is what most boards do... but then we get these watercooled VRMs, and it makes no sense, definitely not at $800. Forget the Formula. If you must get the "best", get the Apex or Extreme instead. The formula is just the Hero with a shitty VRM block and +50% Asus tax.

[@runebdrim6733]

I own it and I love it, more than z790 apex, and vrm temps stay at 29/31°c water cooled

[@masterofallclasses7287]

Miss the lga775 massive copper vrm coolers.

[@chrispritchard7977]

My Asus Crosshair 4 Extreme had a Koolance waterblock and it was flawless. I always avoided EK I never liked how many different manfuacturing issues they have had over the years.

[@Nightykk]

What kind of manufacturing issues? Been using EK myself for about a decade now, yet to have any issues with any of their parts. Actually, thinking it through - I did have one bottle of 1L clear liquid which had some weird bits in it, shipped through winter. Support and getting am exchange wasn't an issue, they claimed it being due to sub-zero temperatures. That is one bottle out of probably 10 over the years.

[@chrispritchard7977]

@@Nightykk As I have been running aluminum based radiators for over a decade having quality nickel plating on the copper is a very important. They have had a few batches over the years where the plating hasn't held up.

[@markstever401]

Thanks for the video. You mentioned you tried the 8000 RAM but it didn't work, and wasn't on the ASUS QVL. I checked the ASUS site and it does show 8000 if paired with Intel 14th gen. Is their site wrong? And can you let us know which RAM you ended up using? Thanks again.

[@JobeStroud]

The stamping on the black plastic piece will tell you what it is made of. You just have to decode it.

[@markissboi3583]

Gunna try Linux Garuda for gammers on my old ddr3 pc to learn more B4 i decide to try it on my ddr4 pc m2

[@markissboi3583]

the D/load = 4gb specs you need 30gb space & min 8gb ram runs better than windows less crap installed you add what you need unlike windows bloatware

[@chincemagnet]

I’m done with EK too. Their prices are sky high and they don’t deliver the performance to justify that premium price.

[@MDXZFR]

The black cover called POM

[@GrizzAxxemann]

I was thinking Nylon 6-6.

[@Born_Stellar]

it does not appear to be POM/acetate. I'm sure Debauer would be one to know.

[@GrizzAxxemann]

@@Born_Stellar IIRC, POM isn't glass reinforced. That's typically Nylon 6-6, aka PA-66. It's cheap, easy to work, tough as nails and been around forever.

[@EinSwitzer]

When they overclock themselves “ almost max frequencies yourself would select but without using software to force it”

[@EinSwitzer]

Just having them take like 1 second longer in solder bath boom capacitor solder issues gone

[@EinSwitzer]

Asus

[@jonesgang]

Now I understand that moto "For Those Who Dare". They mean gambling with your money.

[@redbox360]

They did not recall in my country, so bad It also impact others components, board recall just one point

[@DannyWildMedia]

I think the fins are there when the heat sink is dry, the temps were probably a bit high only with a copper block

[@sinephase]

it's just a weird design decision anyway. Not good for watercooling, mediocre as air cooling. Why not just release an actual watercooling edition? strange decision

[@pickleadaykeepsthedoctoraway]

Those fins are covered up by the black lid/flow guidance/whatever you want to call it. Definitely not for air cooling. Probably not very useful for water cooling either. It'd be interesting to see VRM thermals with the fins covered/removed vs stock.

[@DannyWildMedia]

@@pickleadaykeepsthedoctoraway Indeed there is no airflow but it gives more mass for the heat. Should help a bit with bursts of heat

[@Galileocrafter]

6:20 Wait, since when do you have this microscope? I have one at work too, it’s the shit 😍. I don’t have the laser material analysis functionality, but they wanted to upsell this to me many times. But we have a REM EDX machine for that, so i don’t need it anyway.

[@kromkromic2458]

I use open rgb to sync my rgb stuff, i was sick of intalling all that bloteware from every manufacturer for every component, corsair for ram and fans, evga for gpu, asus for motherboard... I hope you as you have more influence can maybe push manufacturers in same direction to all use something like that, not forcing you to stick with their software. Also i am sure you can influence our european laws to implement right to repair, at least for gpu-s like in usa where people are not limited by void if removed stickeer on gpu to repaste it, you have influence and more people will stand by you for doing that i am sure

[@reallybigjohnson]

This is why I will ALWAYS air cool.

[@YGadgETech]

What about max ram ddr5? I wish it can handle 8400mhz I didn’t like the apex encore and looking for white pc build