Got an Asus X870E-E Strix board for the extra M.2 cooling & extra slot... issues abound.

[529th]

Beware, RMA'ing a board will get your someone else's RMA'd board. Happened to me with my X570 Xtreme, and back in 2010 with a high end X58 board

 

[DaBadger84]

I don't have the the X870E but I do have the X670E E Strix. The board has an issue. I have every single M2 slot on my board populated and even all of the PCIe slots. M2 can be wonky on AM5 in terms of BIOS. I do not see any of my NVME drives in the BIOS but they are all in Windows. If I do a reinstall all of my drives are available to me. I would return it and get another one or something else. Why not try X670E?

I'm coming from a Gigabyte X670E AORUS Master, not really interested in reverting. The objective was to get more m.2 storage slots, and once I get a 9950X3D, resell the 7800X3D, Gigabyte X670E motherboard, and my old 2x16GB kit of RAM as a packaged deal.
It is pretty much this board or nothing, especially given it's unique 3 larger heatsinks for the top 3 m.2 slots.

I literally cannot get the issue to recreate itself.
I've messed with RAM speed, RAM Timings, FCLK speed, voltages on the RAM and FCLK, I've messed with PBO settings, I'm actually testing a 104MHz ECLK OC that nets me 5.25GHz max boost with a ~5GHz all core max boost in things like cine bench (passed OCCT testing & 3 hours of Dragon Age Veilguard , which pretty heavy on the CPU with usage varying between 40-70%, mostly above 60%) - yet to have either of m.2-2 of m.2-3 disappear again. Very odd.

 

[MnsoonMally]

I believe at this point, it's an RMA of the motherboard, which is what Asus pretty much said in their email I got just a bit ago, they said:


I already knew, and pointed out to the tech that I was fully aware that, having those slots populated lowers the GPU slot to x8... part of the issue is, the setting to ENABLE that mode IN BIOS actually makes BOTH drives disappear lol SO it's doing the exact opposite of what it SHOULD be doing.
Cleaning M.2 slots is something I've never heard suggested before, but I'll give it a go.
Already reseated the processor completely after I got out of the chat with the Tech, and I tested the different set of drives tested during the trouble shooting, still random disappearing act.

I think you missed something, so I'll reiterate parts of my post:

Yes, it has 5 slots.

Yes, I know the PCIe x16 slot drops to x8 when both M.2-2 & 3 are occupied... the problem is M.2-2 is DISAPPEARING randomly, AND when I EXPLICITLY ENABLE the "GPU+M.2 Storage" option IN BIOS, which is supposed to make all 3 WORK, it actually disables BOTH M.2-2 and M.2-3 COMPLETELY instead - this is part of why I think the motherboard is definitely the problem.


I can 100% for certain say that is not the case as far as the CPU goes, or the Memory, as I was running those exact settings on my previous motherboard (X670E AORUS Master) for well over a month with zero issues, and I did stability testing on it. I was actually able to run 2200MHz FCLK with the 2x16GB kit I had previous to the new 2x48GB kit, and I had the 2x16GB kit running CL28 6200MHz as well, with different timings and less voltage, of course, because the 2x48GB kits want more power to push that kinda stuff.
I got the settings directly from a Buildzoid video to start, then tweaked them as I went along until stability tests stopped failing, then went along my merry buisness rendering and had no issues.
Should be noted, these settings (6200MHz CL28 1.5v VDD with 2067MHz FCLK at 1.225v SOC) have already passed some stability testing and haven't given me any issues since testing them, other than the fact that, previous to now, those settings always made the M.2-2 disappear.



Wow, you sure know how to not be helpful eh? Thanks for the reply. Almost 100% of the time isn't all the time, and that statement was an exaggeration, the occurence of it disappearing is in fact, completely random, as I stated. The fact that you're arguing 5200 is the max supported speed (Then why does anyone run RAM above 5200? How's that feel? Same level of haha I think it's funny to demean someone for absolutely no reason), and the "Directly connected to the CPU so it has nothing to do with the motherboard" tells me all I need to know - the connection still runs through the motherboard circuitry.
Also, the RAM has worked with my CPU on another motherboard with zero issues (Yes I'm aware every motherboard is different including even the two copies of the exact same board) - and in fact is working on this board, at the same settings, with no issues, right now... again, the drive will disappear and reappear, as stated in my original post, WHEN I HAVE CHANGED NOTHING IN THE BIOS after loading Optimized Defaults. Read that again. Optimized Defaults. Meaning the ENTIRE system was STOCK out of the box settings, and it still happens. That is why I contacted Asus support.

Back to replying to people that are actually trying to be helpful...


Kinda stated this above, but figured I'd reply directly as well, this CPU can run 2200MHz FCLK all day with no issues, I ran it for months on the Gigabyte X670E Master I had previously, ran every test I could think of, ran thousands of renders, no problemo. 2067MHz at 1.225v is probably more voltage than I actually need, but as the great Buildzoid states in a lot of his videos, stability testing Infinity Fabric is a crapshoot, it's one of those "It's stable until it isn't" things half the time, and the other half going at it the way of "Turn it up until its wildly unstable then turn it down 2 notches usually works" - That I haven't tried yet as I don't see any reason to push past 2200MHz FCLK.
I can say with 100% certainty that either my CPU's Memory Controller (most likely it is that) doesn't like 6400MHz. I tried it on the 2x16GB kit I had previously and nothing I did would make it pass stability testing. It would run Windows just fine, but running something as simple as OCCT Memory Stress Test would spit errors, regardless of what timings etc I threw at it. Which is unfortunate, as I'd like to be able to run 6400MHz RAM with 2133MHz FCLK, but it is what it is.


I get where you're coming from, as I said to others though, I know for a fact that is not the case, this CPU has run it on another motherboard with zero issues, and in fact runs those settings on this motherboard, without issues, the M.2-2 randomly disappearing happens at completely stock everything, so it's not a problem with one setting or another 'being too high' in terms of those settings specifically BUT... you do have a point about the auto voltages possibly not being high enough. I have a lot of them set manually but not all, as I don't fully know what some of them do well enough to know what to set them to. I'll look in to that if the issue returns.



On that note, lo & behold, I decided to put a drive in that slot again (I haven't had one in it since working with the Asus tech via chat on my phone), booted up, computer is still on the 2067MHz FCLK, 6200MHz CL28 RAM setting... and the drive is magically there both in BIOS & in Windows. We'll see if that lasts, if it happens again, I'll be RMAing the board.

If I come off as snarky, it's because A: I've been working on this issue for almost a week, B: I'm not a computer novice, I've been dealing with this setup for over a year and know what the parts are and aren't capable of, outside of the new motherboard, and C: lack of sleep due to life stuff I'm not going to get in to lol Not trying to be a B to anyone ... except the one guy that thinks he's funny saying I know what the issue is but posted anyway.

I have the same issue with some awful, arrogant, unhelpful, rude, senior posters on here. Stick them on ignore, give them the respect they deserve.

My input? That's a LOT of drives you have connected, and for sure, you're PSU can handle them all.

But I'm not sure your motherboard can supply enough power to them all, and be stable.

Perhaps you could remove a couple 'less important ones' so the motherboard power-bus isn't supporting quite so many, see if that stabilises things at all? At least temporarily.

 

[Hankieroseman]

So I've rebooted a few times, saved bios settings, but haven't modified everything, and the drive is still there. I'm going to mess with it more today & if it disappears again I'll be getting with Amazon to RMA it.
I did get a reply on Asus rog forums that someone else is having the exact same issue where the drives in m2-2 & m2-3 randomly disappear, and that person only has 2 of 3 total m2 drives, so it sounds like it's not an uncommon issue, unfortunately.

Oh I won't be RMAing it with Asus, it'll be going back to Amazon for exchange - I don't trust Asus warranty as far as I can throw it with all the negative press they've had in the past 2+ years. Lol also the Amazon process is much faster since I've only had it under 2 weeks.

It's not just for the extra slot, and as I said in the original post, I'm already using a pcie x4 adapter card, now it's for a 6th drive, previously it was for the 5th one. Extra m.2 slots, better cooling on said m.2 slots, better RAM support, getting out of the Gigabyte Eco system, and wanting a better board for the impending 9950X3D upgrade, all played a role in the sideways upgrade to this board.

DON'T send your MoBo box. I didn't get mine back

 

[MnsoonMally]

DON'T send your MoBo box. I didn't get mine back

I also hear I should buy what I can from Amazon, for the returns / refunds policy.

 

[Hankieroseman]

My board was beyond that window and getting Asus RMA for warranty was hard. My M.2-2 slot went away and never came back until ASUS repaired it and sent it back. Meanwhile, I buy another board. phukkit...waited long enuff...

 

[DaBadger84]

I have the same issue with some awful, arrogant, unhelpful, rude, senior posters on here. Stick them on ignore, give them the respect they deserve.

My input? That's a LOT of drives you have connected, and for sure, you're PSU can handle them all.

But I'm not sure your motherboard can supply enough power to them all, and be stable.

Perhaps you could remove a couple 'less important ones' so the motherboard power-bus isn't supporting quite so many, see if that stabilises things at all? At least temporarily.

Yeah I got that impression from reactions in this thread lol

Funnily enough, my dips**t self didn't actually check the QVL (again, not that QVLs MATTER cuz they mean nothing) before buying the M.2 that's actually in the M.2-2 slot, which is the ADATA 4TB S70 Blade, BUT the drive in that slot will disappear with a Samsung 990 Pro 2TB in it as well which I tested with the chat tech, so I'm fairly confident drives aren't the issue.
I hadn't considered POWER being a possible issue, that's a fair point that perhaps some sort of intermittent power problem is causing the issue - but the system itself isn't having any stability problems persay.
At the moment I'm running a pretty power-hungry setup, at least compared to stock:

Running the 7800X3D with a 104MHz ECLK OC which results in the CPU clocking "up to" 5.25GHz max boost single/dual core workload, with ~5.05GHz max boost on all core workloads (typically it's 4975-5050MHz under Cinebench depending on the core), this is with a ZERO Curve Optimizer offset, so pretty much the motherboard/CPU voltage control is doing the work - I have tested that with OCCT AND I've gamed on it for over 7 hours at this point, in a pretty demanding title, Dragon Age Veilguard has some VERY heavy CPU usage, fluctuates between 40-80% with it mostly being above 60% - and I've yet to have any issues, other than when I first power the system on you can tell it's re-learning the ECLK setting, it'll start booting, get to 70 LED code, shut off, then boot up fully and work fine.
My 2x48GB kit of RAM is currently running at 6200MHz CL28, with pretty tight other timings, with 1.5v VDD & 1.4v VDDIO & VDDQ - I've tested this pretty decently but not FULLY, as in I haven't run 24+ hours of testing on it to confirm it doesn't spit errors eventually, but I do have a full 120mm fan blowing on the RAM & VRM areas of the motherboard to help keep the kit cool, have yet to see it go over 39C on the SPD Temp readout on HWInfo64, regardless of Stress Testing with OCCT or AIDA64 or the like, or gaming, which again I've done hours and hours without a single crash with those settings.
FCLK I'm currently running at 2067MHz with MCLK=UCLK set, because 6200MHz RAM speed and 2067MHz FCLK is preferred, according to what I've learned from Buildzoid & others on RAM/FCLK OCing, and that's with the SOC Voltage at 1.2v - this I know there's no real way to full 'stress test' it and prove it's 'stable' because Infinity Fabric is always 'stable' until it isn't, since it has error correction and it'll just keep sending the same crap over and over until it completes, BUT I have run this CPU at 2200MHz FCLK at 1.2v before and that was 'stable' as well, so I don't see why 2067MHz should be a problem at the same voltage.

Add to that the 6 M.2s, including the one that's in the Sabrent NVMe 4.0 PCIe card, and my GPU being an RTX 4090, so even while undervolted it's probably still pulling a good amount of power through the PCIe x16 slot, and yeah I could see how it might be possible power issues could be a problem... but I haven't experienced instability.

I also haven't had the drive disappear in like... over a week at this point, despite messing with all the stuff mentioned above.

I may try that though, see if perhaps removing the drives that aren't ACTUALLY in use makes any difference, but at this point, I honestly don't want to mess with anything in terms of the drives, cuz they're all working and all showing up continuously... you'd think I'd just leave stuff alone, but nope I'm still fiddling with all kinds of settings because I'm trying to fine tune the system for the fun of it... mostly for the fun of it, since I'll be starting that journey all over again once I get the 9950X3D in January.

I also hear I should buy what I can from Amazon, for the returns / refunds policy.

That is DEFINITELY a thing, ANY time you can buy high end hardware from Amazon, I would recommend doing so (making sure it's directly from Amazon whenever possible) because their return/exchange policy is MUCH easier than even Newegg, let alone Asus. I only order things from Newegg that Amazon doesn't have and/or doesn't carry directly from Amazon anymore, because I'd much rather deal with Amazon if I DO get a dud, which happens from time to time with electronics and computer hardware as we all probably know by now.

 

[ir_cow]

Beware, RMA'ing a board will get your someone else's RMA'd board. Happened to me with my X570 Xtreme, and back in 2010 with a high end X58 board

Oooor you get a new one. I've only ever gotten the same one back or a new sealed one.

 

[529th]

Oooor you get a new one. I've only ever gotten the same one back or a new sealed one.

Luck of the drawl