Z390 Fiasco to Freeasco!

[rockit00]

I have been on 4th generation (Z87-Z97/i7 4790k) for 10 years since 2014. I used to upgrade every couple of years and was pretty savvy with my builds. Just before Halloween I decided it was time to Upgrade to some newer technology. Found a seller with a Z390 motherboard, RX 580 Nitro + GPU, and 40GB of memory. The seller had upgraded to a Z790 system and was selling his old stuff. I had all the parts by the 10th of November. It took two days to get the PC to boot. The GPU was DOA! The Memory only works in single channel! I spent a couple of more days troubleshooting the PC and believe the A2 memory slot is faulty. I contacted the seller and told him what issues I found and that I was considering a refund. While waiting for the seller to reply I was in the process of reporting the issues to ebay and uploading photos when all of a sudden I received a refund notification email from ebay! The seller apologized and initiated a refund in under five minutes! I contacted the seller to arrange return of his components. He may be able to RMA the board and GPU and sell the memory which appears to be fine. The seller told me not to worry about returning the components!!! I have ordered a NEW GPU and I am looking at a NEW Z390 motherboard. The Z390 motherboard is a brand NEW Chinese version with Chinese packaging and documentation. Has anyone here dealt with the Chinese version of their motherboard and are there any issues i need to worry about?

 

[ir_cow]

Glad you got your money back. Pretty much everything is out of warranty by now for sure.

 

[rockit00]

Yeah, no telling how long the old components had been sitting around before he sold them. If he is using a Z790 system now I'm sure he is not worried about Z390 components. I don't think the seller intended to sell faulty items. All in all a great seller. I'm currently using these components to learn more about 8th gen systems. Sort of a blessing in disguise.

Glad you got your money back. Pretty much everything is out of warranty by now for sure.

 

[eidairaman1]

Yeah, no telling how long the old components had been sitting around before he sold them. If he is using a Z790 system now I'm sure he is not worried about Z390 components. I don't think the seller intended to sell faulty items. All in all a great seller. I'm currently using these components to learn more about 8th gen systems. Sort of a blessing in disguise.

Those old boards are stiched together and are like a box o chocolates.

Its like Ali Express repackaging rx580s as afox, mllse etc

 

[Fangio1951]

hi rockit00,

Shame u got a faulty one, as I'm still rocking my Gigabyte Z390 Gaming X mobo with a Gigabyte 1080Ti GPU card, which I purchased in 2017.

I to, will be doing the full u/g around Jan 2025 = Z890 system = $7,000.00 Oz.

 

[rockit00]

Yeah, I was puzzled by all those goofy branded RX 580's all over the place. I ended up spending my whole refund on a NEW Power Color RX 6600 XT. Spent another $85.00 on a NEW Z390 motherboard. I don't Game as much as I used to. Mostly multi-media stuff (music, movies, etc.) with a minimal overclock. I don't plan on ever needing more than 8 cores but needed a legit Win 11 ready system going forward. I'll probably get STALKER 2 and Homeworld 3 after the new year. Good luck with that Z890 system. Edit: The Z390 boards that I'm dealing with are MSI MEG Z390 Gaming Plus boards. The NEW board is from a US seller but has Chinese packaging and documentation. Hopefully I can change the language in the Bios. Time will tell.

 

[RJARRRPCGP]

The problem is that Z390 and older (pre-Comet Lake) has a severe CSME flaw and requires a BIOS update. I think it should be in the form of a BIOS update. It got a rating of critical. (remote-code-execution)

Interestingly, I haven't heard of people getting hacked because of this CSME flaw, despite the rating of being particularly severe!

It was fixed already with the 10th generation.

 

[Macro Device]

Hopefully I can change the language in the Bios

It's fairly straightforward. See the "English" in the top right? There's the language swap button. And of course, Chinese versions come with all languages support. You might even be lucky to have it anglicised out of the box.

Then, of course, you must install the latest BIOS if it's not flashed already. Security comes first.

I ended up spending my whole refund on a NEW Power Color RX 6600 XT

That's a good gaming device anyway. Surely it won't be blistering in the newest titles and will struggle with higher resolutions but for casual gaming, it's plenty. Nice choice if <200 USD.

Z390 is a nice platform. Should be able to overclock the snot out of your RAM and, perhaps, even CPU. If that's an 8600K or 9600K then OC is a must.

 

[AleXXX666]

I have been on 4th generation (Z87-Z97/i7 4790k) for 10 years since 2014. I used to upgrade every couple of years and was pretty savvy with my builds. Just before Halloween I decided it was time to Upgrade to some newer technology. Found a seller with a Z390 motherboard, RX 580 Nitro + GPU, and 40GB of memory. The seller had upgraded to a Z790 system and was selling his old stuff. I had all the parts by the 10th of November. It took two days to get the PC to boot. The GPU was DOA! The Memory only works in single channel! I spent a couple of more days troubleshooting the PC and believe the A2 memory slot is faulty. I contacted the seller and told him what issues I found and that I was considering a refund. While waiting for the seller to reply I was in the process of reporting the issues to ebay and uploading photos when all of a sudden I received a refund notification email from ebay! The seller apologized and initiated a refund in under five minutes! I contacted the seller to arrange return of his components. He may be able to RMA the board and GPU and sell the memory which appears to be fine. The seller told me not to worry about returning the components!!! I have ordered a NEW GPU and I am looking at a NEW Z390 motherboard. The Z390 motherboard is a brand NEW Chinese version with Chinese packaging and documentation. Has anyone here dealt with the Chinese version of their motherboard and are there any issues i need to worry about?

have you seen that this is "chinese" MB before buying? as about rx580, I think even 3 y.o. baby or 90 y.o. man living not in abandoned island knows that this is SCAM-"refub" cards....

 

[rockit00]

Well my neighborhood power company and grid has changed for the worse since 2019. Momentary power interruptions were rare before, but now I get one or two a month and occasionally two in one day. The power company recommends a UPS to protect sensitive electronics. Bios update will be a necessary gamble in my case. I'm hoping my Z390's are capable of being flashed with the power off via flash drive. I'm looking into that CSME flaw also. I'd hate to have to invest in a cheap UPS but it may be a wise bet. The Hellhound 6600XT was under $200 and ought to be good for 1080p gaming. My 8700k @ 4.00GHz and 32GB ( 16x2 ) Corsair ram ought to do the trick for casual gaming. The Chinese motherboard I bought comes with a 30 day warranty and appears to be legit, unlike them crypto fried fake RX 580's. Thanks to all for the tips, I've gotten a little rusty since Devils Canyon. I feel like a NOOB all over again.

 

[RJARRRPCGP]

The con, is 8 lanes instead of 16 lanes. Makes it better off to get a Turing or a Pascal, maybe a Radeon Vega 64 or 56? Or of course, the Radeon RX 6700 family, preferably RX 6700 XT, if not the refresh RX 6750 XT.
I'm wondering about the lanes, even for 2013-2019 games. Also older as well, including DirectX 9 games.

Of course, you won't game hard like I do.

 

[Macro Device]

The con, is 8 lanes instead of 16 lanes. Makes it better off to get a Turing or a Pascal, maybe a Radeon Vega 64 or 56?

1% lows are lowkey messy but the OP will be fine. Turing GPUs are power hogs, Pascal are obsolete, and Vegas are just e-waste. 3060 Ti is the healthiest alternative but it's more expensive.

 

[RJARRRPCGP]

View attachment 374364
1% lows are lowkey messy but the OP will be fine. Turing GPUs are power hogs, Pascal are obsolete, and Vegas are just e-waste. 3060 Ti is the healthiest alternative but it's more expensive.

I do agree about 3060 Ti.

 

[eidairaman1]

The 6600 is fine.