Asus dark hero startup issue ?

looks like not only is ASUS letting us down but their customer service in general isn't up to par lately.

https://youtu.be/p8ktO-WdlyQ

Hi everyone.

I found this thread and I'm honestly shocked (yet relieved) to see I'm not the only one facing this issue. I recently got a custom made PC from my local shop and I already had to give it back for 4 weeks due to a faulty RAM that needed to be replaced. However, an issue I had also previously noticed was about the power button, which somehow doesn't work after something like 3 boots. The guys at the shop told me it might happen sometimes also due to various BIOS errors, but considering how frequent this is, I did some research and realized it might definitely be what many of you have described here.

In short, I also have a Dark Hero MB installed. When the issue occurs, I use the PSU switch on the back to reset the power and the system boots right away. I always shut it down at night because I'm not a fan of the sleep mode in general as it is known for causing issues (and also to save a bit of power considering the overall inflations), so the next day it also works, second day works as well, but then around the third day since the switching off/on the power button does nothing and the cycle has to be repeated.

Now, generally this isn't a real problem for me because everything else works perfectly. I have no crashes and no power interruptions. It's just crazy to see this product might be faulty from production. Considering I have already replaced the RAM and I've waited 4 weeks to get the machine back, I don't feel like doing it all over again to get a new motherboard (being a new PC I am under warranty, but the local shop has to order the replacements, mount them and keep the computer for some time to test it and be sure it is working properly. Meaning it isn't something they can do at my place or I can do myself as this is the local practice). I also need to clarify that I always just shut the system down without using the sleep mode, nor hybernation (if Windows decides to hybernate on day 3 for whatever reason instead of shutting down, that's beyond me). I also turned Fast Boot off and my BIOS is updated. It seems like my PSU goes into a sort of protection mode by turning the power off every 3 boots (the LEDs are lit still), but I'm way too tired right now to do anything with an otherwise fully functional computer. At least for the time being, I will avoid replacing it. The warranty has me covered for 2 years.

Just wanted to add my own experience to the list, but I'm curious to know if for the ones who got the MB repaired with a new chipset the issue is completely gone?

For those who might be wondering which part in their build is the problem, I am one of the many who can confirm that it is this motherboard. I swapped to another brand and, of course, it resumes from sleep. Don't bother replacing anything else, it isn't the problem.

I hope Asus decides to acknowledge their problem and remedy harmed customers. I ran out of time waiting for them and needed to take other action at my cost.

I'm not even going to try to eBay this thing, that's cruel. I may use it for target practice.

I had the same issues with my Crosshair VIII Plus motherboard. When I first installed it, in a Corsair 5000D case I had no issues. I decided to put this in a Lian Li 011 Dynamic Evo case with the Lian Li Uni fans SL120 is when I started to have the start up problems. I have the AMD 5700X, G Skill TridentZ NeoDDR-3600 16GBx2, Samsung 980 Pro SSD, EVGA 850 GT Power Supply, Asus 3070 and Asus ROG Strix LC II 369 cooler. I fixed my issue when I checked all my motherboard mounting screws, all were loose. I tighten the screws and now I have no issues with shut down/start up and sleep mode.

Windows installed a few new updates recently and all of a sudden the problem no longer took place every 3 boots for me, but literally every day (meaning, after every normal shutdown at night).

Now, I know the issue is most likely this Motherboard being faulty, or at least according to what people said in this thread, but it's quite weird that the issue got worse right after the updates. I also noticed there is a strange warning in my events related to an EC error and the fact it is recommended to update the BIOS (though it doesn't seem to be absolutely required), although my BIOS version is already up-to-date and matches the one on the manufacturer's site.

Does anyone know what this means? Did someone manage to fix the booting problem through a BIOS update/fix/anything? Or is it just 100% the motherboard which is also affected by Windows' actions every now and then?

I am honestly at a loss here. The system still seems to be pretty stable and works fine all day, so the problem seems to mainly be about the power which is like cut off and only a PSU reset fixes it.

Hey guys, it's me again. This time I might have some good news to provide!

Since the startup issue was really affecting me more than I wanted (it was getting stressfull to bend under my desk every day or so, wait a few seconds for the LEDs to be cut off and then press the switch again), I kept looking online for possible solutions, since the issue in my case seemed to be a bit random and not specifically hardware (like I said in my previous post, it got worse after the recent Windows Updates). I found the LinusTechTips site and people there were also discussing this exact same problem with the Dark Hero, which means literally the majority of customers with this Motherboard are experiencing the same nightmare. Somewhere in the comments, someone mentioned they managed to get rid of the issue by activating the ErP (S4+S5) option in BIOS. Since this is something I haven't tried already, I gave it a shot and I'm one of those people who gets extremely anxious and intimidated whenever the BIOS screen shows up... :D

Guys, let me tell you, for now it seems like the startup problem is solved. I can't say if this is going to be a permanent solution, but the PC booted fine from the power button for 4 days in a row already. The ErP essentially turns off ALL the power from your machine, which means USBs, external devices and also Motherboard LEDs (including the Start button) will be completely off. Personally speaking, I don't really need the LEDs on while I sleep, nor I use the USB ports to charge my stuff. If the MB LEDs are turned off, the power button is supposed to work. If the LEDs and the Start button are on, the Dark Hero glitches out and fails to read the input of the power button, until the power is reset via PSU. This is still unacceptable considering how much this component costs (and my PC is brand new too, already RMAd it once for faulty RAM. I couldn't stand the thought of doing it again for the MB since the shop's policy states I have to deliver the entire PC there and leave it for who knows how long until they're done with the replacement and testing), a similar issue should not occur. Still, since the nice RGB lights are useless at night for me, I was more than willing to give them up on shutdown.

Before opening a RMA ticket or replacing the MB with a different brand at your cost, I would suggest to try this if you haven't already, especially if your system works fine the entire time the system is running.

Note: I do not use Sleep mode and haven't tested it with Hibernate yet, so I can only confirm this works with normal shutdown.

This is not a new solution to the problem and is not acceptable for a premium board at the price of a whole PC!
In addition, WakeOnLAN no longer works with this setting.
https://rog.asus.com/forum/showthrea...e19#post847721


I'm getting annoyed with ASUS. German support is a waste of time and they won't take the board back because there is no problem with the Dark Hero's...they say.

I'm done with ASUS at this point, no support, no sign of accommodation. My board is now on its way to ASUS for the fourth time and I don't want it back. I want my money back! It's been going since August 2021 now!

ASUS, shame on you.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Vitacola

This is not a new solution to the problem and is not acceptable for a premium board at the price of a whole PC!
In addition, WakeOnLAN no longer works with this setting.
https://rog.asus.com/forum/showthrea...e19#post847721


I'm getting annoyed with ASUS. German support is a waste of time and they won't take the board back because there is no problem with the Dark Hero's...they say.

I'm done with ASUS at this point, no support, no sign of accommodation. My board is now on its way to ASUS for the fourth time and I don't want it back. I want my money back! It's been going since August 2021 now!

ASUS, shame on you.

---

Yes, that is why I said it is unacceptable that the MB doesn't properly work with ErP off and LEDs on. But this is still a good solution (or at least a temporary one) for the ones like me who don't use WakeOnLan and mainly want to have a PC that properly boots like it is supposed to, without having to constantly switch the PSU off and on again. It was happening almost every day at one point and in my case it would even be more difficult to get a quick replacement because of the shop policy in my city, like I said.

But it is true, this is a real shame and it needs to be solved. If you already sent it over more than once and it came back with the same problem, I honestly wonder what they did and what the issue actually is (assuming they already changed the chipset). Considering how many people are experiencing this with the Dark Hero, they should really look into it. The interesting thing is though, that when I spoke to the shop guys explaining what was happening, they clearly told me this is the first time they even hear about it. I specifically explained that, thanks to this forum, I found out the problem wasn't just mine, but it seems like they never experienced it. It isn't a Country thing , clearly... since I am having the same issue described by many from different locations. I even tried messaging the Customer Support for my Country and the guy who replied to me acted completely oblivious to it and told me stuff like: "Give me your memory model/numbers, try shutting down the PC by holding Shift".

Hi,Â*

i got my asus dark hero on 08.12.2020 from Digitec in Switzerland.
The board was working until last correct pc shutdown 1 week ago.
I have custom build with 5900x, 4x8ddr4 gskill 3800mhz, asus strix lc rgb 360 aio, all drivers and bios up2date.

The issue is: nevermind if i press power button on case or on motherboard,
i hear click from powersupply fans turn on for 1cm and than nothing. i see rgb on the lc 360 aio (otherones are turned off) so i was
thinking its my Corsair HX850i psu.

I bought brand new PX-1000 Â*Seasonic PSU, also replaced the termal paste, connected everything back and same issue with brandÂ*
new power supply. Â*
Was there a V2 release from Dark Hero without this issue?
I‘m already looking since couple of days at msi x570s ace max as replacement since i believe i could probably just reconnect everything from dark hero to the new board and send this to rma. Was any reaction from Asus made to this thread?
****
* Â*Are there any updates regarding this issue?Â*
I was happy with performance and everything but this is not acceptable since after replacing the psu its more than obvious that its comming from the motherboard.

Any feedbacks are very appreciated.

Br
DaliÂ*

Quote:

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Originally Posted by DaBogo

Hi,Â*

i got my asus dark hero on 08.12.2020 from Digitec in Switzerland.
The board was working until last correct pc shutdown 1 week ago.
I have custom build with 5900x, 4x8ddr4 gskill 3800mhz, asus strix lc rgb 360 aio, all drivers and bios up2date.

The issue is: nevermind if i press power button on case or on motherboard,
i hear click from powersupply fans turn on for 1cm and than nothing. i see rgb on the lc 360 aio (otherones are turned off) so i was
thinking its my Corsair HX850i psu.

I bought brand new PX-1000 Â*Seasonic PSU, also replaced the termal paste, connected everything back and same issue with brandÂ*
new power supply. Â*
Was there a V2 release from Dark Hero without this issue?
I‘m already looking since couple of days at msi x570s ace max as replacement since i believe i could probably just reconnect everything from dark hero to the new board and send this to rma. Was any reaction from Asus made to this thread?
****
* Â*Are there any updates regarding this issue?Â*
I was happy with performance and everything but this is not acceptable since after replacing the psu its more than obvious that its comming from the motherboard.

Any feedbacks are very appreciated.

Br
DaliÂ*

---

This has been issue to so many other owners of Dark Hero and to date no one knows which batches were effected. I can only presume since yours was from 2020, you might have had that coming. We all would like to know when was their latest production date of these boards that were fixed shipped out to retailers.

Honestly, I've heard a lot of good things about MSI and since Asus gives everyone run around with no any sort of info I would go for it, otherwise, you like many of us might wait for nothing.

Good luck

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Megascrypt

This has been issue to so many other owners of Dark Hero and to date no one knows which batches were effected. I can only presume since yours was from 2020, you might have had that coming. We all would like to know when was their latest production date of these boards that were fixed shipped out to retailers.

Honestly, I've heard a lot of good things about MSI and since Asus gives everyone run around with no any sort of info I would go for it, otherwise, you like many of us might wait for nothing.

Good luck

---

Thanks mate.
Well if i consider that this issue is still not so old
and maybe Asus is still analyzing the production
numbers and so on in order to find out which boards are impacted
then it would make sense to make an official statement later when
everything is confirmed.

I could also imagine that this board was so much pre-ordered and ordered
even in small Switzerland only at the same shop i bought it, people were
waiting 3/4months to get it. Maybe production was speeded up, some bad parts came on boards
or maybe a incompatibility issues when some bios settings are used and so on.Â*
Since my pc doesnt start at all, i cannot help at this point :) haha.
Â*Â*Â*
That means it depends how much people report directly here
and even more how much boards get replacement local and asus never
correct be informed about.

But it would also be a great move to reach out to resellers and
inform them about a possible issue or make an official callout to users
to report this directly to an „dedicated“ email address if someone runs into this.

It would be great if the issue can be identified and Dark Hero gets a Rev 2.0.
I have opened a rma ticket in Switzerland and have ordered a new dark hero.Â*
Â*Lets see if i will run into the same issue again. The reason for that isÂ*
that i‘m running 4x8ddr4 gskill at 3800mhz cl14
which is only supported by asus. Strix 570 E Wifi 2 was an option
until i saw how cmos clear works and that was a no go.
Â*Â*
Thanks for the feedback! Â*

I have just picked up my new Asus Dark Hero. The package looks same but some labels are different.Â*
There is a windows 11 ready sticker, the serial & check numbers are complete different and i see manufacturing date is December 2021.
Â*
I hope i will have time this weekend to replace the previous dark hero and see
if there are some differences. Basically i should also do a clean windows install
switching from 10 to 11 home but i‘m far too lazy to install everything again i believe
but who knows :)

I was very happy with win 10 home performance as long my desktop was working.
I will keep you up2date and also update you about the feedback from my local shop.Â*

Â*

Nice that you got your new board, hopefully it works as it should, "fingers crossed"
Production date pretty much 2022..good, lest hope Asus new what was the problem before that and you have nice trouble free board.
Please let us know how it works
Good luck

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Megascrypt

Nice that you got your new board, hopefully it works as it should, "fingers crossed"
Production date pretty much 2022..good, lest hope Asus new what was the problem before that and you have nice trouble free board.
Please let us know how it works
Good luck

---

Thanks mate.Â*
Well i got a new one because it was in stock so i could make the order
at 04:30am and have picked it up 7/8hours later.
As soon the new board has been tested including all system functions
and so on, i will drive to the shop and let the technical stuff there to test
it. I dont know exactly how long they will take to do so but it should be fast i guess.

Ps: i just saw that on the new board i see manufactured date 12.2021
but there is nothing about manufactured date on the first one i have preordered Nov 2020 and picked up on 08.12.2020.

I have also did a fast comparing and could not find any different information or specs change. But yes i hope that new boards which are now
windows 11 ready will not have this issue „finger crossed“ as you said :)

For me its really important to find out what happened because maybe i was using some bios settings which are maybe to risky
and that means even it was my fault i can only avoid running into a next issue with same board if i know whats wrong and specially how the fault was triggered. I work day in day out with hardware (network) and for me its
a huge pain to have a mainboard which was working perfect before the last shutdown, no whea, no events on windows, no issues at all… and next day just stopped :) that why i need a technical explanation 😂.

What is the status with your mainboard?
Any progress? updates? Â*

Please keep us posted and Good Luck

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Megascrypt

Please keep us posted and Good Luck

---

02:49am. Previous dark hero board, from End Nov / Start Dec 2020 replaced with new one manufacturing date 12.2021 and everythingÂ*
is working again. System performance seem better or at least my system is really really smooth. i have also got today Noctua NT-H2 thermal paste and did a refresh for the cpu.Â*

Â*i just was not expecting to startup with previous Bios settings like on my last dark hero. but everything is there. i will double check since i see that some power options are different from windows but bios seem to be pretty same. Maybe this is normal but i didnt know that :)Â*

So: We now def can say that my dark hero was the issue. I have also checked close if i can Â*find some damaged parts or bad smell like when something was burned or whatever but NOTHING… The board looks great. i believe this should be checked. i wouldnt even mind to pay the transport costs and send it directly to asus technical team so they can use my board for troubleshooting. Â*

What Bios your new board came with, I'm almost sure its with 3904 or 4006, don't update to the latest if you haven't already

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Megascrypt

What Bios your new board came with, I'm almost sure its with 3904 or 4006, don't update to the latest if you haven't already

---

it came with 3801. Whats wrong with 4006?Â*
i was using the one from dark hero support site from end of april i believe. Â*

No, there is nothing wrong with 4006 I was saying don't update to 4201, I think 3801 was OK as well. Are you planing on updating to 4006, If you thinking on doing it, but have some reservations, go ahead don't hesitate, its stable Bios and addresses some excessive voltage. For now 4006 bios is the latest stable, not only from my experience, but from other users as well.

I've been having this issue recently on a Crosshair VIII Hero WIFI , but I bought it in 2020. So my warranty is expired. Is there something I can try to solve it on my own?

What kind of issues, what Bios are you on, CPU, RAM, OS

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Megascrypt

What kind of issues, what Bios are you on, CPU, RAM, OS

---

Figured I should start a thread since it's another mb model

sadly my pc has developed this - i cant seem to find a way to determine a stable way to get it to boot, switching psu off and on again isnt always enough - i have found hitting del key and going into bios and over riding boot - it seems to help it - its driving me mad please help

sometimes though it takes 30 minutes plus to get it to start up - ive tried all suggestions, im at point of throwing money at it - which reall with a 5900x i shouldnt have to, ive read through whole thread im shocked asus plz help, or if please send me or us a voucher to pay towards a new , say for example am5 board by asus

i may just buy a ryzen 7000 in anger with new mb /ram etc

I Purchased a Brand new Asus x570 Dark Hero Board when they first came out and out of the box I had an issue the card would not boot. I sent the card back to Asus
under RMA and they sent me back the same board 2 weeks later and nothing was done. I sent the board in again under RMA and they sent me back a refurbished board. I installed everything and the board booted up and worked fine for about 5 months and now the same issues pop up. I opened up an RMA and sent the board back to Asus and it is expected to arrive on 10/07/2022. I hope they are able to fix the issue or just provide me with a new board.

so ive taken out my Dark Hero VIII and upgraded to the latest ryzen am5 -

How do i go about RMA'ing my board to ASUS? I'm UK based

thanks

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dalek-Sec

so ive taken out my Dark Hero VIII and upgraded to the latest ryzen am5 -

How do i go about RMA'ing my board to ASUS? I'm UK based

thanks

---

Contact support via phone or chat and they can setup and RMA for you.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by xeromist

Contact support via phone or chat and they can setup and RMA for you.

---

Thanks Ive reported the issue to them via the support system i think it emails them hopefully i'll get a reply fairly quickly

had to buy new motherboard as cant be doing without a system for a while

Quote:

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Originally Posted by xeromist

Contact support via phone or chat and they can setup and RMA for you.

---

Hi I have a CH8 I purchased last year for my 5900X. It has been working fine up until this week and it suddenly started this same problem - it will not power on when pressing the power button. If I unplug the power cable and leave it for a while it will then start without issue.

My system is otherwise 100% stable with no blue screens, crashes, freezes or any other problem. Just this really annoying and troubling startup issue.

Would I also be eligible for an RMA considering when I purchased the board?

Thanks.

I have the same issue with my Motherboard, and i have sent an Email to Asus support and i got nothing useful out of them, they were answering like they don't know it's a massive issue !

Like try to work with 1 ram ! replace you graphic card or Power supply, update your Bios ! connect only necessary devices ! Which is doing nothing at all, as i have done all of that !

im copying their Reply and my last Answer to them:

Dear Mr. Amr Ali,


Thank you for your feedback.

We apologize for the inconvenience caused.


Please refer below feedback from the concerned team.


Kindly be informed that based on the Feedback Form you have submitted, it seems the MB cannot boot randomly.

Please help follow the below steps to have a try:


Clear CMOS by pressing the button on the Rear I/O panel, to reset the BIOS to default, and check whether the problem still appears.

If the problem doesn't appear, then set the settings back one by one, to see which setting causes this problem.

If the problem still exists after CMOS clears, then remove all his devices, and install just CPU/single DIMM memory(to recommended A2 slot)/graphic card, and check whether the problem still appears. If the problem disappears, then install other devices back one by one to see which device causes this problem.

(Be noticed that we don't recommend installing several DRAM which is not in the same kit, or installing several memory kits. This customer installs 48GB definitely not the same kit. Mixing memory can cause unpredictable problems.)

If the problem still exists with only necessary devices, we can only recommend sending the MB to RMA to have a check.


Should you require further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us.


Your satisfaction is very important to us and we encourage you to read below.

- Kindly participate in the short customer satisfaction survey and if you are satisfied, please select the maximum score.

- If you still need further support and are not fully satisfied, please let us know in response to this email.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My last email :

Thank you for your kind reply, actually i have done all the steps you said more than once, Replacing the ram and even working with 1 ram only, and still has the same Issue, Im not sure how you didn't notice that there is a topic on the forum with 63 page with the same issue and yet you only ask For RMA and replace the motherboard with Refurbished or new one, which will have the same issue as well ! i don't have the time to waste on such a thing actually, i might send the motherboard to you so you can do your test on it, for the current time i just got a new AM5 one and another Motherboard, ( clearly not Asus anymore, sorry but i'm not sorry for that ). i can live with having an issue with my Motherboard and send it to be fixed, but to see that issue is around for more than 9 months now and people keeps bother you and email you with that issue and yet you still didn't know what is the problem and send even boards new with the same issues !!

Actually this isn't what I understand about Support or at least take responsibility for a problem, like at least tell those people we are familiar with the issue and we are working on it, try and test one of the sent motherboards you have got for the same issue !! you actually answers me like you don't know what im talking about and you are trying to solve my issue like new one ! and what makes me really upset that you gave me your technician comment and advice as below :

(Be noticed that we don't recommend installing several DRAM which is not in the same kit, or installing several memory kits. This customer installs 48GB, definitely not the same kit. Mixing memory can cause unpredictable problems.)

If the problem still exists with only necessary devices, we can only recommend sending the MB to RMA to have a check.

Sounds familiar isn't it ! it's what you say to the other people to do as well, send your motherboard to RMA, aren't you going to send me another new board with the same issue ! So either you know the issue and yet try to stall for no reason except make the client bored and live with it ! or you don't know the problem yet after all these threads and emails, again this is A thread with 63 pages full of people has the same issue !!! :

https://rog.asus.com/forum/showthrea...p-issue/page63

So you chose to deal with my issue like you never heard about it before! That's why I'm not happy about ! So thanks for Nothing so Far, Ironically this is supposed to be your Best motherboard for Every socket Generation,

please let me know how i can send this motherboard RMA, hopefully i will have the time to do that,

Have a nice day.
-----------------------------------

Clearly im not getting Any of their products anymore.

I hope i have done my best to make them care and notice it's a massive issue !

And i hope they would fix it, otherwise they are going to lose huge number for clients, and im planing to Send this thread to other Technicians and Youtubers i hope that would make them care enough .

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Rinner23

Would I also be eligible for an RMA considering when I purchased the board?

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Sorry for the delay in replying. If it has been over a year then probably not. It depends on when the receipt says it was purchased. You'd have to call support and ask. They can look up the serial no. for confirmation.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by AmrJack

I have the same issue with my Motherboard, and i have sent an Email to Asus support and i got nothing useful out of them, they were answering like they don't know it's a massive issue ! .....

.....
Clearly im not getting Any of their products anymore.

I hope i have done my best to make them care and notice it's a massive issue !

And i hope they would fix it, otherwise they are going to lose huge number for clients, and im planing to Send this thread to other Technicians and Youtubers i hope that would make them care enough .

---

Hi, they don't care.
I send a similar email to the german support and they simply do not care about!
August 2021, I payed 457Euro for a mainboard that is shipping around from the dealer to the vendor back to the dealer and than back to me, and than it starts over again. The board had always the same issue and is missing a statement what they fixed, if they fixed something. And ASUS do not confirm that the board has a problem and so I did not get my money back from the dealer. I'm more than upset! Right now, the board is again by ASUS.

I can definitely agree, they don't seem to care and I have been Asus user for a very long time, but It stops here. Their pattern of help by sending their generic email responses just to keep you quiet is insult.

I have sent them # of emails in regards to my Crosshair VIII Hero Dark and reboots and they said they are working on Bios because the 4201 is absolutely terrible and months later nothing is done.

I have returned Hero Dark to Amazon and went with MSI, works perfect. This was my last Asus product I have ever purchased.