cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

ASUS ROG Maximus VIII Formula - Sound and shutdown issues

deus512
Level 7
Hi there!

I decided to build a new PC with the mainboard Maximus VIII Formula. Here are the specs:

-> Intel Core i7-6700K
-> MSI GTX 970 Gaming 4G
-> Corsair Professional Series Platinum AX860i
-> Corsair Dominator Platinum DIMM Kit 32GB

Issue #1:
As seen before in this forum my board is also affected by the sound issue where I can hear a crackling/popping sound when playing a quiet tune, e.g. the windows test tune when clicking on the volume adjuster in the taskbar. For me, this issue is not acceptable because I don't want to install a software which keeps my channels open so that the issue does not appear.

Issue#2:
Once again, as seen before I am also affected by the shutdown bug where Windows 10 does trigger the shutdown process, the monitor goes black but fans won't turn off. In my case, it is definitely NOT a software issue because I installed a fresh version of Windows 10 without ASUS software, e.g. the AI Suite. What I do have are connected CPU fans. For those fans, I configured specific fan settings within the UEFI BIOS. This could be important because I have seen other posts here suggesting that this is the root cause of the problem. Once again, this behaviour is not acceptable for me.

So I think a RMA request is the only option for me, correct?

Thank you!
13,955 Views
17 REPLIES 17

mtrxx
Level 7
No need to bother and RMA for Issue *1. Its inherent problem of Z170 boards with alc 1150. I am not sure it any future bios update is going to fix that.

seph13
Level 7
For me issue #2 is completely controllable by messing with fan settings through bios q fan optimization or letting fan expert 3 optimize with cpu fan extreme quiet mode on. I am hoping this is a fan compatibility problem and am guessing that fan expert 3 cpu extreme quiet mode or BIOS q fan optimization is setting fan rpm's lower then the fan can handle. Why on earth this causes the whole motherboard to fail to shut down is beyond me. What cpu fan are you using? If you set your cpu fans settings back to default (might have to completely clear cmos setting or at the least F5 to default in order to completely delete qfan calibration) does your system still exhibit shut down problems?
For me I can play around with bios fan setting all I want as long as I don't touch the q fan tuning wizard (tool with the graphs), otherwise shutdown issues start playing up again.

At this point I am hoping that it is just specific fans that are causing issues (maybe low quality PWM circuitry on the actual fan) and will be testing different cpu fans this week. Right now I have a stock Corsair H90 fan, will be testing a Noctua NF A14 PWM tomorrow. Honestly almost all fan software has been known to be buggy at times since I think there is a lack of absolute fan standards and fans can vastly vary in voltages and capable rpm's. Though I still think it's ridiculous that this can cause a whole shut down failure. If it is in fact your cpu fan not playing nicely with qfan calibration then I would personally much prefer to switch out a $20 fan then RMA a $400 motherboard that otherwise works flawlessly.

Nate152
Moderator
Hello deus512

Welcome to the ROG forum.

The Maximus VIII Formula is an awesome motherboard, I've seen a few people posting about the popping sound but I have not experienced this. Maybe try reinstalling the realtek audio driver.

You could try disabling Q-fan to see if the shutdowns still occur, disabling Q-fan will run your fans at 100%.

Hi there and thank you for the information!

I already RMAed my boad at the local retailer. So the point is that I have to decide what to do now. The first option would be change the board and choose another brand. The other option would be to get a new Maximus Formula VIII and hope for the best.

I can see that there is a solution for the shut down problem although it's sad that I have to accept such issues in a product which is located in much higher price regions compared to other products.

Regarding the sound issue: I already installed the current version of the Realtek driver but without success.
To be honest, I don't think that there is solution regarding the problem. I think that I have to deal with it if I decide to stick with the board.

hmm..

deus512 wrote:
Hi there and thank you for the information!

I already RMAed my boad at the local retailer. So the point is that I have to decide what to do now. The first option would be change the board and choose another brand. The other option would be to get a new Maximus Formula VIII and hope for the best.

I can see that there is a solution for the shut down problem although it's sad that I have to accept such issues in a product which is located in much higher price regions compared to other products.

Regarding the sound issue: I already installed the current version of the Realtek driver but without success.
To be honest, I don't think that there is solution regarding the problem. I think that I have to deal with it if I decide to stick with the board.

hmm..


Just out of curiosity - post here when you get another motherboard.

I've also got sound crackling issue and im curious whether another m-board will fix this for you. I've got 32 GB ram and 970 GTX as well. I've also tried just about every combination of drivers and software, including fresh installation but nothing worked.

I wonder if the issue somehow related only to 32 GB ram users.

Apart from using a software to keep your channel open - you could also use stock microsoft drivers. Personally i can't say that there is a difference between stock and realtek drivers apart from microsoft ones being much louder even on lower volume settings.

As for the fan issue - i've uninstalled both AiSuite and disabled q-fan in BIOS settings which is set to auto by default, so everything is working fine. Honestly - q-fan only affects quietness of your fans and only in certain situations. I've got a lot of padding inside my case and i bought quiet fans to begin with so id rather have a full powered and loud fans which i can't hear in headphones anyway. Just make sure to disable q-fan for each fan.

Celador wrote:
Just out of curiosity - post here when you get another motherboard.


Yes, I will! I hope that I will receive my new unit soon.

@Celador: What you could do is run your system with only one RAM module, just to rule out that there is a connection with the memory. But I doubt that this is the case to be honest.

deus512 wrote:
Yes, I will! I hope that I will receive my new unit soon.

@Celador: What you could do is run your system with only one RAM module, just to rule out that there is a connection with the memory. But I doubt that this is the case to be honest.


Yeah i might do it. It's just that i've wasted so much time making the build stable (stable-ish) im afraid to even touch the insides of the case now -_-

It didn't make any difference, just tried removing 3 memory sticks.

Hi there!

I just received my "repaired" mainboard yesterday. You want to know what they did? Well, according to the attached report they did a "BIOS/Firmware/Software" update.
My initial reaction: LoL -> Are you kidding me?

You know what I did yesterday at first when I received the board? A BIOS UPDATE! Because it was outdated .... well played Asus, well played.

As a consequence nothing has changed. The sound issue still exists and the shutdown problem as well.

Regarding the shutdown problem: I used a fresh Win10 installation for testing the board. I did not install any Asus software and in the BIOS I disabled all QFAN settings, but the problem still exists.
I also have to mention that I have not connected any fans because I am using an external fan control.

I think that I'm gonna return the board and try to get another one....

seph13
Level 7
I have an Asus Z-170 Premium board (very similar to the Formula in price and features) and have no sound issues (none that I've noticed at least on my speakers at least). As mentioned earlier I was able to fix the shut down issue with the fan expert setting. Besides the now fixed shut down issue my board has been a complete champ. Stable at 4.7 GHZ. I really don't think price can necessarily fix a combination of high end parts that are all made to different standards and it's impossible for all the manafacturers to test every possible combination of hardware.