asrock box tears near tabs where opening box latches are, opened before sold to me as new?

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chrcoluk

[H]ard|Gawd
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Got a new (supposedly) ASRock Fatal1ty Z370 Gaming K6 today from amazon UK.

The box itself had 2 tears around the area where it opens. I will upload a photo. No tape or any other seal.

Inside the box the accessories are all sealed. The manual has no creases and looks new.

The motherboard I have not taken out its bag, I thought its bag was sealed, which would have eased my mind, but then discovered its not sealed, its not very creased which is good but it has no seal tape on it, the sticker on the cpu socket is lined up perfectly, doesnt look like its been placed again.

Are amazon selling returned opened units as new or is it a known thing for new motherboards to have tears on the box and no sealing in place?

The cynic in me thinks an arrangement is in place between board vendors and retailers so a policy exists to have no seals and as such a consumer will find it harder to tell if they paying top dollar for a previously opened product.

I am trying to think of a good reason why those tears would be on the box, if they were there in manufacturing the box would be put aside and a new one used, which means its been opened after manufacturing by someone.

So I am leaning towards returning it.

Thoughts? appreciated. Especially if people can confirm if there is normally seals of any kind on asrock boards.

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I wouldn't sweat it. Check CPU pins and evidence of paste on the latch area. Also check the screw holes for the stand offs, the solder will have indents. The box may have been caught on something. Asrock doesn't seal the boxes and they come housed in black foam with black zip ties.
 
Ok I will check, but it leaves me wondering why would such a policy exist, it gives peace of mind, if a security tape is intact, its unopened end of. It would cost pennies to add to the packaging. Just seems a system open to abuse from retailers.

So basically I am checking the mounting points for marks, and around the cpu socket area for bent pins and sign of compund usage.
 
I've had packages arrive like that before. The outside (shipping) box was fine but the actual packaging (inside box) was a little jacked. But since everything inside looked ok and worked fine, I just gave it a pass.

Keep in mind, it could have been mis-handled by any number of Amazonians - from the warehouse crew / robots / to conveyor belt - before it got put into the shipping box and sent to you.

It's not always a conspiracy, man. Just a thought.
 
cpu is finally here, here is some more pics of the board, is missing marks on some of the standoff holes, a mark on the backplate, and the graphics card pcie slot has its clip raised not in line with the other 2 clips not been raised.

However there is some padding shipped at the edge of the board held in place using plastic straps, I will try and see if its possible to remove those straps and put them back in place, as if like new or if they have to be cut.

Also 2 screws are missing from the screw bag, 3 are supposed to be in there and the bag wasnt fully sealed.

Including pic of pins, look ok to me, but would appreciate another set of eyes

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note on this video he has to use a knife to break the seal, that seal did not exist on my box



He then proceeds to rip the box when opening on those weak tabs, same way my box is ripped.

The postcard and 2 of the retention screw bags are missing in my box.

Evidence just seems overhwleming, why oh why do retailers pull this rubbish, they may think if the product is undamaged (in their eyes) its brand new, its not. Opened = used.
 
Ok I been in dialogue with amazon, first I feel a bit stupid as that video a is a z270 board so not same board.

But anyway they asked me to check inside the manuals and I found the postcard and other 2 screws, so all accessories present.

They agreed to give £20 in vouchers due to the ripped box and I still keep my warranty so if any fault it can be returned.

I couldnt find a way to remove the clips without cutting them so that is good, suggesting its not been used.

Its now posted and in bios, cpu stock vcore reported in easy mode as 1.15v, oddly the active vcore is not shown on the advanced page.

Compared to asus is less bios options, but is bios options present that asus have removed on their boards competing in this price range.

I am using a h5 cryorig cooler, much easier installation than the noctua on my haswell, but it feels quite light, like the material is cheap, I cannot remember which noctua cooler is on my haswell as I cannot find the packaging now, its not the top end model tho.

Going to play with it soon, borrowed a empty hdd out my friends rig (I am repairing it), so i can test overclocking etc, also to test if I can migrate my current windows install over.
 
Amazon usually is pretty good with returns and customer support, had returned many stuff in the past and they always accepted no questions asked with full refund.
Let us know how that board goes, usually Asrock is pretty good when it comes to overclock.
 
Its not going so well now and I dont know what to do.

It turns out I am getting random post failures diagnostic code 15, according to documents this is a memory issue.

This happens also when cpu and ram are both at stock and on bios defaults, so it doesnt seem to be related to XMP or anything like that.

Once running there is no memory errors on HCI etc., but I dont want a system that randomly fails to post and needs a power cycle to get out of. So it seems i need to return some hardware.

But given it could be the cpu IMC, the board, or the ram, do I just return all 3 even tho I dont know for sure if any is faulty?

I am not in a position where i have spare components to check and swap out parts.
 
chrcoluk said:
Its not going so well now and I dont know what to do.

It turns out I am getting random post failures diagnostic code 15, according to documents this is a memory issue.

This happens also when cpu and ram are both at stock and on bios defaults, so it doesnt seem to be related to XMP or anything like that.

Once running there is no memory errors on HCI etc., but I dont want a system that randomly fails to post and needs a power cycle to get out of. So it seems i need to return some hardware.

But given it could be the cpu IMC, the board, or the ram, do I just return all 3 even tho I dont know for sure if any is faulty?

I am not in a position where i have spare components to check and swap out parts.
Click to expand...

Did you update the BIOS to the latest version yet? Ryzen and its board are NOTOROIUS for having RAM compatibility issues with early BIOS releases.
 
It isnt ryzen, and I have tried all the public bios versions.

Seems I have a rare problem as not many people seem to know what to do.

I brought new samsung B die ram and same problem.

So summary as below.

4 gig value 2400 ram posts all the time in any dimm socket.
Corsair 3000 ram will randomly fail to post whether in 2133 or XMP mode. The failure rate is higher with both sticks inserted, but it still fails with only one stick.
Samsung B die 3200 ram same as corsair, randomly fails to post and more frequent with both sticks in.

Tests done in stock so CPU not overclocked.

I got no spare z370 cpu, or spare z370 board so it seems my only sane decision to make is return both board and cpu as I cannot isolate it to eitther, the 4 gig ram working is weird, but I find it hard to believe I have 4 faulty sticks of 8 gig ram.

Just submitted this to asrock support. I have also initiated the return process with amazon for both board and cpu (on the last day of hassle free return). I already have started returns for the ram as well, as I brought new ram. So amazon I hope wont get funny with me returning all 3 components. They got no new 8600k's now tho until second week of march which sucks. But the way amazon works is I can order replacement parts now, and they refund when they get the return so I could test the original cpu with a new board, and if it works then cancel the order for a new cpu.

Hi
I have tested the board with 3 sets of ram.
Corsair CMK16GX4M2B3000C15 Vengeance LPX 16GB (2x8GB) (qvl listed)
Team Group Dark Pro "8Pack Edition" 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC4-25600C14 3200MHz (samsung b die)
Value OCUK Branded corsair 2400 ram single 4 gig stick
I have tested using bios versions 1.10 (shipped bios), 1.13
The problem has been confirmed in stock CPU and bios configuration, so automatic voltages, automatic clock speed (no overclock), default power saving modes.
The problem is as follows.
Randomly when rebooting or powering up the system the post will freeze and the debug led will show code 15. I have tried to find a pattern to it but it seems pretty random. However after various bits of testing I have discovered the following. I tested by repeatedly exiting the bios and going back in again so just repeating the post process.
The problem never happens using the 4 gig stick of ram in any dimm slots.
The problem happens infrequently if only the slot furthest away from the CPU socket is used by a 8 gig dimm. Maybe one in twenty times.
The problem happens some more if an 8 gig dimm is in any of the other 3 sockets, maybe one in ten times.
If I have 2 8 gig sticks populated in the two recommended DIMM slots, it happens about 3 or 4 times out of 10 post's, so quite frequently.
If it happens pressing the hard reset button doesnt work, I have to power cycle the system.
I dont have any memory errors once in the operating system, so it seems to only be a post problem.
Since I have no spare z370 CPU or motherboard, I could only test by changing the ram, it is odd the 4 gig stick is ok, but I find it unlikely all 4 sticks of 8 gig ram are faulty, they from 2 different sets from 2 different retailers as well. I did test the 8 gig sticks in an asus z270 board I have and they dont have any post issues on that system.
Since I cannot isolate the cpu or board as the failing part I have initiated a return for both parts with the retailer (amazon), but I welcome any advise in the mean time as to how this problem may be solved.
The box for the motherboard looked like it had previously been opened when I got from amazon so may have possibly been a previous return.
Regards
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I don't know if the obvious was asked yet - are the RAM sticks that are giving you a hard time on the motherboard's fully qualified/tested compatibility list or chart, as per the board manufacturer?
It could turn out that they are not.
 
Does the bottom side of the socket look really rough or is it just me? I know my gigabyte z370 gaming 7 doesnt have anything like that on it
 
yeah I think i commented on that as well :)

I got a new board arriving today from a different retailer.

I bet amazon resell this one as new when I return it, their comment on the returns page says they even unlikely to read the reason for the return.
 
Its all good, new board no more post issues, even at XMP clocks and cpu overclock.

Also on the new board the backplate doesnt have those weird marks. Plus box was sealed.

I will cancel the cpu return, but keeping the RAM return as I will prefer the samsung B die 3200 ram. I will try to tell amazon the RAM is good and the board is defective.
 
Wish I saw this thread earlier: I had an Amazon box for an Asrock board (my sig) arrive in similar shape (same ripped tab) and it was definitely a return/opened box. I looked close and could see screw marks on the standoff areas.

I sent it back and got a new one.
 
Yeah I picked amazon as their returns policy is ridicously good, but perhaps too good, accepting returns without restocking fee, paying for return postage and then just putting back on shelf with no quality assurance or selling as an opened product.
 
I kid you not, we received an empty i9 7900x box from amazon that had clearly been opened and returned or stolen by an employee.

We had to fight with several people to finally get an amazon credit. They refused to believe us until we pointed out that we spend ~10k a month with them and clearly weren't trying to scam them for a CPU. I'm willing to bet a normal residential customer would have been told to shove it.
 
They just sent me a 8700k with the factory seal cut. Did not bother to test, sent it back for replacement.
 
oMek said:
They just sent me a 8700k with the factory seal cut. Did not bother to test, sent it back for replacement.
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most likely the same crap, someone saw they had a crappy overclocker with the whole silicon lottery and just returned it.
 
I have now asked asrock why they told me new boxes are not sealed when the one I got from the other retailer was sealed.
 
chrcoluk said:
I have now asked asrock why they told me new boxes are not sealed when the one I got from the other retailer was sealed.
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my taichi from newegg just had the little sticker on it which anyone could put on there, it wasn't completely sealed either so it might just depend on the retailer. just seems odd with that one being used that they'd bother re-zip tying it to the foam..
 
This sticker/seal had asrock logos on it. So seems a factory placed sticker, unless the retailer somehow has a supply of these branded stickers.
 
8600k rig running in windows 8.1 now, no issues.

I even used my existing install, but the process of switching drivers etc. was shaky.

On the new board AVX is stable at higher clocks and much lower voltages than the defective board.

Also asrock said code 15 is cpu northbridge error typically caused by damaged pins. The pins had no obvious damage when I inspected them tho.

--update--

board seems to have coil whine issues :( luckily I noticed it only occurs when cpu is idle, so I decided to disable most of the C states to keep the voltage over 1v and it stopped the coil whine when idle, it was pretty loud clearly audible inside a sealed Fractal R4 Define case.
 
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chrcoluk said:
8600k rig running in windows 8.1 now, no issues.

I even used my existing install, but the process of switching drivers etc. was shaky.

On the new board AVX is stable at higher clocks and much lower voltages than the defective board.

Also asrock said code 15 is cpu northbridge error typically caused by damaged pins. The pins had no obvious damage when I inspected them tho.

--update--

board seems to have coil whine issues :( luckily I noticed it only occurs when cpu is idle, so I decided to disable most of the C states to keep the voltage over 1v and it stopped the coil whine when idle, it was pretty loud clearly audible inside a sealed Fractal R4 Define case.
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Ahh I had an old board that did that, coil wine at idle. Also a GPU that did it when I undervolted at idle, the GPU wine would go away when I unplugged HDMI cable.

Can't remember if swapping psus helped the board or not
 
Well its now back even at the 1.184v and 1.280v under load.

Its noisy enough that it can still be heard if e.g. playing a youtube video via speakers.

Not sure what to do, as now its in assembled PC, I keep my PC on when going bed so may also affect me going to sleep.

I am pretty sure there was no whine when testing the board using my mining PSU, so the theory of it been with a specific PSU may be a sound one.
 
does it do it running stock? I second the try another psu suggestion.
 
I will try both things tommorow after some sleep

1 - stock
2 - mining psu sitting next to case, so board still in case but other psu powering board.
 
who else had just hell with mobo's dude...got another boot loop stuff going on...idk waiting on another board. idk someone might of ran that one opened and shit...
 
Batboy88 said:
who else had just hell with mobo's dude...got another boot loop stuff going on...idk waiting on another board. idk someone might of ran that one opened and shit...
Click to expand...

I'm going to need someone to translate this.
 
The whine as if by magic is gone again today, and all day this time. So didnt bother swapping the PSU to test.
 
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