Z690-A PRIME DDR5 - USB stops working, PC freezes

[DragDay7]

Hello,
Week ago I upgraded motherboard, cpu and ram. Current specs are:

ASUS Z690-A PRIME
Intel i7-12700KF
Corsair DDR5 2x16GB 5600MHz CL36
MSI 2080 Trio X
Corsair RM 750W
Windows 11

Once or twice a day I get three issues:

1. Keyboard stops working, its backlight starts to blink like it keeps getting disconnected. Plugging it to same socket fixes it for couple of seconds. Using Gen2 usb fixes it for good, but that's not an option. I tried to measure usb voltage, but once I plug usb voltage meter it works again. This wasn't a thing with old setup so keyboard is fine.

2. Whole PC freezes and stays on like that - tried to wait couple of minutes but nothing happened. I can only shut it down or use reset button. This worries me the most.

3. PCIE drive (Plextor M9PeY) stops booting. I have to change PCIE Gen in bios or storage type then it works for like a day.

Both (1,2) things happens only when I do some light stuff like typing, browsing stuff, it never did when I played a game or watched a movie. Perhaps it's related to efficient cores? Voltages are within their range, temperatures are great, nothing weird. I tried run several diagnostic tools (including memtest), stress test all parts, tweak bios settings that might be related to stability (XMP, power saving, PCIE gen, fixed dram frequency and so on), unplug whatever I could, removed all Asus software. Benchmarks are great. I updated usb firmware, bios to version 1304 (now it's 1403), used all up to date drivers. Nothing helped. There's no bsod, nothing in event logs.

Does anybody here got same issue? Is there a way to track down what's the cause? Perhaps I missed something. Google shows that few people are struggling with similar issues but they end up return their hardware and it didn't always helped - I tried to follow their solutions without luck.

Thanks a lot for reading, take care. o/

// I've edited this post to summarize what's going on with my motherboard and removed unrelated info.

- It turns out my stability issue comes from PCIE Native Power Management - disabling it fixes freezing and keyboard issue. I didn't had WHEA 17 error like others. NVMe drive boots every time if I lower gpu PCIE gen to 4th (at least for about 3 days I didn't had any problem with it).

- After trying for a month to fix it with Starrain's help I finally requested RMA. Hopefully Asus service will sort it out.

- Motherboard came back, service found no issue and blames other components xD Finally I've replaced everything - OS still freezes.

That's what you get people when you buy ASUS.

[DragDay7]

STARRAIN@ROG wrote:
Hi DragDay7,
Thank you for your reply.
I'll also consult our tech team so see if there is any further suggestion.

edit: Have you adjusted PCIE to gen3?

Hi,

The one with drive? No, I've been running it only on auto (gen4) or forced gen4 - I'm not 100% sure about it. Ooooh that makes total sense. I'll give it a go once I'm home.

[STARRAIN_ROG]

Hi DragDay7,
Please adjust the one with drive first.
If you still have the same issues, please try adjusting all PCIE settings including the graphics card(PCIEX16).
Thank you.

[DragDay7]

STARRAIN@ROG wrote:
Hi DragDay7,
Please adjust the one with drive first.
If you still have the same issues, please try adjusting all PCIE settings including the graphics card(PCIEX16).
Thank you.

Since Saturday it's 100% stable - I changed m2_1 to gen3 and I haven't got any boot issue. That's no surprise since the drive was meant for gen3. We'll see within few days. // Nevermind, just had boot issue.

Back to usb/pc freezing issue. So far it's gone, great. But whatever triggers that behavior it's still there. With every usb/pc freeze there was short audio freeze too, I haven't spoke about it cause it didn't matter I guess. Whenever keyboard stopped working and I was listening to a song - it would also freeze audio for 0.5 second or so. Now keyboard works all the time, PC doesn't freeze but that audio distortion still happens once a day for 0.5 second. Like my PC or keyboard is about to freeze but it doesn't anymore.

What now, waiting for bios update and hope it gets fixed?

I do have PCIE Xonar card. I guess I can try use it, enable PCIE NPM and see if disabled onboard audio makes any difference.

// edit: And so I did. Removed Realtek drivers, enabled PCIE NPM in bios and windows, installed Xonar.

Day 1 - nothing happened.

Day 2 - No usb/pc freeze issue. NVMe issue came back.

Day 3 - Still fine.

[STARRAIN_ROG]

Hi DragDay7,
I' afraid our tech team have tested the motherboard with Plextor M9PeY 256GB drive at hand but cannot reproduce the issues you mentioned.
Please try other NVME drives to cross check if the issue is with the motherboard or other devices.
If it is hard for you to cross check, please send RMA for further examination.
Thank you.

[DragDay7]

Hey STARRAIN,

Since last boot issue I've lowered gpu pcie gen to 4th and so far it boots every time just fine. Also I haven't got any freeze after disabling onboard audio (disabling PCIE NPM also stops freezing). I'll give it a couple days to make sure this is it. This is no longer valid.

Now 100pts question - how can I make sure my RMA goes smooth? I mean those issues are hard to reproduce. I've battled 3 months with my previous board to have it fixed. Do you have any tip or can you mark my SN somehow? I'd really appreciate your help here.

// edit: My pc just froze... oh well, I tried... so only disabling PCIE NPM helps with freezing. I'm giving up - RMA it is. I'm just hoping I won't have to wait 3 months again... I'm terrified to be honest - I need pc to do my work.

[STARRAIN_ROG]

Hi DragDay7,
The random issues are hard for reproducing.
Please describe the issues and occurring steps in detail when send RMA. It would help the motherboard examination in RMA.
There is no direct RMA process in some countries, so the RMA procedure would be longer via retailer.
Sorry for any inconvenience it may cause.

[owsianka]

Hi DragDay7

I have exactly the same issues, namely freezing PC and problems with USB ports. I've sent my motherboard (same as yours) to RMA, unfortunately ASUS said it's ok. 😞
Please send me a message or reply to this thread if your RMA will be handled in different way.

[DragDay7]

Hey owsianka,

We're on the same boat, my RMA got rejected and I'm in the middle of complain procedure. DM me @ discord DragDay7#9929 so we can chat.

[dejan_]

Did you end up solving this? I have the exact same issue with my z690 hero
Tried replacing all components but the motherboard, reinstalling windows, latest bios but issue is still there