X570 Crosshair VIII Dark Hero

Furious_Styles said:
The original owner may never have taken them off. I buy used stuff all the time with the plastic still on them.
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Hmm! I was thinking of picking a cheap 5900x (prices dropping all the time) and building a backup PC. So would you trust this mobo? Warranty still valid for another 2 years! or maybe just buy a 5600x and use it as an internet PC! Never again will I buy expensive mobo!!!!
 
professional loser said:
Hmm! I was thinking of picking a cheap 5900x (prices dropping all the time) and building a backup PC. So would you trust this mobo? or maybe just buy a 5600x and use it as an internet PC! Never again will I buy expensive mobo!!!!
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Agree with kirby, sell it. Just mention in the auction it's a fresh RMA from asus that looks new.
 
professional loser said:
Just an update, I had RMAed the Dark Hero due to the "Error 4d" and had transferred all the components to an MSI Tomahawk.
Now 1 month later I got a non-retail plain brown box in post back, it has a different serial number Dark Hero. It has all the plastic foils still stuck on the motherboard. Does that mean it is a brand-new Dark hero they sent me back?

Don't know if I should sell it or build a second system on it!
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Man, I feel like I dodged a bullet. I REALLY wanted that board but it was out of stock everywhere when I got my 5900X. I went with the MSI Tomahawk instead and so far it's been solid.

I agree with the others, SELL IT.
 
techie81 said:
Man, I feel like I dodged a bullet. I REALLY wanted that board but it was out of stock everywhere when I got my 5900X. I went with the MSI Tomahawk instead and so far it's been solid.

I agree with the others, SELL IT.
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Agree. I originally bought this board. Worked fine for about a week then refused to power up. I was able to return it to the and replaced it with the Tomahawk. That MB has been rock solid. After seeing the issues others have had with the Dark Hero I’ve lost faith with Asus quality control and will probably not consider them much in the future. I did like the Asus bios over the MSI’s but that’s about it.
 
I've had mine with basically no issues. Though it might have ate my 5950x, the 5700x I had laying around has been fine for my needs in the same board since.
 
Supercharged_Z06 said:
I agree with the others, SELL IT.
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I don't think anyone will buy it now (in Europe), and at what price?
I have spare power supply, case etc, I could just build a cheap internet PC with it. On amazon it still has 4.6 stars out of 5. So maybe we hear more from the unlucky ones? If it fails again, then my Dark Hero is still guranteed until 2024.
 
A new BIOS (non beta!) just dropped for the Dark Hero. Get it while it's hot!

Version 4501 Released: 2023/05/23 (20.83 MB)

ROG CROSSHAIR VIII DARK HERO BIOS 4501
1. Updated AGESA version to ComboV2PI 1.2.0.A
2. Mitigated potential security vulnerabilities for AMD Athlon™ processors and Ryzen™ processors
3. Improved system stability
 
Supercharged_Z06 said:
A new BIOS (non beta!) just dropped for the Dark Hero. Get it while it's hot!

Version 4501 Released: 2023/05/23 (20.83 MB)

ROG CROSSHAIR VIII DARK HERO BIOS 4501
1. Updated AGESA version to ComboV2PI 1.2.0.A
2. Mitigated potential security vulnerabilities for AMD Athlon™ processors and Ryzen™ processors
3. Improved system stability
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They dropped a new BIOS for the standard Hero as well. Probably going to do it for all the x570 boards I'd imagine.
 
A new BIOS just dropped for the Dark Hero. Get it while it's hot!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Version 4602 Released: 2023/08/23 (20.83 MB)

ROG CROSSHAIR VIII DARK HERO BIOS 4602
1. Recommended for vital update to mitigate potential security vulnerabilities
2. Improved system stability
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Not much info concerning what security vulnerabilities they are addressing, but improvements to system stability are always welcome I guess.
 
Supercharged_Z06 said:
A new BIOS just dropped for the Dark Hero. Get it while it's hot!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Version 4602 Released: 2023/08/23 (20.83 MB)

ROG CROSSHAIR VIII DARK HERO BIOS 4602
1. Recommended for vital update to mitigate potential security vulnerabilities
2. Improved system stability
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Not much info concerning what security vulnerabilities they are addressing, but improvements to system stability are always welcome I guess.
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This thread has the info for the vulnerability they are talking about.
https://hardforum.com/threads/amd-inception-vulnerability-affects-zen-3-and-4.2030064/
 
I would guess you'd have lower performance since the vulnerabilities are mitigated.
 
Getting ready to rebuild my secondary / NAS / server box with a 5950X, Asus Dark Hero, and 32GB of DDR4 (Gskill TridentZ Neo 3600mhz CL16). Given its going to be doing server-related things I was wondering about trying to pick up another 32GB kit of the same RAM to give a total of 64GB - will the system do well with all 4 slots populated or will it be more of an issue? I'm thinking of using the DynamicOC switcher if all works out to ensure it gets the best of both PBO for single/few core and manual for many/all core workloads which is a hallmark of the Dark Hero (and thanks to that is now present in higher end ROG X670E boards), but I wasn't going to try to push it as hard as possible for minimal gain or anything given its a secondary home server platform. Ideas?
 
RanceJustice said:
Getting ready to rebuild my secondary / NAS / server box with a 5950X, Asus Dark Hero, and 32GB of DDR4 (Gskill TridentZ Neo 3600mhz CL16). Given its going to be doing server-related things I was wondering about trying to pick up another 32GB kit of the same RAM to give a total of 64GB - will the system do well with all 4 slots populated or will it be more of an issue? I'm thinking of using the DynamicOC switcher if all works out to ensure it gets the best of both PBO for single/few core and manual for many/all core workloads which is a hallmark of the Dark Hero (and thanks to that is now present in higher end ROG X670E boards), but I wasn't going to try to push it as hard as possible for minimal gain or anything given its a secondary home server platform. Ideas?
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Well for server/NAS related things you should 100% get ECC RAM, but just my opinion there. I've had good luck with this 3200MHz Nemix RAM kit across multiple AM4 boards/CPUs and 3200MHz is more of a safe speed when you're talking 4 Dual Rank DIMM population on Zen 3. They sell smaller kits too. If you're lucky and have a strong IMC on your 5950X, you might be able to pull off 4 DR DIMMs at 3600MHz, but you likely might have to settle on 3466MHz/3200MHz. This is assuming you're keeping your Infinity Fabric and Memory at a 1:1 ratio, which you should anyway because if it takes dropping that to get 3600MHz you negate any speed benefit from the faster RAM.

In evaluating how much RAM you need for a home server/NAS, the first thing you should consider is: how many virtual machines do you plan on running, and how much RAM are you going to allocate to them? What OS will the host be using and how much RAM will it consume at peak? Is there a benefit to having more RAM for the amount of storage it has? 5950X is an absolute beast for a home server/NAS so you'll have no problem running absolutely tons of stuff on it and RAM will probably be the limiting factor. Depending on what you're doing 32GB could be enough, since you already have the kit you can start there and add more if necessary (unless you KNOW you're going hard on stuff that utilizes memory). One thing I recommend too, if you're using ZFS for your storage backend, throw as much RAM at it that you can afford because the ZFS ARC Cache will use it (but also free up when necessary).

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The board is over hyped imo. I mean, its a nice board for sure. But my B550XE is stronger in the memory department, and has better slot spacing. This board used to cost almost 700CAD at one time, I got mine for about 550CAD from Newegg.
 
freeagentt said:
The board is over hyped imo. I mean, its a nice board for sure. But my B550XE is stronger in the memory department, and has better slot spacing. This board used to cost almost 700CAD at one time, I got mine for about 550CAD from Newegg.
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You're absolutely right but many people forget this had a feature to allow switching between a static overclock and PBO settings based on socket power draw and it was pretty nice. At the time no other boards allowed that on Zen2.
 
lobstar said:
You're absolutely right but many people forget this had a feature to allow switching between a static overclock and PBO settings based on socket power draw and it was pretty nice. At the time no other boards allowed that on Zen2.
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I have it on this board, no need for it though..

In something heavy like Linpack Xtreme, using PPT/TDC/EDC, boost override, and my curve my 5900X runs at ~4550MHz. Best I can do with a static clock and that program is 4550MHz.. I boost up to 5150 as well on light stuff. DOCS is for people who havent figured out how to OC Zen 3 :D
 
Dopamin3 said:
Well for server/NAS related things you should 100% get ECC RAM, but just my opinion there. I've had good luck with this 3200MHz Nemix RAM kit across multiple AM4 boards/CPUs and 3200MHz is more of a safe speed when you're talking 4 Dual Rank DIMM population on Zen 3. They sell smaller kits too. If you're lucky and have a strong IMC on your 5950X, you might be able to pull off 4 DR DIMMs at 3600MHz, but you likely might have to settle on 3466MHz/3200MHz. This is assuming you're keeping your Infinity Fabric and Memory at a 1:1 ratio, which you should anyway because if it takes dropping that to get 3600MHz you negate any speed benefit from the faster RAM.

In evaluating how much RAM you need for a home server/NAS, the first thing you should consider is: how many virtual machines do you plan on running, and how much RAM are you going to allocate to them? What OS will the host be using and how much RAM will it consume at peak? Is there a benefit to having more RAM for the amount of storage it has? 5950X is an absolute beast for a home server/NAS so you'll have no problem running absolutely tons of stuff on it and RAM will probably be the limiting factor. Depending on what you're doing 32GB could be enough, since you already have the kit you can start there and add more if necessary (unless you KNOW you're going hard on stuff that utilizes memory). One thing I recommend too, if you're using ZFS for your storage backend, throw as much RAM at it that you can afford because the ZFS ARC Cache will use it (but also free up when necessary).

View attachment 596888
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I was starting from the RAM kit I currently have, but yeah ECC is definitely a feature I've considered but I don't know if its worthwhile for what is more or less a "home file server and experimental platform", but its a good case that if I was to buy entirely new RAM ECC may be worthwhile. Its been ages since I've used any ECC RAM in something that wasn't a full time pro server build that pretty much ran at stock speeds on a stock CPU - is it that ECC dual rank DIMMS are harder to push to 3600mhz or is that any dual rank? I remember reading that 3600mhz kits if you can do it is beneficial for overall performance as Zen3 "sweet spot", but perhaps thats outdated.

As far as virtual machines and whatnot, I don't yet know. The only task I know for certain is going to be NAS-type storage and running on a Linux OS most likely (I can't decide between BTRFS and ZFS for the storage, and though I'm kind of tempted to go TrueNAS for the polish and ease of use though at least at one point Rockstor was aiming for a Linux+BTFRS equivalent,, I am wondering if I'll just manually spin the whole thing up from an Arch / Endeavour install or the like. I'm actually not sure the state of ZFS on Linux these days vs BTRFS, its been awhile since I checked out either.), which it will be taking over for my long-beyond-its-service Core 2 Quad that is pretty much a file server with a couple Samba shares over a decade old! Aside from that, I'm looking at more hypotheticals - VMs, testbeds for development, running local self-hosted services like NextCloud, potential crypto or AI stuff depending etc... are all possibilities. I know that generally the hardware I have is significantly overkill, but I was just keeping my eyes open if say... someone on WTB/FS was selling another of the same RAM kit was I already have for a good deal but was't sure if it could handle 4 sticks at the same speed/performance as 2. Likewise, if someone ends up selling some great ECC RAM I can always expand there. But as far as I can tell, I can't think of anything that purely "needs" more than 32GB, but I'm sure in the future or in cases like you mention with ZFS there could be some benefit.

lobstar said:
You're absolutely right but many people forget this had a feature to allow switching between a static overclock and PBO settings based on socket power draw and it was pretty nice. At the time no other boards allowed that on Zen2.
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I've been a bit out of practice as I've not focused on seriously OCing since my X99 build that still performs surprisingly well given its age, but I picked up the Dark Hero in part because of the DynamicOC capability which was unique for its time (as well as the legacy of good performance and features I've had picking Asus ROG "named" boards on the high end). I also hear that its success meant that it has spread out more widely among Asus ROG X670E boards and have a Zen4 build in the works as well.

I'm not planning on pushing it as absolute hard as possible given this is a secondary/server build, so I'll be accepting of a more modest OC for stability's sake, but I'd still like to get the most out of the components (boosting high as reasonable for single/few core workloads as well as many/all core, as needed) so I can't imagine leaving them at stock either. If it turns out that DynamicOC isn't necessary (I've been told there's a significant diminishing returns situation in some cases with Zen3 OC where manually tweaking gets you only a couple percentage improvement over just setting PBO with the proper parameters, but I've also been told that there's a lot of performance that can be left on the table and that DynamicOC , a few manual tweaks to the CPU/Mobo/RAM setting can have a major benefit so I guess its situational? ) that's okay too, but I'm definitely glad to have the option.
 
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I upgraded to the newest BIOS 4805. It flashed ok and I restored all my settings. Everything works fine accept I have one LED lit up under the IO panel that should be off. I have Aura set to always off. Anyone else have a similar experience?
 
Figures they shot another BIOS out ....I had just recently updated to 4702....LoL. I might give 4805 a try this weekend....I'll let you know if I have the same issue.
 
I had to update my board a week or so ago since something happened one night after Windows 11 rebooted after doing an update.
PC wouldn't post and the board had an F3 error Code.
Started getting this code and LED's after flashing but still no GPU output and POST,
IMG_6913.JPGIMG_6912.JPG
I then ran the PC without a GPU and then with it, and now shows AA when the machine posts and boots up.
IMG_6978.JPG
 
uninstall the gpu drivers
DDU the gpu drivers
reflash the bios to the latest
install the latest gpu drivers
 
Well I did the flash/update to 4805 just a bit ago. I didn't appear to have any issues. I am seeing the AA when my board posts as well. I honestly can't remember if that's the default normal status state or not...
 
What really needs to happen are benchmark tests, including real video games and AI processing, that compare BIOS version 4006 to the latest version, and see if/when any performance drops occur due to a BIOS revision, perhaps something security related.
 
Xerack said:
Well I did the flash/update to 4805 just a bit ago. I didn't appear to have any issues. I am seeing the AA when my board posts as well. I honestly can't remember if that's the default normal status state or not...
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before I updated it would show 36 or another number depending on if I powered on from cold or from sleep.
I just did the latest BIOS update and it still shows AA. but now there isn't a white LED on under the segments like in the above picture I uploaded.
Also, after the update and during the first POST, the BIOS did a firmware update to the LED's, not sure if that meant the status LED's or the ROG motherboard logo LED's.
 
Zepher said:
before I updated it would show 36 or another number depending on if I powered on from cold or from sleep.
I just did the latest BIOS update and it still shows AA. but now there isn't a white LED on under the segments like in the above picture I uploaded.
Also, after the update and during the first POST, the BIOS did a firmware update to the LED's, not sure if that meant the status LED's or the ROG motherboard logo LED's.
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All the codes are listed in the manual and what they mean. Not updated to 4805 yet as I usually like others to be the guinea pigs, but if it starts to retrain memory then post might take a while. Showing AA isn't abnormal after initialization, but what code it shows will depend on your bios settings.
 
Yep, I knew the codes are in the manual. I just didn't remember which was normally showing before I updated the bios. I'm usually late to the game on updating as well....I just figured I would go back if this one was acting strange.

In any event, the code is now showing 40 after being off for a few hours.

40 - System is waking up from the S4 sleep state.

whereas before it was AA

AA - System has transitioned into ACPI mode. Interrupt controller is in APIC mode.
 
Hi folks, I need some help and advice. I cleaned my PC out today (compressed air, vacuumed the filters, etc) and went to install an m.2 nvme drive in the bottom slot today. I got everything reassembled but the PC will not boot. Inside the PC, the start button and ROG logos are illuminated but no Q codes. Here is what I’ve tried:

1. Removed the drive - no difference.
2. Tried booting with the Start button on the board - no difference.
3. Tried the reset, retry, and safe buttons - no difference.
4. Cleared the CMOS - no difference.

I don’t know what to do next. I’ve had the system for 3 years and it has been great until today. I tried resetting the power cables and make sure cards, cpu, etc were seated and no dice. When I installed the SSD, the computer was completelt unplugged from the wall but I did drop the screw a few times onto the board while trying to secure the SSD - I doubt that it would’ve shorted anything about with just the CMOS battery live, right?


SPECS: 5950x, 64 GB RAM, RTX 3080, several SSDs


I’m leaning towards the board being dead, so that puts me in a dilemma if you folks agree with my assessment. X570 boards are getting harder to find, but my local Microcenter actually seems to have a few Dark Hero boards in stock. It’s an expensive board but probably the lowest risk replacement. I had not planned on upgrading this PC for 1-2 years so I’m not prepared to build a new PC at this time as it would cost 2-3x the cost of a Dark Hero replacement.
 
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IndyColtsFan said:
Hi folks, I need some help and advice. I cleaned my PC out today (compressed air, vacuumed the filters, etc) and went to install an m.2 nvme drive in the bottom slot today. I got everything reassembled but the PC will not boot. Inside the PC, the start button and ROG logos are illuminated but no Q codes. Here is what I’ve tried:

1. Removed the drive - no difference.
2. Tried booting with the Start button on the board - no difference.
3. Tried the reset, retry, and safe buttons - no difference.
4. Cleared the CMOS - no difference.

I don’t know what to do next. I’ve had the system for 3 years and it has been great until today. I tried resetting the power cables and make sure cards, cpu, etc were seated and no dice. When I installed the SSD, the computer was completelt unplugged from the wall but I did drop the screw a few times onto the board while trying to secure the SSD - I doubt that it would’ve shorted anything about with just the CMOS battery live, right?


SPECS: 5950x, 64 GB RAM, RTX 3080, several SSDs


I’m leaning towards the board being dead, so that puts me in a dilemma if you folks agree with my assessment. X570 boards are getting harder to find, but my local Microcenter actually seems to have a few Dark Hero boards in stock. It’s an expensive board but probably the lowest risk replacement. I had not planned on upgrading this PC for 1-2 years so I’m not prepared to build a new PC at this time as it would cost 2-3x the cost of a Dark Hero replacement.
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Try doing the BIOS update with the BIOS button on the back of the motherboard and see if it will eventually POST.
Or try this, pull out the GPU, power on the system for a few minutes, power it down by holding the power button, unplug the power from the wall, hold down the power button for a few seconds, install the GPU and plug the machine in and turn it on.
 
Zepher said:
Try doing the BIOS update with the BIOS button on the back of the motherboard and see if it will eventually POST.
Or try this, pull out the GPU, power on the system for a few minutes, power it down by holding the power button, unplug the power from the wall, hold down the power button for a few seconds, install the GPU and plug the machine in and turn it on.
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Yes, I did the bios flashback earlier this evening and it did not fix the issue. I was going to try a different GPU tomorrow, as my patience ran out today.
 
IndyColtsFan said:
Yes, I did the bios flashback earlier this evening and it did not fix the issue. I was going to try a different GPU tomorrow, as my patience ran out today.
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try the removing of the gpu I mentioned, it worked for me a few weeks ago when I had a post issue.
 
Zepher said:
try the removing of the gpu I mentioned, it worked for me a few weeks ago when I had a post issue.
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The issue is that the machine isn’t really “powering on” - if I plug it in and turn the PSU on, I do see the start button on the motherboard and rog bling turn on but that is as far as it gets. Pressing the motherboard start button has no effect. And yes, I did remove the front panel connector as part of my troubleshooting because I read somewhere that the board can have issues with it but it didn’t make any difference.

The GPU is out and I’ve applied power and letting it sit. Still leaning towards a bad board. It’s possible that when I was installing the M.2 that I hit a trace or something as my hands can be unsteady at times. I suppose it could also be the PSU but the board is getting some power for sure. I’m not hearing any PSU fan, which I do think is odd. I do have another PSU I could possibly try tonight but after that, it’s probably new board time.
 
IndyColtsFan said:
The issue is that the machine isn’t really “powering on” - if I plug it in and turn the PSU on, I do see the start button on the motherboard and rog bling turn on but that is as far as it gets. Pressing the motherboard start button has no effect. And yes, I did remove the front panel connector as part of my troubleshooting because I read somewhere that the board can have issues with it but it didn’t make any difference.

The GPU is out and I’ve applied power and letting it sit. Still leaning towards a bad board. It’s possible that when I was installing the M.2 that I hit a trace or something as my hands can be unsteady at times. I suppose it could also be the PSU but the board is getting some power for sure. I’m not hearing any PSU fan, which I do think is odd. I do have another PSU I could possibly try tonight but after that, it’s probably new board time.
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Do the paperclip method for your current PSU, if it turns off/on by using the switch then I'd say it's a very good chance the mobo is defective.
 
IndyColtsFan said:
It’s possible that when I was installing the M.2 that I hit a trace or something as my hands can be unsteady at times.
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I did that with my Strix XE. It is the only reason why I have this board. In a few ways it was better than this DH. It was the B550 DH lol.

Sad face.
 
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