RMA my ASUS m5a87 or buy a new one?

songorocosongo

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Nov 6, 2011
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I bought this motherboard http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131872 on cybermonday/2011. It has always worked perfectly until this past 2 months. I had a problem when suddenly the display would disappear and from thinking it could be the RAM I took it out of the case and started doing testings. What I found was that my graphics card was not making contact with the slot, it only worked on a specific position. I tried with an old GTX 210 I had laying around and it never worked(though it worked perfectly on my brothers PC a few months ago). Also my brothers HD6850 seemed to work because it's lighter and the weight didn't push it down like my GTX 660.

So to solve the problem I put a little box between the GPU and the PSU and it was able to hald it in place and I was able to use it. But this week the problems started again and now no matter the position in which I try to put the GPU it doesn't work. The fan never turns. Same with the GTX 210.

Now I feel I've got only two options:
a) RMA
b)buy new one

I tried calling ASUS and hour ago and no real person talked to me ever. I don't know if that's a valid excuse for a RMA, and in the back where the heatsink backplate goes it has 3 little scratches from tightening the plate too much.

I have Amazon PRIME so I can buy this one with free shipping, but it has to be soon because last week it was ~$15 more
GIGABYTE GA-970A-D3 AM3+ AMD 970 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard
http://www.amazon.com/GIGABYTE-GA-970A-D3-AM3-SATA-Motherboard/dp/B0056G10WK/ref=sr_1_16?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1368298883&sr=1-16&keywords=am3%2B+motherboard

or a cheaper one because I don't make use of USB3.0, OC, more than two RAM slots, and as of now I don't have/need SLi. Also I just need one more PCI slot for the wireless adapter. So I don't a high end mobo.
 
Solution
Try for the RMA, call the helpline and see. ASUS employees are generally helpful. If for some reason the RMA does not push through, you can always get a new one.

sharingan5

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RMA it, or at least try. Why waste more money when you can get a replacement for free? Also, are you sure the problem is with the motherboard? It can be the Graphics Card, try it in an other PC to be sure, or in the other PCI-E slot.
 

songorocosongo

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The graphics card worked without problems on my brother system. My motherboard has only one PCI-E slot :(
Tried going to the support by chat but they don't work on weekends. And I just read the warranty is for 3 years so I'm in the safety margin.
 

songorocosongo

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I just called and it has been the best customer service I've encounter ever. They're gonna call me again tomorrow to talk specifics about how it's going to be shipped because I live in Puerto Rico. But in any case they can send it to a family member I have in Indiana so it'll work out perfectly.