CPU ASRock Fatal1ty AB350 Gaming-ITX/ac -- cold boot issue

[Kid_E]

Hello,

I've noticed that on my ASRock Fatal1ty AB350 mini-itx board, if I shut the PSU down, wait for 30s and the do a cold boot, my RAM is resetting to its nominal value and the XMP profile is not used. Also the boot takes a very long time (40s-60s) before actually initiating the boot process.

Once started, I can enter the BIOS, set the right RAM speed, load Windows, etc. As long as the PSU is not turned off, everything is saved properly.

What I observed is that while the RAM settings are gone, other settings are properly saved (ex : the boot discs order).

Could it be that the issue is due to the CR2032 battery ? If so, why the other settings are saved ? Are they some other storage that do not required the CR2032 to hold its data ?

I've also read from sellers who cell BIOS chips for this board that after installing the new chip, the system will take 40+ seconds to fully read the chip and save it in its own "system memory" usually powered by a coin battery.

This would also explain my issue if the coin cell is dead.

I'll anyway try a new coin cell and revert here as this issue seem quite frequent with this board as I can read on the Internet.
Will keep you posted.

Kid.

 

[Phuncz]

The need to replace the CR2032 battery on almost any motherboard is a standard troubleshooting solution when it has not been used for a while or due to age. Generally other settings should also be affected, so maybe the issue you have is related to RAM OC not working. Don't forget that most RAM uses "overclocking" profiles and especially Ryzen 1000 series and to a lesser extent Ryzen 2000 series are picky on RAM overclocking. The memory controller is on the CPU die, so it depends more on the generation of CPU than the motherboard chipset.
Usually Ryzen 1000 series was stable with DDR4-2933 speeds when using DDR4-3000 and DDR4-3200 rated DIMMs.

 

[Kid_E]

OK, today I checked the CR2032 with a voltmeter and it gave 0.06V.
Unfortunately, I only had "naked" CR2032 and will need to buy a small adapter to replace it.
So in the end, it seems that the battery is the root cause.
I've to say I was quite happy to see 0.06V on the Voltmeter.

 

[Kid_E]

ASRock sent me for free a new wired battery (nice gesture as my motherboard was not under warranty anymore).
I did not even have to pay shipping !
Replacing the battery solved me issue.