Like all motherboard manufacturers, ASRock has released new AM5 motherboards for AMD's latest chipset. New motherboards always come with instructions and covers to remove before first putting it together with the rest of your PC, but it looks like ASRock might've just taken it too far. A sticker covering the RAM slots seems to be messing up people's new AM5 ASRock motherboards, leaving them with no choice but to claim the warranty and get a replacement.

But what's happening exactly? And if you're affected, how can you get a refund?

What's Wrong With ASRock's AM5 Motherboards?

New X670E AM5 motherboards from ASRock had a first-boot behavior that could scare potential users. After fully setting them up with a Ryzen 7000 CPU, a new-gen graphics card, and DDR5 RAM, attempting to boot would result in a very lengthy initial POST. Depending on how many RAM sticks you have installed and their capacity, the first boot could take up 100 seconds if you have 32GB of RAM (16GB x 2) and a whopping 400 seconds if you have 128GB of RAM (32GB x 4).

To make users aware that it's an intended behavior rather than a sign that their motherboard was damaged and to show users where they should put RAM sticks to take full advantage of dual-channel memory, ASRock pasted a sticker over the RAM slots in the motherboard. It was supposed to be an easy-to-remove sticker that users could just take out without major issue—or at least, that's what ASRock intended.

The problem was that, in practice, that sticker wasn't easy to remove for many people. The sticker is rather poor-quality, and attempting to remove it improperly caused it to tear. This caused paper shreds to remain stuck to the RAM slots, essentially rendering them and the whole motherboard useless. Some users managed to get their motherboard to work after spending time removing the sticky remnants of the sticker, but for others, it essentially meant that their motherboard was as good as dead.

The long boot time issue was solved with a subsequent BIOS update, which is now shipping with newer batches of the motherboard. And frankly, there are better ways to educate people on what RAM slots to use than to put a massive sticker covering all the RAM slots. Because of that, newer batches of X670E ASRock motherboards are coming without that sticker.

But what happens if you already have one and the sticker has caused damage?

You Can Return Your Damaged AM5 ASRock Motherboard

Thankfully, ASRock is aware of the issue and recommends that users get replacements processed under warranty if the sticker didn't peel off properly during the initial setup. ASRock doesn't sell motherboards itself, though, so you can't get that replacement processed directly through the company.

Instead, you will have to get in touch with your retailer.

Of course, the process varies depending on your retailer. If you bought it at a store, just take the motherboard back to that store to get it replaced. And if you bought it through an online retailer, like Newegg, log into your account and either try to process the replacement through regular means or contact support if you're unable to do that. If you run into any problems while trying to get the replacement, you can bring up ASRock's notice about the issue.

RAM Stickers, Not Even Once

Putting a low-quality sticker over the RAM slots was asking for trouble. Luckily, ASRock is willing to give users a solution. New X670E motherboards from ASRock purchased from the time of publication shouldn't have this issue. If the ASRock RAM sticker issue has affected you, get yours replaced as soon as possible.