ASUS Confirms ROG Ally May Cause MicroSD Card To Fail Due To Heat, Fix Is On The Way
ASUS Confirms ROG Ally May Cause MicroSD Card To Fail Due To Heat, Fix Is On The Way
Users has complained that MicroSD cards in their ROG Ally has either degraded performance or outright failed as the card was exposed to intense heat, and upon investigation by ASUS, the company has verified the problem and is currently working on an update to solve the issue. RMA programs are also opened for Ally owners to fix their unit’s SD card reader in their respective regions.
It was found that due to the slot’s placement on the motherboard, which sits in very close proximity (we’re talking 3mm at most) to the VRM components that may produce significant heat as it delivers power to the AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme APU, a chip that makes the ROG Ally especially fast against Valve’s Steam Deck. While virtually all SD cards out there are designed to withstand temperatures as high as 85°C, we’ve seen VRMs that get hotter than that when given inadequate cooling, especially during high load scenarios.
This video from CPPC TEK (posted June 25th) explains the issue in detail:
ASUS’s workaround, which is in line with what the YouTube user suggests, is to modify the fan curve to increase cooling over VRM/microSD regions, which comes at a cost of noise. In the statement posted on ROG Forums, the company is assuring that the fix is on the way as they try to minimize the impact of fan noise while keeping thermals in check.
“To alleviate the issue, we will be releasing an update that further fine-tunes the default and minimum fan speeds on the device to improve reliability while keeping fan noise in check, as we know this is a concern for many of you,” the statement reads.
A small price to pay, then – should you face any issues with the microSD card (and slot) as a result of excessive heat, be sure to contact your nearest ASUS service center to sort out the RMA and repair process as needed.
Source: Tom’s Hardware
Pokdepinion: Cramming all the hardware into something this tiny is a challenge – it’s bound to have teething issues, but the learnings should apply into the successor if there is one.
