ASUS M32CD Desktop (Core i5, 8GB, 1TB, Windows 10) for $409.99 + FS @Amazon

[J_IVAN]

Amazon is offering the Asus M32CD Intel Skylake Core i5 2.7GHz Desktop PC, model no. M32CD-US003T, for $409.99 with free shipping:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B014QVM2KO

Powered by the Skylake Intel Core i5-6400 and Intel Integrated graphics to deliver incredible performance with Windows 10. Features include an Intel Core i5-6400 2.7GHz Skylake quad-core processor, 8GB RAM, 1TB 7200 rpm hard drive, 802.11ac wireless, DVD burner, Gigabit Ethernet, Bluetooth 4.0, and Windows 10.

 

[fiveolddogs]

I picked one up for my sister last week when it was $20 more expensive. I think this is a great deal. One caveat: the ram is DDR3.

 

[sigmanova]

thanks OP! think I'll pick one up!

fwiw- there is a warranty sticker at the back that must be removed if you plan on adding and or upgrading components that will render the warranty void. I plan to use this as an office comp and since windows 10 by itself is $100 this is a great deal.

 

[VirtualLarry]

there is a warranty sticker at the back that must be removed if you plan on adding and or upgrading components that will render the warranty void.

I can't believe that vendors are going back to the bad old days, and putting "warranty void if opened" stickers on friggen DESKTOP PCs.

How stupid can they be... a desktop PC is DESIGNED to be UPGRADED and REPAIRED.

This isn't Compaq circa 1990-1995, any more.

 

[qliveur]

I can't believe that vendors are going back to the bad old days, and putting "warranty void if opened" stickers on friggen DESKTOP PCs.

How stupid can they be... a desktop PC is DESIGNED to be UPGRADED and REPAIRED.

This isn't Compaq circa 1990-1995, any more.

Agreed, Larry. That's retarded.

 

[daveybrat]

Great starter system. F the warranty sticker. Break that side panel open and replace the power supply, install a decent GPU, and add an SSD. Killer system for the price.

 

[fralexandr]

http://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-r.../ref=cm_cr_pr_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B014QVM2KO

ASUS warranty coverage will not be voided when users do upgrade on their own or open the case, as long as the unit was returned in its original condition. As long as no physical damage will occur during the hardware upgrade, the warranty coverage will be honored.

for what it's worth the sticker on mine didn't explicitly say warranty would be void if removed. It said "DO NOT OPEN before reading Warranty Card."

bought one and put in a 128gb SSD as a boot drive to replace an athlon fx-62 pc.
FYI There's only space for 2 x 3.5" drives, somewhat annoying, since I wanted to move the old 500gb drive from the fx-62 pc. Now i have an extra 1TB drive (2015 Toshiba DT01ACA100) :S, although I suppose I could always just velcro in the SSD somewhere...

Also odd choice of video outputs: 1 HDMI & 1 VGA.
the PSU uses an 80mm fan, there's a non-stock? CPU fan and there are no case fans whatsoever.

drivers (couldn't find them at their website, got link from live chat with customer support)
http://www.asus.com/us/supportonly/M32CD/HelpDesk_download/

notes: the 11/06 bios 0504 is actually the 0501 found preinstalled. Somewhat weird, but before installing it, the bios would only list the SSD in the BOOT tab. After updating bios, it lists all devices correctly.
Also, the windows key is embedded in the bios.

I wonder if flashing the bios removes the embedded key... can't find anything online about it? edit: asus support says it won't remove the embedded key.

 

[sigmanova]

thank you fralexandr for the clarification. I was a little put off by some of the reviewers who mentioned that about the warranty sticker but that put me at ease. put in a new PS, add SSD, and a decent video card and this thing will rock!

putting an order for one now

 

[VirtualLarry]

Also odd choice of video outputs: 1 HDMI & 1 VGA.
the PSU uses an 80mm fan, there's a non-stock? CPU fan and there are no case fans whatsoever.

That would bother me slightly, if I were meaning to buy one and drop in a powerful GPU.

Edit: You sure about that? Look at the third picture down on Amazon, they show the rear of the chassis, and it clearly shows a fan through the rear fan grate.

 

[MadScientist]

Edit: You sure about that? Look at the third picture down on Amazon, they show the rear of the chassis, and it clearly shows a fan through the rear fan grate.

My neighbor just purchased this. It came with only the CPU fan. NO chassis fans. There's a pic of the inside of the computer by an Amazon reviewer that shows no chassis fans. See customer images on lower right: http://www.amazon.com/M32CD-Desktop-Windows-Keyboard-Mouse/dp/B014QVM2KO/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1448115476&sr=1-1&keywords=asus+desktop

Also a reference in a review dated 11/14/15:
"After verifying my machine was in good working order, I proceeded to break the seal and throw some upgrades in. They are as follows:
1. Samsung EVO 850 500GB SSD Drive.
2. Mushkin Enhanced ECO2 8GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3L 1600 (PC3L 12800) Desktop Memory Model 992031E
3. Fractal Design Silent Series R3 92mm Fan (The machine comes with no chassis fans, so I got this 3 pin fan to move some air. There is a 4 pin header on the motherboard if you want to get an RPM controllable PWM fan, but I didn't think it was necessary. There is also a spot on the front of the case to install another fan. (Only 1 header on the motherboard though)
4. 2 Additional SATA cables. I now have the SSD, the 1 TB drive it came with and a 2TB drive I had prior installed in the case)

This machine will also drive a 4K display at 30hz over the HDMI port. It works perfectly for my AMH 409U 40" 4k display for productivity work. Don't bother trying to play AAA or AA games without dropping in a discrete graphics card. If you desire to put in a graphics card, you will truly need an upgraded power supply."

 

[Lyfer]

Will this run a Gtx 960 out of the box?

 

[ions6669]

Will this run a Gtx 960 out of the box?

Recommended PSU: 400W for that video card.

This comes with a generic 300W PS so I wouldn't temp my fate.

 

[MadScientist]

The power supply is an AcBel HBA008-ZA1GT 350.

You will need more than this to run any decent graphics card.

 

[ions6669]

Don't let that "350" in the name fool you also, 350w PEAK for only 30secs. Total wattage is @ 286.4w or so as the photo shows.

A LOT of decent deals on 400,500 and 600w PSU for under $60 which will get you too the power you'll need.

 

[Skud]

I want to post a heads-up regarding this machine. I'm setting up one for a client and the first boot into Windows 10 went fine. After a few minutes the "ASUS Updater" popped announcing a BIOS update for BIOS version 0701. I didn't try very hard, but there didn't appear any way to cancel the update. I could only "confirm" the installation.

The update went through and then asked me to reboot. After that - nothing. Blank screen and the fans periodically spin up for a second. Even the power button is dead - holding it down does nothing and the only way to power off is to pull the plug.

I'm currently trying to figure out what motherboard is in this thing without breaking the warranty sticker on the side door. Hopefully it will lead me to the BIOS recovery procedure.

Interestingly, BIOS version 0701 is not available on ASUS's website.

Riley

 

[Thump553]

I can't believe that vendors are going back to the bad old days, and putting "warranty void if opened" stickers on friggen DESKTOP PCs.

How stupid can they be... a desktop PC is DESIGNED to be UPGRADED and REPAIRED.

This isn't Compaq circa 1990-1995, any more.

Excellent point-but it is the manufacturer's decision here. I bought an Asus i7 last Feb or so not knowing about this warranty sticker thing (not having seen one for a decade or more). If I had known I would have passed on Asus. As it is I'm using that warranty as an excuse not to buy upgrades, but my year is just about up.

 

[malabo]

Looks like a killer deal, if only I need one

 

[Skud]

I've spent the last hour or so trying to recover the BIOS with no success. The motherboard appears to be based off of their H110 chipset series and the part number on a sticker reads "H110-I/M32CD4/DP_MB". Interestingly, this would seem to indicate an ITX mainboard, but it's clearly mATX. There are no boards on their website which match this unit - so it appears to be a custom board for this desktop.

I can't tell if the board includes CrashFree BIOS support as the other similar boards do. Using this feature requires renaming the .CAP file to a filename specific to the board, but I can neither find the proper filename nor have I been successful at "guessing" the name. Additionally, there is no mainboard CD with recovery BIOS that comes with the system, so no help there.

I'm currently on hold with ASUS support. I don't have much faith they will be able to fix the issue over the phone. Hopefully it's still within the exchange date and doesn't have to go back to ASUS for repair.

Honestly, I still don't know what happened. This would only be the second time in 20 years I've experienced a BIOS update failure. The first being a Gigabyte 875P board many years ago.

Riley

 

[Skud]

OK, so long story short, DO NOT UPDATE THE BIOS!!

I just got off the phone with ASUS and they confirmed that the BIOS being offered through the ASUS update software is faulty and causes the system not to boot. Additionally, there is no way to recover the BIOS. The only option is to return the machine to the retailer for exchange or ASUS for repair.

I was advised from ASUS that if I exchanged the PC with the same to NOT do the BIOS update when it's offered. Apparently it was pulled from the support website, but not from the update app that offers it.

Honestly, they're going to have a lot of broken systems..

Riley

 

[Mike64]

http://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-r.../ref=cm_cr_pr_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B014QVM2KO

The comments under that review continued for quite a well, substantively ending with the one I quote below, posted on 12/9/2015. The first and last paragraphs of this excerpt (of an excerpt) from a string of emails between the poster and an Asus rep are the words of the Asus rep:

"Generally, we do not suggest you open case for device upgraded, as it may make the warranty to be invalid.
this is ASUS's warranty policy .
thanks."

"Wow, thanks for the speedy reply! I have to say though that your answer is very vague
and I can appreciate the reasoning behind that. I will be specific: My intent is to install
a GTX660ti GPU along with an Antec 450 watt PSU. I was a tech with Best buy for 5
years and currently work in the public sector. I will perform the upgrades on my bench
at the office utilizing an anti-static wrist strap.

Will this specifically void my son's warranty or is it handled based on what the ASUS
approved tech determines to be the cause of failure at the point a claim is made?"

"it's easy to understand .
if you open the case , the warranty will be invalid.
No matter whom do the upgrade operation .
thanks."

I didn't check it myself, but another poster mentions that Asus' website also states that opening the case will indeed void the warranty...

 

[DaveSimmons]

I can see a class action lawsuit in their future if they really do deny warranty coverage. I'm not a lawyer but I've read in my Holiday Inn guest booklet that such limitations are not legal.

 

[MadScientist]

This was a comment posted by an Asus rep in reply to an Amazon review. In one sentence the rep says that opening the computer will void the warranty, but in the next sentence he says if you upgrade the computer without physically damaging it they will honor the warranty. Isn't this an oxymoron? How do you upgrade the computer without opening it?

"I certainly understand your concern regarding the warranty policy for the product. You are correct, opening the unit will void warranty coverage. However, as long as the unit remains in its original condition after the hardware upgrade and without causing any physical damage, we will honor the warranty coverage. If you need further assistance with the product, please email me at cl-rodel@asus.com.

Thank you for choosing an ASUS product.

Regards,

Rodel
ASUS Customer Loyalty"

And I see a lot of negative reviews about this computer booting up to a black screen.

Several times my neighbor's Asus computer has booted up to a black login screen with just the mouse pointer. I found out that this is a common occurrence with Windows 10 and one of the causes is the video driver not loading properly. The login screen is still there but not visible. The solution is to press the CTRL key. This places the mouse cursor in the login pane. Then type in your password and press the Enter key.

After he updated the Intel 530 graphics driver to the latest version,15.40.10.64.4300, he has not had this problem. You can download the driver from here: downloadcenter.intel.com/download/25484/Intel-Graphics-Driver-for-Windows-7-8-1-10-15-40- Choose the win64_154010.4300.exe file.

 

[Thump553]

Good luck trying to get them to honor a warranty based on a posting from a low level. Asus will just claim he had no authority, etc.

I like my Asus desktop but they will be on the very bottom of my list when it comes to replacement time because of this undisclosed and frankly ridiculous restriction.

 

[BenJeremy]

If I was in the market for a new desktop, I think I'd pass on this as even a starter kit...

Voiding the warranty simply by opening it?

BIOS Updates that destroy the system?

New PSU required just to upgrade the video?

Seriously old school case with a top mounted PSU (bad airflow) and not friendly to SSDs?

Lots of hassle, unless you are happy with using this stock.

 

[Mike64]

it's really nice desktop according to configuration.

Not bad at all - my interest was definitely piqued enough to start looking into how upgradeable it would be, whereupon I saw the BS about opening the case voiding the warranty. Can't install an SSD, more RAM, or a even a video or other PCI/E card (in slots that are there for no other reason than to add stuff to your PC!) without voiding the warranty? You really have to wonder what they're trying to hide in there...