At first, I thought I was dealing with a defective board. The RAM slots A1 and A2 wouldn't allow my PC to post when any RAM was placed in them, and I was honestly about to return the board. However, something felt off, so I decided to double-check everything. After carefully inspecting the motherboard again, I noticed a tiny piece of plastic at the very top of the CPU socket, covering some pins. They were so small that I completely missed them the first time I took everything apart.Once I removed that plastic piece, the board worked perfectly! It posted without any issues, and my system is running great now.So, while the initial experience was frustrating, I’m glad I took the time to troubleshoot. The board itself is solid, and I’m happy with my purchase. If you run into a similar issue, make sure to check the CPU socket thoroughly. Highly recommend the MSI Z690-A, especially for the price of a renewed unit. Just keep that little detail in mind!