I agree that it doesn't make sense. But I turned off monitoring for the ASUS WMI and the issue was fixed.
EDIT1:
for reference, read bug #2:
https://rog.asus.com/forum/showthread.php?112159-2-Bios-Bugs-with-CROSSHAIR-VI-HERO
I'm not sure if this is the place to be posting this, but I have contacted ASUS in an effort to resolve this, so here goes anyway.
Not too long ago I updated my BIOS (MOBO is prime x470 pro) to get support for a new 5600x. I haven't used HWINFO up until that point either. What followed after...