Friday, January 24th 2025

Reports Suggest ASUS Quick Release System Inflicting Physical Damage on GPU PCIe Interfaces

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T0@st
 Discuss (37 Comments)
HXL/9550pro and HardwareLuxx's Andreas Schilling shared evidence of the ASUS PCIe Q-Release Slim—the manufacturer's latest ejection mechanism—causing damage to graphics card PCIe connectors. Recent feedback suggests that repeated usage can scrape or grind off material present on a card's interface. HXL gathered critiques from multiple sources (owners of Intel 800 and AMD 800 series boards), and linked a relevant Bilibili video. The footage presents a damaged GALAX RTX 4070 Ti HOF OC LAB model, following sixty quick release cycles—paired with a ROG Strix B850-A Gaming Wi-Fi S motherboard. Tony Wu, ASUS China's general manager, eventually weighed in on community discussions—stating that he will investigate this matter and report back with his findings.

Schilling expressed similar frustrations—his chosen platform is producing unwanted results: "I'm not happy with the solution either. We use the Strix X870E-E Gaming for testing the graphics cards. So I have had to remove graphics cards from the slot a few dozen times. This didn't always go smoothly and very often the (GeForce RTX 5090) card got stuck in the slot. First damage visible." Press outlets have picked up on the recent surge in Q-Release Slim user feedback—several publications have gathered additional examples of the new mechanism inflicting damage on a variety of graphics card models.
UNIKO's Hardware added their two cents, after analyzing HXL's posts: "I still don't think the scratches would affect the operation of a graphics card. The golden pads matter, based on what I have seen in the repair videos on Bilibili. For PCB/golden finger cracks, technicians usually use glue with UV light to fill and shape the gap. The messed up part would be the PCB layer of 12 V somehow making contact with the ground layer—then it would be the end for said card. However, I don't dare to say the same for Gen 5 cards—as signal stuff is just the next level."


ROG Global: "The PCIe Slot Q-Release Slim is one of the latest ASUS DIY-friendly innovations. With this mechanism, users will not need to release a tricky latch or even press a button to release their graphics card from the slot. Simply tilt the card toward the latching mechanism to automatically unlock it from the PCIe slot. This makes upgrades and maintenance easier than ever before."
Sources: Bilibili Video, HXL/9550pro Tweet, Andreas Schilling Tweet, VideoCardz, Tom's Hardware, Wccftech, ITHome

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37 Comments on Reports Suggest ASUS Quick Release System Inflicting Physical Damage on GPU PCIe Interfaces

#1
tpuuser256
way to halve the resale value of the 5090
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#2
Assimilator
Why am I unsurprised that ASUS was able to botch a simple mechanical system?
Posted on Reply
#3
TumbleGeorge
Since it's official, there's no way Asus can get out of the RMA by claiming it was damage due to user error, right? Right?
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#4
bonehead123
AssimilatorWhy am I unsurprised that ASUS was able to botch a simple mechanical system?
Yep, leave it to AsSus to screw up something as simple as a latch release.....and they've been in the pc parts biz for how long ? :D

Next headline incoming: AsSus announces their fix 'em up solution for damaged GPU's....and it's only $399.99 !!!!!!!!!
Posted on Reply
#5
Assimilator
bonehead123Yep, leave it to AsSus to screw up something as simple as a latch release.....and they've been in the pc parts biz for how long ? :D

Next headline incoming: AsSus announces their fix 'em up solution for damaged GPU's....and it's only $399.99 !!!!!!!!!
The sad thing is, I can actually see them doing that.
The sadder thing is, I can see people buying it.
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#6
Octavean
TumbleGeorgeSince it's official, there's no way Asus can get out of the RMA by claiming it was damage due to user error, right? Right?
Nah, when you RMA the board they'll just claim the motherboard was damaged in some other way due to user error,.......and charge you for that :rolleyes:
Posted on Reply
#7
TheDeeGee
bonehead123Yep, leave it to AsSus to screw up something as simple as a latch release.....and they've been in the pc parts biz for how long ? :D

Next headline incoming: AsSus announces their fix 'em up solution for damaged GPU's....and it's only $399.99 !!!!!!!!!
Or automatically install armory crate because it's enabled in the BIOS and bricks your OS because it can't be fully uninstalled.

ASUS won't get past my doorstep again.
Posted on Reply
#8
Dragokar
Well who could imagine or even test that a piece of metal will damage a PCB over time :D
Posted on Reply
#9
Niceumemu
Feel bad for everyone that'll have to pull their systems apart to mail their mobos back to ASUS
Hope they address this properly and not like all their other previous warranty and such issues
Posted on Reply
#10
csendesmark
Fuck
, my board has Q-Release Slim :(
AssimilatorThe sadder thing is, I can see people buying it.
I did not know about this when I bough.
Posted on Reply
#11
bonehead123
TheDeeGeeinstall armory crate
Oh yea, that's the ticket, it'll fix E*V*E*R*Y*T*H*I*N*G, hahahahaha :roll:

n.O.t........
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#12
Gmr_Chick
Oh lawd...I've got the X670E-A Strix board. Fingers crossed. Then again, I don't swap cards frequently like a reviewer would. Still makes me nervous though.

And yes, Armoury Crate sucks a fatty. That, and if I ever decide to go back to my X670E Aorus Master, I know I'll never be able to purge that damn "suite" from my rig.
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#13
katzi
This will 100% be intentional, so they can sell you a new GPU.
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#14
Fungi
Gmr_ChickOh lawd...I've got the X670E-A Strix board. Fingers crossed. Then again, I don't swap cards frequently like a reviewer would. Still makes me nervous though.

And yes, Armoury Crate sucks a fatty. That, and if I ever decide to go back to my X670E Aorus Master, I know I'll never be able to purge that damn "suite" from my rig.
I would contact support asking for an equivalent replacement, or a fixed version later. Nothing to lose :cool:
Posted on Reply
#15
ypsylon
Thank you for confirming my suspicions when I first looked over Asus' WRX90 which has same idea. I was like: how removing heavy, oversized VGA by putting most pressure on the weakest part of PCB can be good. It has to break one day and it didn't took that much time to prove it.
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#16
Octavean
This is why we can’t have nice things. Thanks Asus!
Posted on Reply
#17
MaMoo
katziThis will 100% be intentional, so they can sell you a new GPU.
So they can deny your otherwise legitimate GPU RMA.
Posted on Reply
#18
chrcoluk
How would you remove a GPU where there is no room to tilt it? have seen cases where they right up to something with barely a gap.
Posted on Reply
#19
The Stilt
Gmr_ChickOh lawd...I've got the X670E-A Strix board.
Even if the alledged issue ends up being true, it only affects the newest iteration ("Q-Release Slim") of ASUS quick release mechanism. There are at least two prior versions of the Q-Release mechanism, both of these featuring a physical button. As long as you have a physical button that actuates the PCIe slot latch you're fine.
Posted on Reply
#20
DigitalDude
Who puts and takes out the GPU 60 times!! What would happen if it was done 60 times the normal way?

I've taken out my GPU and put in back like 6 times in 6 years :shrug:
Posted on Reply
#21
Beermotor
Not shown in the article: this guy reinserted the card into the slot a few dozen times and is complaining about the mechanism scratching the card.

Posted on Reply
#22
Niceumemu
DigitalDudeWho puts and takes out the GPU 60 times!! What would happen if it was done 60 times the normal way?

I've taken out my GPU and put in back like 6 times in 6 years :shrug:
I don't understand this viewpoint of defending ASUS because this is an irregular use case or different from your use case. There is no harm in bringing this issue up and having ASUS create a fix to anybody but shareholders (and as a consumer you shouldn't care about them before your own interests). Furthermore, this type of problem could easily show up after only a couple of uses as it's reported that the card was difficult to remove due to the design and perhaps that was the cause of the damage, not the repeated uses.

There's also the major issue that it isn't the mobo being damaged but the GPU, have fun trying to get warranty coverage on the GPU when it's a different item causing damage to it - the mobo's warranty doesn't cover other items that it damages.
BeermotorNot shown in the article: this guy reinserted the card into the slot a few dozen times and is complaining about the mechanism scratching the card.

?? "So I have had to remove graphics cards from the slot a few dozen times. This didn't always go smoothly and very often the (GeForce RTX 5090) card got stuck in the slot."
Posted on Reply
#23
kapone32
So I recently got a new MB. I had the X670E E Strix. That uses a button to release the lock. I could see how it might fail to open fully. Think of it like the Gas tank lever in your vehicle. It is essentially the same thing. Anyway my new MB As Rock X870E has a more robust mechanism where you slide the lever to release the GPU. It seems much better before I even read this thread.
Posted on Reply
#24
R-T-B
DigitalDudeWho puts and takes out the GPU 60 times!!
Reviewers.
Posted on Reply
#25
trsttte
chrcolukHow would you remove a GPU where there is no room to tilt it? have seen cases where they right up to something with barely a gap.
It's almost like huge GPU's the PCIe standard was never designed for are not a good idea ;)
NiceumemuI don't understand this viewpoint of defending ASUS because this is an irregular use case or different from your use case.
Any connector has a limited number of cycles before it fails, it can be in the dozens or the thousands but it will fail eventually. I don't know what's the number for a PCIe, given it's made of bare traces on a pcb I would say it's not that high.

Does ASUS mechanism accelerate the connector degradation? It's a legitimate question, but so is to question if the damage was done by heavier use than normal.

edit: the PCI Express Card Electromechanical Specification revision 3.0 from 2013 specifies 50 mating cycles. Not surprising to see damage after 60 cycles then regardless of the ASUS mechanism
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