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."