A variant of Asus' Q-release system has been accused of grinding GPU contact pins and the thought is making my teeth hurt
Asus offers several alternative GPU-securing mechanisms as part of its Q-release system, and one has been accused of potentially damaging GPU contact pins.
If there's one internal PC component that has caused me repeated physical pain over my many years of DIY builds, it's the traditional GPU retainer clip. It's fiddly to get to with a beefy modern graphics card, and seems designed to produce sore fingertips and many curse words if used on the regular.
The solution to my issue is a quick-latch system that makes this fiddly work easier. Though as X user @9950pro highlights, a post on Bilibili says a latch design used on Asus Intel 800-series and AMD 800-series boards may risk damaging a GPU under repeated usage.
As demonstrated above, the quick-release system in question requires you to pull the far left of the card up first (the output socket side) which causes the card's body to push down on the retainer clip.
There's a slight bit of rotation of the pins in the socket as the card goes in and out, along with a fair bit of resistance against the contacts, which seems like it could potentially cause wear.
Our Nick has been using this exact release system on two Asus motherboards, and in his opinion, repeated usage could grind the contacts over time.
The mobo demonstrated above is the Asus ROG Strix B850-F Gaming Wifi, and while Nick has his reservations about the mechanism, he hasn't experienced any undue wear as of yet.
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In a screenshot posted later in the Bilibili thread, a user appears to have been speaking with an Asus representative regarding further contact over the issue. I've reached out to Asus for comment, and will update this story with any further information I receive.
It's worth noting that Asus uses multiple mechanisms with its Q-release motherboards, including this one demonstrated below, which releases the GPU in a more conventional manner.
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