Gigabyte pokes fun at Asus’ GPU-scratching quick-release mechanism — undamaged GPU connector even after 100 insertions

screenshot of Gigabyte GPU Scratch Test
(Image credit: Aorus Japan / X)

Gigabyte posted a video on its X account showing a user removing and installing a GPU on its EZ Latch Plus-equipped Z890 Aorus Elite WiFi7 Ice motherboard a hundred times, displaying no damage to its PCIe pins. While the video demonstrates the company's EZ Latch Plus mechanism, it also takes a subtle jab at Asus' Q-Release Slim mechanism.

Last January, many users reported that Asus’s Q-Release Slim feature, which lets you remove GPUs just by twisting it by two degrees and then pulling it out, was damaging GPU PCIe connectors. Asus has already released a statement saying that the damage to the GPUs is cosmetic and doesn’t affect function or performance. The damage is seemingly cosmetic. Furthermore, the damage only starts to become noticeable when you remove and reinstall the GPU after several dozen times.

Asus called it a wear-and-tear issue due to “60 continuous insertions and removals.” Asus China says it will handle any issues that arise from the Q-Release Slim, and several users from China have received complete motherboard replacements, among other things. How the company handles the damaged GPUs outside of China remains unclear.

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Quick-release features are helpful for those who build and maintain their own PCs. As GPUs and other components become larger and larger, it’s getting much more difficult to access the latch or screw that secures add-in boards to the mainboard. Before Asus introduced the Q-Release Slim, it already had a push-button solution with Q-Release, which releases the latch on the PCIe slot that secures the card. Gigabyte’s EZ Latch Plus works similarly to Q-Release, where you need to press a button, and you can then just lift the GPU (or any other PCIe card) from the slot.

But even though this makes it far more convenient to remove GPUs from the motherboard, you still must reach into it to press the release button. This won’t be an issue if you have a relatively small, air-cooled card and no other big components. But if you have a giant RTX 4090 or RTX 5090 GPU (or maybe even two of them), plus a massive heat sink for your CPU (or perhaps even a hardline water-cooling system), reaching inside your PC to press the quick-release button without touching any other part or component of your PC might still be tricky.

Jowi Morales
Contributing Writer

Jowi Morales is a tech enthusiast with years of experience working in the industry. He’s been writing with several tech publications since 2021, where he’s been interested in tech hardware and consumer electronics.

  • tiredcrow
    Quick release: adding complexity and introducing damage risk for the sake of.....
    What.

    Who's reinserting a GPU 100 times or even 10? 5?

    Theres very few reasons to undock a GPU to many times, and I can't think of one that's a valid use case for a primary GPU consumer.
    Even in a datacenter I would expect them to sit for a long time and not constantly taken on and offline to swap out.
    Reply
  • Notton
    This is rich coming from Gigabyte.
    Red arrows on 30 and 40 series because the PCB's locking nub was poorly designed for the card weight.
    Reply
  • HardwiredWireless
    tiredcrow said:
    Quick release: adding complexity and introducing damage risk for the sake of.....
    What.

    Who's reinserting a GPU 100 times or even 10? 5?

    Theres very few reasons to undock a GPU to many times, and I can't think of one that's a valid use case for a primary GPU consumer.
    Even in a datacenter I would expect them to sit for a long time and not constantly taken on and offline to swap out.
    These systems actually remove complexity by eliminating the need to press the latch.
    Reply
  • diminishedfifth
    Oh no, reaching in the PC case to push the release button! How will I ever manage with these sausage fingers!?!!?
    What's next, telling us that bending over to tie our shoes is the most difficult thing?
    Reply
  • Sluggotg
    I like the Asus Push Button release. Very Handy. When I am dealing with the classic release tab, I usually use a Wooden Spoon handle. It fits and if it slips, it is unlikely to damage anything, (unlike a Something metallic).
    Reply
  • qwertymac93
    Sluggotg said:
    I like the Asus Push Button release. Very Handy. When I am dealing with the classic release tab, I usually use a Wooden Spoon handle. It fits and if it slips, it is unlikely to damage anything, (unlike a Something metallic).
    I've found the best thing to use is a paint stirring stick. You can often get them for free at hardware stores, they are made of soft wood that won't scratch or dent anything, they are flat and wide to register against the back of a GPU, and they are over a foot long so can easily reach over even the largest GPU. 😉
    Reply
  • HardwiredWireless
    diminishedfifth said:
    Oh no, reaching in the PC case to push the release button! How will I ever manage with these sausage fingers!?!!?
    What's next, telling us that bending over to tie our shoes is the most difficult thing?
    You laugh but I have a large Be Quiet air cooler on my CPU and a wide GPU and you have to fit your hand in between the CPU cooler and the GPU and press on that little tab to get the GPU out and when I was doing so on my computer in order to remove some spinning disc hard drives that are no longer used and unplug the SATA cables that plug in underneath the graphics card, I had to have my daughter come in because her hands are much smaller than mine and she was able to reach in and release the card for me because there was no way I could physically do it without trying to use a screwdriver 😱 or something (paint stir stick) which would have been the last resort.
    So yeah there is definitely a use case for this technology.
    Reply
  • HardwiredWireless
    diminishedfifth said:
    Oh no, reaching in the PC case to push the release button! How will I ever manage with these sausage fingers!?!!?
    What's next, telling us that bending over to tie our shoes is the most difficult thing?
    You wear shoes with laces still?
    Reply