ASUS quietly changed their Q-Release Slim part on the new ROG Crosshair X870E Apex motherboard. They removed a metal bracket that users said scratched GPU PCIe connectors. Someone at Uniko's Hardware noticed this fix first. For months, computer fans complained about damage to expensive graphics cards after using this quick-release feature several times.
ASUS never officially announced this design change. The company knows about the problem but acted differently than before. Earlier, they called these scratches "typical wear-and-tear" that happens after removing cards more than 60 times. People first noticed this issue back in January 2025. Many users posted photos of scratched PCIe pins on Reddit and Bilibili as proof.
Different parts of ASUS handled this problem in totally different ways. The US branch said these scratches wouldn't hurt how cards work. But ASUS China gave upset customers new motherboards and store credit and promised a better design. This shows how Chinese buyers often receive better treatment than Western customers, who just hear "check your warranty."
GIGABYTE jumped at the chance to look better than ASUS. The AORUS Japan team made fun of ASUS by showing their EZ Latch Plus working perfectly through 100 test cycles without any GPU damage. They wanted everyone to see how much better their product worked compared to Q-Release Slim. ASUS fixed the hardware without calling it a recall, probably because most everyday computer users don't swap graphics cards very often anyway.
ASUS never officially announced this design change. The company knows about the problem but acted differently than before. Earlier, they called these scratches "typical wear-and-tear" that happens after removing cards more than 60 times. People first noticed this issue back in January 2025. Many users posted photos of scratched PCIe pins on Reddit and Bilibili as proof.
Different parts of ASUS handled this problem in totally different ways. The US branch said these scratches wouldn't hurt how cards work. But ASUS China gave upset customers new motherboards and store credit and promised a better design. This shows how Chinese buyers often receive better treatment than Western customers, who just hear "check your warranty."
GIGABYTE jumped at the chance to look better than ASUS. The AORUS Japan team made fun of ASUS by showing their EZ Latch Plus working perfectly through 100 test cycles without any GPU damage. They wanted everyone to see how much better their product worked compared to Q-Release Slim. ASUS fixed the hardware without calling it a recall, probably because most everyday computer users don't swap graphics cards very often anyway.
