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Asus China compensates and assists owners with damaged GPUs due to PCIe Q-Release Slim mechanism — confirms revision on the way
Asus China customer support is pulling out all the stops to care for victims affected by PCIe damage from its new Q-Release Slim mechanism. A screenshot of a tech support group chat shared by HXL on X allegedly reveals the measures that Asus China has taken to help users with the issue. Asus China has also confirmed that it will revise the design of its Q-Release Slim mechanism.
Asus China compensates the affected owners with a 200RMB ($27) gift card, complete motherboard replacement, and additional compensation or warranty assistance required for damaged graphics cards.
Asus is going the extra mile to ensure that damages from its new Q-Release Slim mechanism are not out of hand. No damage has been reported to Asus' Q-Release Slim-equipped motherboards; only damage associated with graphics cards slotted into Asus' Q-Release Slim PCIe slots has been reported.
The board maker is providing motherboard replacements for anyone who owns an Asus motherboard equipped with its latest generation PCIe Q-Release Slim connector (not to be confused with its previous generation Q-Release mechanism — that excludes the "Slim" moniker). Qualifying boards range from Z790, B860, Z890, B850 and X870 series motherboards consisting of the following:
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| ROG Crosshair X870E Hero | ROG Strix B850-E Gaming WiFi | ROG Maximus Z890 Extreme | ROG Strix B860-F Gaming WiFI |
| ROG Strix X870E-E Gaming WiFi | ROG Strix B850-F Gaming WiFi | ROG Maximus Z890 Apex | ROG Strix B860-A Gaming WiFi S |
| ROG Strix X870-F Gaming WiFi | ROG Strix B850-A Gaming WiFi S | ROG Maximus Z890 Hero | ROG Strix B860-G Gaming WiFi-S |
| ROG Strix X870-A Gaming WiFi | ROG Strix B850-I Gaming WiFi | ROG Maximus Z890 Hero BTF | ROG Strix B860-I Gaming WiFi |
| ROG Strix X870-I Gaming WiFi | Row 4 - Cell 1 | ROG Strix Z890-E Gaming WiFi | ROG Maximus Z790 Hero BTF |
| ProArt X870E-Creator WiFi | Row 5 - Cell 1 | ROG Strix Z890-F Gaming WiFi | Row 5 - Cell 3 |
| Row 6 - Cell 0 | Row 6 - Cell 1 | ROG Strix Z890-A Gaming WiFi S | Row 6 - Cell 3 |
| Row 7 - Cell 0 | Row 7 - Cell 1 | ROG Strix Z890-I Gaming WiFi | Row 7 - Cell 3 |
| Row 8 - Cell 0 | Row 8 - Cell 1 | ROG Strix Z890-H Gaming WiFi S | Row 8 - Cell 3 |
| Row 9 - Cell 0 | Row 9 - Cell 1 | TUF Gaming Z890-Pro WiFi | Row 9 - Cell 3 |
| Row 10 - Cell 0 | Row 10 - Cell 1 | ProArt Z890-Creator WiFi | Row 10 - Cell 3 |
The homebrewed Asus feature has come under scrutiny after user reports revealed that the new mechanism could damage the host graphics card's PCIe finger, especially when the same graphics card is uninstalled and reinstalled many times from the same slot. The internal peg responsible for locking and unlocking the PCIe slot can allegedly scrape off the sides of a graphics card's PCIe connector (but not the gold connecting material itself).
Asus China also addressed GPU warranty concerns raised by PCIe finger damage to graphics cards caused by its Q-Release Slim mechanism on its latest motherboards. According to the board partners it has already communicated with, graphics card warranties should remain intact even if damage occurs on the PCIe finger.
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| Is there any warranty treatment for the wear of the PCB edge on the PCIe side of the graphics card? | Goldfinger wear: 1. Priority repair, free card replacement if the repair failsPCB wear only: 1. Priority repair, free card replacement if the repair fails | Products damaged by accidents, misuse or any other resistable natural factors, such as scratches ont he product surface burnt goldfingers, lost electronic components, deformed PCB boards, collision scratches, etc., are not covered by the warranty. The graphics card needs to be sent to the repair center before a solution can be given. | I400 end does not givea ny solution, the graphics card needs to be sent to the repair center before a solution can be given. | Goldfinger wear: 1. Priority repair, free card replacement if the repair fails.PCB wear only: 1. Priority repair, free card replacement if the repair fails. |
Asus China didn't provide a timeline for the revised Q-Release Slim mechanism. It's safe to assume that the update will be available for the list of affected motherboards.
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Asus previously responded to the Q-Release Slim issue, claiming that its Q-Release Slim connector is not responsible for damaged graphics cards, according to internal testing and evaluation it conducted.
Aaron Klotz is a contributing writer for Tom’s Hardware, covering news related to computer hardware such as CPUs, and graphics cards.
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