The mechanism called Slim at ASUS mainboards briefly provided GPU worries.
Graphics cards have developed into large and massive components over the past generations. At the latest with the arrival of the RTX 4090, three slots and more are not uncommon, which in turn can lead to a (literally) heavier installation.
Mainboard manufacturers have come up with various solutions in response to simplify the installation and expansion of GPUs. At Asus, the mechanics have been called “Q-Release Slim” since the AM5 mainboards for Ryzen 9000.
- The expansion of the graphics card should take place without tools. According to Asus, it is enough to keep the mainboard on the spot with one hand, while the other raised the GPU from the left.
- The slim variant follows the regular »Q-Release«, Which needed an additional and a little further away push button for the expansion of a graphics card.
According to reports, there are problems with ASUS Q-RELESE SLIM as part of the new Nvidia GPUs around the RTX 5090 and RTX 5080.
Last week, Hardwareluxx editor Andreas Schilling published pictures of a slight damage caused by Q-release Slim. The photos were followed by a similar video that circulated on the Chinese video portal bilibili.
Link to Twitter content
Problems with Q-Slim release? Asus with a statement on Reddit
The persons concerned are primarily testers who sometimes solve and use the graphics card from the mainboard – our editor Alex can certainly sing a song from these processes in the course of his review of the RTX 5090.
Despite the comparatively small group of those affected, Asus also saw himself forced to comment on this topic because of the burgeoning unrest in social media. Tony Yu (Managing Director of Asus China) explained early on that one would take care of a solution (via HXL).
Asus finally officially commented on the topic on the AMD Subreddit.
Link to Reddit content
According to the statement, q-release Slim was checked internally for precisely such damage. As a result, the signs of wear on the PCB can occur according to more than 60 installations and extensions; So a lot that can reach the above group of GPU reviewers.
If such a defect is visible, it is purely optical according to ASUS and has no influence on functionality.
At this point, the ASUS employee also emphasizes that it is strictly adhering to the associated instructions for using Q release Slim. If there are any problems, the ASUS employee promises, at least for US customers, that one will “take care of them”.
