ASUS made an official statement after the emergence of reports on the network that the new PCIe Slot Q-Release Slim video cards mechanism in its motherboards on Intel chipsets and AMD 800th series lights up and damage the PCIe X16 of video cards. The company advises users to follow the official instructions for the extraction of video cards and claims that the mechanism does not damage the card if they do not remove them and not install too often.
Image source: ASUS
The formulation of ASUS implies that the company knows that in some cases the PCIE connector can be scratched: “During the internal testing and assessment of the extremely small number of known cases, we did not find any damage to the motherboard or video card, which could affect the functionality and/ or performance. However, it is important to emphasize that any type of PCIe expansion card will have signs of use and traces of wear after 60 continuous inserts and extracts. ”
ASUS equips the PCIe Slot Q-Release Slim video cards with the PCIE SLOT Q-Release Slim. This is an updated version of the mechanism, which allows you to extract a video card from the PCIe X16 slot without pressing the button (as the last version) or the latch on the PCIe X16 slot (a regular slot on all other motherboards). The PCie Slot Q-Release Slim mechanism automatically frees the video card if it is pulled from the slot, taking it by the upper left edge. It sounds simple, but as practice shows, the mechanism can still damage the video card interface. Judging by the published images, these damage do not affect the pcie contacts of the video card, so they should not affect its functionality or performance.
However, significant grazes of printed circuit boards can create additional difficulties for users. Especially if for any reason the card will have to be handed over under warranty. Employees of the service center will have a reason for refusing warranty service-mechanical damage will be observed on the video card. Asus in such cases advises to contact her technical support.
The company claims that if users follow its recommendations for the extraction of video cards, then the connectors of the latter will not be damaged. Nevertheless, ASUS emphasizes that the signs of the use and wear of the connector, as a rule, appear after dozens of cycles of inserts and extracts in any case.
Like other connectors in the composition of the motherboard, PCIe slots are designed for a certain number of such inserts and extraction cycles. Although the exact number of operations, after which the signs of the wear of the connector begins, depends on a particular manufacturer, the typical industry standard for PCIe X4/X8/16 connectors is about 50 compounds and disconnection for standard and higher -strength slots.