Asus and MSI revealed a slew of new motherboards at Gamescom 2024, and some of them seem to take convenience in PC building to the next level. A few of the motherboard models introduced during the event come with quick-release mechanisms, and not just for the SSD but also for the graphics card. Seeing as some of the top GPUs are now massive and unwieldy, easier installation is going to be a welcome change.
The two hardware manufacturers presented motherboards for the latest processors, including AMD 800-series boards for Ryzen 9000 from Asus, and Intel Arrow Lake-S 800-series chipsets from MSI. Der8auer, a well-known overclocker and YouTuber, got to see the new Asus boards up close and personal, including the ROG X870E Hero.
The Asus’ ROG X870E Hero comes with a quick-release mechanism for the M.2 slot — and it’s easy enough to handle with just one hand. As for the GPU, Asus dubbed the feature PCIe Q-Release Slim, and seeing it on video underscores how simple it appears to be.
The PCIe Q-Release Slim feature gets rid of the release button that we know from most motherboards. With the bulky graphics cards we deal with today, pulling the PCIe retention mechanism to mount the card is a difficult endeavor, especially for new builders. Meanwhile, the new retention mechanism that Asus is introducing makes it so that you can easily slot the GPU in, and it will stay put even if you try to remove it from the center or from the right side. You’ll need to pull it right from the front, and to Asus’ credit, it seems like it pops right out when approached the right way. We’ll have to test it ourselves to find out how much of an improvement it is.
Moving on to MSI, the company held a two-hour live stream to show off some of its new products, and that includes the upcoming Z890 MPG Edge motherboard. It might be a while before we see that one hit the shelves, as it’s made for Intel’s 15th-gen CPUs, but once it’s there, installing the GPU should be a breeze. MSI equipped the motherboard with a feature called “EZ PCIe Release.” It’s slightly different from Asus’ take on the mechanism, as it comes with a switch above the GPU.
Installing a GPU only gets harder as the years go by. These days, graphics cards like the RTX 4090 take up to four slots, and slotting them in and out is a real challenge. In this generation alone, we’ve heard of things such as melting connectors (often caused by bending the power connector) and cracked PCBs, likely due to the weight of the GPU. We’ll have to wait and see if one day this becomes a standard outside of high-end motherboards made by select manufacturers.
