Asus is killing tiny, easy-to-lose M.2 screws with this practical Q-Latch

Is there anything worse than repeatedly dropping the super-tiny screw that allows you to install an M.2 solid state drive on your PC? Yes, but it’s definitely at the top of the list – and now, Asus has a solution.

It’s called a Q-Latch and it’s as simple as possible: a plastic retaining lever that you can rotate in place with a single touch of your thumb. You can get one on several of Asus’ new Z590 and B560 motherboards, although it hasn’t been released yet for the company’s most expensive motherboards, like PCGamesN grades.

This is not an entirely new idea, as the type of business-oriented laptops and desktops that your system administrator may have purchased sometimes had plastic retaining clips in the past, but this is the first time I’ve seen something like this in DIY components. from the desktop.

More than one Border the employee is happy to see Asus doing something about it. Usually, new SSDs do not come with these screws, so you should generally save those on the motherboard carefully if you want to install one later. They are also annoying to insert: I helped one of my friends build a computer remotely last week and he dropped it several times. (Sorry, friend. Your sad story was memorized in The Verge now.)

A trick is to place the M.2 screw on the edge of the SSD before pressing it fully against the motherboard, using the SSD spring tension and the tip of the screwdriver to hold it in place while you push it. But if you prefer not to deal with it, I’m seeing Asus’ Q-Latch listed for the following motherboards:

• TUF Gaming Z590-Plus WiFi
• ROG Strix Z590-A Gaming WiFi
• ROG Strix Z590-E Gaming WiFi
• ROG Strix Z590-F Gaming WiFi
• ROG Strix B560-A Gaming WiFi
• ROG Strix B560-F Gaming WiFi
• ROG Strix B560-G Gaming WiFi

Fortunately, other manufacturers will follow Asus’ example, but I have no hopes. Remember when I asked if there was anything worse than M2 screws? Worse is the small main cables – you know, the ones that seem to enjoy being guillotined by video cards and are hard to fit if you have big hands. Asus has something for that too, but its “Q-Connector” (see below) is also not widespread.

Image: Asus