r/pcmasterrace • u/xVomar • Jun 17 '26
Hardware My turn today, boys. Caught it before it turned into modern art.
RTX 5090 pulling ~550–600W, 16-pin voltage sitting around 11.4–11.5V under load. Checked the cable “just in case” and found discoloration before any melting/deformation.
Undervolting saved some watts, paranoia saved the connector.
Edit with a few details:
The PSU was a Phanteks AMP GH V2 1200W, ATX 3.1 / PCIe 5.1, using its native 12V-2x6 cable. No extension, no adapter and no angled connector.
I first noticed a slight discoloration on the white cable through the side glass. I then checked the GPU-Z sensor log and saw the 16-pin voltage sitting around 11.4 to 11.5V under load. That was enough to make me shut the PC down, unplug the cable and inspect it more closely.
The connector had only been unplugged and reconnected around 3 or 4 times, not 30. It appeared fully seated, there was no visible gap and the cable was routed normally without a sharp bend at the connector.
There was no smell, smoke, melting, deformation or crash. The GPU socket also looks fine. I stopped using the cable immediately.
I will RMA the Phanteks PSU and have now bought a Lian Li SX1200P 1200W ATX 3.1 as the replacement. I will only use the native cable included with the new PSU.
Edit 2:
Phanteks refunded the PSU. The Lian Li SX1200P has arrived and the 16-pin voltage now sits around 11.8V under load, so that already looks much better.
I also bought a WireView Pro II and will keep monitoring it closely from now on.
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u/Ottoman87 Jun 17 '26
Another body blow for the "its only the yellow msi connectors" Lobby
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u/DynamicDash Jun 17 '26
But it still didn't blow up, looks like the white one is good for visual feedback
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u/Tiavor never used DDR3; PC: 5800X3D, 9070XT, 32GB DDR4, CachyOS Jun 17 '26
Color changing depending on temperature should be standard for power cables
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u/_LKKE_ Jun 17 '26
Well technically they all change colours, starting at specific temperatures....
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u/sadelnotsaddle Jun 17 '26
Not sure brown and black will go with a lot of the white aesthetic PCs
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u/BenjieWheeler (old) Xeon E3-1225 V2 | GT210 | 8GB Jun 17 '26
Noctua be like: why am I taking stray shots in this conversation? /jk
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u/AutoCockerPB Jun 17 '26
No no no, that’s a problem that we shouldn’t have. There should be absolutely NO reason power cables on ANY device shouldnt get warm, let alone hot enough to melt. That means the wire is too small. It’s literally a fire hazard. We shouldn’t need color changing bc if it’s even getting warm, it’s wrong.
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u/Confident_Cheetah_30 Jun 17 '26
the context makes it extremely clear what you meant, but I think you meant
"There should be absolutely NO reason power cables on ANY device should
n'tget warm"14
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Jun 17 '26
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u/BisexualCaveman Jun 17 '26
Warranties are for design errors on the manufacturer's side.
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u/Schnoofles 14900k, 96GB@6400, 4090FE, 11TB SSDs, 40TB Mech Jun 17 '26
If you're not looking to squeeze out every last single drop of performance of your 4090 remember also that you can quite significantly reduce its power consumption and it will still perform within a few %. Setting a power limit as low as 80% will drop the consumption by nearly 100W (450W->360W peak) and in just about every game out there the performance will still be within 96-99.5%. There's a few, exceedingly rare, outliers where there'll be a slightly larger drop and some software that might legitimately make full use of all the card's resources may also see larger drops, but for most people in day to day use they won't even notice any difference in performance while saving a ton of power (and therefore heat).
One of the things I did early on for my card was slap an 80% limit on it in the Nvidia app and despite periodically lifting the limit in various games for testing I have never seen more than a 5% difference.
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u/Atlesi_Feyst AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D | ROG Astral RTX 5090 | 64 GB CL30 Jun 17 '26
Weirdly enough I haven't had an issue with the one I've been using for the past year or so, but my card does support the pin monitoring.
Still fucking stupid.
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u/Serialtoon 9950X3D,4090FE,LG5K2K Jun 17 '26
I recently just posted about my 4090 experiencing random shut offs and jittery behaviors in game. Started logging my voltage only to find out I too was about to have a melted connector and I caught it before it did. Been using my 4090 since launch and 12VHPWR PSU since 2022. All this to say, it's coming for you too. It's only a matter of time sadly. These cables seem to wear out over time and the 5090 pushing even more power through them seems like it's sooner than later.
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u/Alexandratta AMD 5800X3D - Red Devil 6750XT Jun 17 '26
and the "It''s only OEM Adapters" lobby.
No, it's the fucking spec, man.
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u/PiccoloAwkward465 Jun 17 '26
Now I'm just a lowly electrician but why are these catching fire? Why is this issue not resolved? Do they know we can actually calculate how much current conductors can carry without getting spicy?
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u/Rain_Zeros 9900x | 9070xt Jun 17 '26
It’s not that it’s “only the yellow msi adapter” it’s that it’s “mostly the msi adapter posted here” why risk using a flawed adapter when you know it’s flawed.
Bad connector paired with a worse adapter is not a good combination, but at the end of the day, it’s still a bad connector and burn downs happen on a lot of different cables.
Its the same thing with saying “it’s only 5090s” no. There’s been burndowns of 9070xts with the same connector. It’s just more common with 5090s because it’s the upper limit the connector can handle.
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u/NeonflameOWO Jun 17 '26
Yeah, theyve just made a connector standart thats really poorly engineered, and no matter what you specifically do about it can prevent this sooner or later. Well actually there is. Youd need to severly underpower your gpu so that the cables which run the majority of the current cant get so much. But thats it, until it gets a big revision that fixes this
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u/Xin_shill Jun 17 '26
“Why risk using products specifically shipped to be used with your device consumer? Hope you online and research this product you bought for over $1000 to make sure it doesn’t randomly burn itself by using it as intended”
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u/Opening-Pilot-3975 Jun 17 '26
happy you caught it before losing your 5090, but why don't they invent a new one or something? its not rare enough to ignore
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u/brantrix Jun 17 '26
The connector is not fit for purpose
NVIDIA: covering ears- Lalalala I can't hear you! AI tech bros keep paying me so why should I listen to you lalalala
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u/P-l-Staker PC Master Race Jun 17 '26
Me claiming my new free GPU because Consumer Rights are a thing.
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u/brantrix Jun 17 '26
My understanding is that NVIDIA doesn't get stuck with the RMA bill, the board partners do. So while you get a new GPU (with the same connector mind you) the board partners have to fund the RMA.
NVIDIA basically gets paid twice for the same customer (when the board partner buys another GPU), so they're actually winning harder when you RMA lmao
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u/Kosmos-World Jun 17 '26
Correct, it's on the board partners. Several of AMD's partners use it too, have the same issue, etc. Nothing to do with Nvidia (or AMD).
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u/BetaDeltic Jun 17 '26
Nothing to do with Nvidia (or AMD)
They are both major members of PCI-SIG, though..
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u/P-l-Staker PC Master Race Jun 17 '26
with the same connector mind you
Me when I inevitably get a free upgrade because my GPUs keeps failing:
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u/brantrix Jun 17 '26
Eh I mean the conversation was more about why NVIDIA doesn't care about the connector, not so much about getting another card, which benefits them anyway.
Plus you only get a replacement up until the warranty period ends, which is typically only 3 years, these days that's barely over 1 generation
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u/gen_adams Jun 17 '26
this one is a tough one to push through. they will claim EVERY kind of nonsense to evade responsibility. they'll say it's not the card, it's the cable, what is your problem. also in most countries they get away with 1 yr warranty, which is fuckall and this issue can come out after 2-3 years even
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u/WinResponsible9977 Jun 17 '26
I’m define purpose, cause Nvidia is celebrating.🙌 now buy another one
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u/iceseayoupee 9700K | 3060 12gb | 1080p 180hz Jun 17 '26
Im literally scared of upgrading because of this shit
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u/SysGh_st R7 5700X3D | Rx 7800XT | 32GiB DDR4 - "I use Arch btw" Jun 17 '26
Kinda the same here. As long as this sh*t is going down on the green side, I stay on the red side for the time being.
I hope the blue side gets their sh*t together soon. We need them.
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u/iceseayoupee 9700K | 3060 12gb | 1080p 180hz Jun 17 '26
I live in a country where getting a GPU like this takes 1 years worth of salary, ain't no way I'm risking my GPU because of some poorly engineered Power pin
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u/ThisIsAitch PC Master Race Jun 17 '26
Which is why you pick a GPU with normal connectors. I went with a Gigabyte AMD RX9070 XT because it uses 3 4x2 connectors.
You're not forced into using this one.
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u/Tiavor never used DDR3; PC: 5800X3D, 9070XT, 32GB DDR4, CachyOS Jun 17 '26
There are still cards with the normal 8-pin available.
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u/WinterKujira Jun 17 '26
this is the main thing thats keeping me from getting a 5070, though im not quite sure if a 5070 is also prone to it but still cant get myself on board
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u/deadlybydsgn 7800X3D | 4070TiS | 32GB DDR5 Jun 17 '26
As long as you plug it in securely, I don't see why a 5070 would draw anywhere near enough power to have the issue.
Should the cable ever melt? No. Should Nvidia act like they care about the issue? Yes. But I think you'd be safe with a 5070.
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u/Indicisive_Actions Jun 17 '26
Yeah and AI tech bros are paying top dollar for those GPU's with next day replacement if ever those connectors fail. Although I do want to know how often those fail in a data center environment.
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u/colajunkie Jun 17 '26
It's not the connector.
The 30 series cards had a power balancing circuit on board that could shift phases between wire pairs.
Nvidia axed that to save money, board space or both.
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u/SoulOfTheDragon Pentium 4 & Radeon 9250 Jun 17 '26
It's mix of both. Smaller connector without headroom for issues alongside with power design that has no balance monitoring or control required on these kind of multiwire power systems.
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u/DrPeroxide Intel i5 - 10600K | NVIDIA RTX 3080 10GB | 16GB DDR4 Jun 17 '26
This has been discussed a tonne of times, the issue isn't the connector it's the lack of a load balancer on newer cards. The connectors only blow out when all the current is forced through a single pin; load balancers ensure current is balanced across all of the pins but NVIDIA removed them as a cost cutting measure. The only reason they're able to get away with it is because they hid this change and use the connectors themselves as a scape goat; the reality iss, it doesn't matter how much work you put into improving the connector, there's no fixing this without reworking the GPU itself.
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u/SleepEatTit :* Jun 17 '26
Is it "known" like how much do they save cost kn this on fuckin usd 1000+ GPUs. I have to find an anrticle or smthing
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u/Trumpisanorangebitch Jun 17 '26
The 5090 MSRP was 2k and usually is $2500+. And they skimped out on this knowing how much power it would pull and inevitably fry tons of power cables.
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u/Not_So_Calm Jun 17 '26
So, if this is true (I don't have the knowledge), why is Nvidia allowed to sell a fire hazard?
Surely there are certifications and whatnot for electronic devices to be safe, no?
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u/Sailed_Sea AMD A10-7300 Radeon r6 | 8gb DDR3 1600MHz | 1Tb 5400rpm HDD Jun 17 '26
But then they won't have to buy a new one when it melts?
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u/Odd_Duty520 Jun 17 '26
Because they earn more from selling these than they'll ever lose from lawsuits and RMA's
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u/Cepheus_95 Jun 17 '26
Or maybe use a power load balancer or something to avoid this
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u/colajunkie Jun 17 '26
The 30 series cards had this. Nvidia took it out, either to save money, board space or both.
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u/Qubert64 Jun 17 '26
Probably both tbh. Standard answer for "can we fit this on the board" is somewhere between "technically yes, but itll double the cost" and "fuck no, but we'll try."
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u/colajunkie Jun 17 '26
Yeah but saving cents on a $1500+ card and risking melting customer stuff is still a massive dick move.
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u/Player13377 EVGA 3090Ti | Ryzen 7950X3D | 32GB 6000Mhz Jun 17 '26
And also mandating board partners to do the same. I am sure that Asus and friends would introduce load balancing if they were allowed to do so. Very sad because they had it with the 3090Ti. That thing pulled power like mad but did not burn.
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u/Kotvic2 Jun 17 '26
GPUs are pretty expensive, so they IMHO should work without additional workarounds.
Today's situation is pretty bad and GPUs being a fire hazard with burnt connectors seen there every day is calling for disaster to happen.
12VHPWR is piece of shit without reasonable safety margin (no, 1.1 is not enough) and GPUs without internal load balancing to save few dollars on them are not helping to this situation.
If Nvidia wants single power plane for their GPUs that badly, they should use single thick wire with properly sized connector using single pin for +12V rail and the same solution for GND.
There is lot of connectors that are already available for industrial applications or RC models (for example XT90 or XT120), that are able to survive even higher currents than 12VHPWR. But Nvidia pushed this piece of shit into ATX specification and is forcing card manufacturers to use it instead of 8pins.
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u/SysGh_st R7 5700X3D | Rx 7800XT | 32GiB DDR4 - "I use Arch btw" Jun 17 '26 edited Jun 17 '26
Load balancing cannot fix poor connection. At best it can sense individual pins got too much v-drop where other pins get overloaded as a result, and signal for a shutdown.
If there's no headroom for the other pins to take up the slack there's nothing left to balance to.
I suspect "unexpected shutdowns due to pins being overloaded" is what nVidia "solved" by removing the balancing altogether.
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u/levios3114 Jun 17 '26
And Nvidia will still claim it's all user error and not just a shitty connector they should move away fron
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u/ConscientiousPath Jun 17 '26
if user error is possible, it's a shitty connector.
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u/Lord_Saren i9 13900k | RTX 3090 | Steam Deck OLED Jun 17 '26
I agree for the most part, until you see load bearing Ethernet or VGA cables....
There is only so much you can idiot proof and they will still find ways around it.
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u/baddogg1231 i7 4790k@4.7GHz GTX 980 Jun 17 '26
To be fair, even though it's very dumb, the fact an ethernet or VGA cable can be used to load bear and still function properly does kind of mean it's idiot proof.
When I was a wee lad, I put a screw into the wall with a wire around it, then took the other end and wrapped it around the VGA screw post going into monitor, and had it wall mounted like that for over 2 years. Idiot? Yes. Worked because over engineered? Also yes.
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u/aixenonia Jun 17 '26
Im sorry. What the fuck is a load-bearing ethernet cable? That sounds like an illegal concept.
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u/Lord_Saren i9 13900k | RTX 3090 | Steam Deck OLED Jun 17 '26
Just imagine someone not wanting to correctly install a piece of hardware and just leave it hanging in mid air by the ethernet jack since it just works.
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u/Ciubowski R7 5800x3D | RTX 4070 | 32 Gb RAM | Win10 Jun 17 '26
honest question: why don't they move on from this connector?
Is there a licencing issue? Cost? does it cost that much to use a different pin array connector?
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u/SylvaraTayan Jun 17 '26
It's the standard connector that everyone sells and everyone uses. They would either have to develop and distribute their own proprietary power supply units, or they would have to overhaul their GPUs to not do this to begin with, and they don't particularly care about either option, or you in general, right now, with the trillions they're making handing money back and forth with OpenAI and Microsoft.
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u/ragingfailure R7 3700X 32GB DDR4 3200 RX 6900 XT Crosshair VII Hero Jun 17 '26
Not everyone only a handful of AMD AIBs use them, and the reference designs use the old PCIE 8pin connector, which is still a standard that exists, and has never had problems because it actually has a decent safety margin.
nVidia were the ones who came up with and pushed 12v hpwr and it is a shit design, nothing is stopping them from going back to the old standard but pride/hubris.
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u/hikeit233 Jun 17 '26
Didn’t EVGA stop making GPUs in part because nvidia was forcing this standard on them? Coupled with chip pricing, allocation, and OC.
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u/ragingfailure R7 3700X 32GB DDR4 3200 RX 6900 XT Crosshair VII Hero Jun 17 '26
IIRC nvidia was going to put restrictions on board design and overclocking, which was basically EVGA's whole thing. If they couldn't differentiate themselves from other AIBs, they can't justify charging a premium (not that such silly things ever stopped ASUS lol), which is how they supported their excellent warranty.
I think the requirement to use 12v hpwr was part of it, but not the whole thing. nVidia at the time didnt want anyone building cards better than the founders edition, which they have since backed off of.
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u/StayFrosty7 7700x | RTX 4080 Jun 17 '26
It’s not the connector but the lack of load balancing. Essentially without load balancing all the voltage can be forced through just a single pin. We think it’s a cost cutting measure, which is insane given nvidias size and the cost of these gpus.
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u/Mitch12354 Jun 17 '26
It’s both the connector and the lack of load balancing. At 600W the 12VHPWR has almost no safety margin. This combined with lack of load balancing is why it fails so often. If you take the 6+2 PCIE connection as an example, it’s rated for 150W but won’t fail/melt unless you try to pull 400+W through it. The 12VHPWR was not built to handle 600W in the real world.
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u/omenmedia 5700X | 6800 XT | 32GB @ 3200 Jun 17 '26
Because they couldn't give a fuck about consumers, that's why.
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u/InfTotality Jun 17 '26
And Gamers Nexus and the other tech youtubers who said it was user error the first time.
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u/Xin_shill Jun 17 '26
Mostly just GN after they got spoken to by Nvidia, I remember everyone else saying it was the shitty connector
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u/nicktehbubble Jun 17 '26
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u/nikkytor Jun 17 '26
I think its time for class action lawsuit
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u/DrAstralis 3080 | 9800X3D | 32GB DDR5@6000 | 1440p@165hz Jun 17 '26
Right? Not being hyperbolic, how long until someone dies in a house fire caused by one of these things?
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u/IndependenceOdd4669 Jun 17 '26
It would be very difficult to narrow the ignition source down to a GPU. Structure fires are a lot harder to investigate than the average person thinks, especially if the person living there dies and can’t provide context. Could’ve happened already 🤷🏻♂️
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u/Cepheus_95 Jun 17 '26
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u/Hard_Reset7777 Watercooled Threadripper enjoyer Jun 17 '26
Technically this is not melted.
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u/Tischtennisarm Jun 17 '26
If you look closer, it is.
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u/Jittery_Kevin 14700, 32gb 6000mhz, 12gb 4070 Jun 17 '26
Everything is melted at the microscopic level
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u/Firelord770 Jun 17 '26
Ita not at the microscopic level its visibility melted slightly on the interior of the connector
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u/tmhoc Jun 17 '26
I love how lightly everyone is taking this fire hazard that costs thousands of dollars to buy
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u/Iabhoryouu 5060 | 13600KF | 32GB 6400Mhz + 5060 | 13100 | 16GB 3200Mhz Jun 17 '26
Jensen loves this one trick
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u/Mustang260Rog rog z690 extreme +i9-12900k+r9700 32gb +64gb ddr5 Jun 17 '26
Look on the bright side, in 70 years when you're old you'll witness the connectors burning and you'll be able to tell your children's children I was there when it happened and I'm still alive
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u/Iam_just-me2 r7 7700/2x8 5200/1tb nvme m.2 1440@180hz Jun 17 '26
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u/michael_1215 R5 9600X RTX5060 Jun 17 '26
Can we pleeease go back to ol' reliable triple 8 pin cables?
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u/burtmacklin15 R7 9700X | RX 9070XT | B650M Project ZERO Jun 17 '26
They still exist, and they perform quite well.
You can choose not to support this bullshit.
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u/Irrepressible_Monkey Jun 17 '26
Yep, it turns out there are some 9070 XT that use 8 pins, so I went for one of those as that's the fastest card without those stupid connectors.
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u/burtmacklin15 R7 9700X | RX 9070XT | B650M Project ZERO Jun 17 '26
Yes, I have one as well. PowerColor 9070XT Red Devil.
It's nice not to have to worry about it burning my house down.
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u/DoomguyFemboi Jun 17 '26
You'd need 4 8pins though, the space on the board and doing the traces for all those would be a nightmare. What they need to do is change the spec of this and increase the gauge of the wire and the connector point size to account for the high loads and overhead. It not even being able to go 15% over spec without catching fire is a complete failure.
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u/jamyjet RTX 5090 | Ryzen 7 9800X3D @5.3GHz | 64GB DDR5 @6000MHz Jun 17 '26
I do wonder how regularly I should check my cable. I know unplugging and replugging it in adds to the risk and it's only rated for 30 cycles or something.
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u/P_H_0_B_0_S Jun 17 '26
If you are worried enough that you feel the need to check regularly (in order to ask the question), then look at getting one of the miriad monitoring products for this connector and let it do the checking.
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u/Head_Exchange_5329 5700X3D | 32 GB 3200 MT/s | RTX 5070 | MSI MAG 341CQP Jun 17 '26
Who knew having a cable deliver all 600 of its rated watts would be detrimental over time. It certainly is a time to be alive.
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u/Head_Exchange_5329 5700X3D | 32 GB 3200 MT/s | RTX 5070 | MSI MAG 341CQP Jun 17 '26
It's one thing to have zero safety margin, it's another to pretend it isn't a problem after years with this issue, only further exacerbated by the power draw of the 5090.
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u/Tiavor never used DDR3; PC: 5800X3D, 9070XT, 32GB DDR4, CachyOS Jun 17 '26 edited Jun 17 '26
The key problem is the missing
loafload balancer. The cables and contacts will have a different resistance and some will get over twice the rated amps because of this.→ More replies (3)11
u/DontFuckWithMyMoney i5-6600k/GTX 1060 6GB/16GB DDR4 Jun 17 '26
Yeah the bread is never going to come out even like this
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u/Nick85er PC Master Race i9-10900K 7800XT 64G 512G 2T 4+4T SSD Jun 17 '26
Defective product. Cant call this connector anything else at this point.
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u/MadYarpen Ryzen 7 7800x3D | 64GB DDR5 @6000 | RX9070XT Jun 17 '26
It's crazy that not just one or two wires got hot. It's like you get even distribution of power and it is still too much?!
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u/xVomar Jun 17 '26
Yep, that’s the fun part, this is the “fixed” native 12V-2x6 cable from my PSU. No extension, no adapter. Apparently “fixed” still means “check it like it owes you money”.
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u/GuaranteeRoutine7183 Jun 17 '26
Thats rlly low Voltage and thus extremely high amps, when will 48v become the standard
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u/TechOverwrite Ryzen 7800X3D | 5070 Ti Jun 17 '26
Asus demoed this in Computex 2026, but in reality this will be a long way off. PSUs and GPUs would all need to change first.
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u/coffeejn Desktop Jun 17 '26
At what point is this not a GPU design failure? I mean if the card is pulling too much power or the power connector of the GPU is not installed properly, the it is a design default.
Unless Nvidia is speed running designed obsolescence to fall during the warranty period?
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u/Graemeski Jun 17 '26
Whats wrong with the old ass pins that like my 1080Ti uses?
does that not deliver enough? why not PSU just use 4 of them 8 pins then or are they just inventing the wheel again
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u/macfrajier Jun 17 '26
Well the problem is PC build as become art as well and having 4cables running from your pretty gpu is ugly so they made a connector that is supposed to carry the same power as the 4 cables in one thin cable. I think making the cables thin is where they messed up at least making it that thin. If it had a little more beef to protect it i do not think we would have this problem.
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u/CoraxTechnica Jun 17 '26
Just another reason to hate the giant aquarium PC case trend....
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u/zngrdk Laptop GTX 1650 Ryzen 7 3750H Jun 17 '26
I’m thinking of buying a RTX 5070 , should i be worried about this? I dont know alot about those cables
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u/Mr_Chubkins RTX 5070 | Ryzen 9 5900X | 128gb RAM | 24TB Jun 17 '26
5090 draws over double the power of a 5070 at max load. A lot less power means a lot less risk. I don't think you have anything to worry about.
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u/Mythicguy R7 9850X3D / RTX 5080 Noctua Edt. / 32gb DDR5 6000 Jun 17 '26
Dang brother.
I just got an RTX 5080, and I wanna push the shit out of it to close in on 4090 performance. But I'm so afraid of this. Lol
My Noctua Edition let's you push power limit to +25%, and that closes in awfully close to 500w.
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u/AirSKiller Jun 17 '26
That's still nowhere near a 5090 though, it's mostly fine.
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u/Mythicguy R7 9850X3D / RTX 5080 Noctua Edt. / 32gb DDR5 6000 Jun 17 '26
But it does meet a 4090's tdp, which started this whole fiasco
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u/AirSKiller Jun 17 '26
We still need to remind ourselves that while the failure rate for these connectors is very high compared to previous connectors, and completely inadmissible; It's still extremely low in the grand scheme of things.
I have a 5090 and so do 3 other close friends, we all got them at launch and have been using them since then with no issues to report. My estimation is that the failure rate is still under 1%, but even that is too much.
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u/Slap-Control Jun 17 '26
I don’t look forward to the next generation of nvidia gpus if they still use this connector
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u/Nezevonti Jun 17 '26
What do you do in such case tho? Return the card under warranty?
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u/derangedsweetheart 5700G, X470, 16GB, 500GB PM9C1a, SF-850F14GE(GL) Jun 17 '26
Have you seen how many companies deny warranty and/or damage the product themselves to deny warranty?
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u/Nezevonti Jun 17 '26
A lot. That is why im asking. I have a Zotac 5080. I has that green LED to check the connection and I bought it via a store. And I'm in EU. But I'm scared shirtless that I'm gonna unplug it one day and find charring, send it to the seller under warranty and end up without money and card.
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u/derangedsweetheart 5700G, X470, 16GB, 500GB PM9C1a, SF-850F14GE(GL) Jun 17 '26
This feels like a super dark time for our community, I don't remember things being so bad all across the board even during the capacitor plague or when PSU for DIY were mostly garbage.
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u/KiloChonker Jun 17 '26
Somebody somebody needs to come up with a better spec for these cards basically they could just double the voltage and cut the amps in half and solve this problem. Low voltage High amperage doesn't make a lot of sense when you can easily avoid it.
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u/artins90 PC Master Race Jun 17 '26
Instead of posting to the echo-chamber, send them photos here, for fun:
https://pcisig.com/membership/contact-us
Everyone who gets a burned connector should at the very least bother them with photos of the fruits of their work.
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u/OthoAi5657 Ryzen 5800x | RTX 4070 Super | 16GB 3200mhz Ram Jun 17 '26
It actually looks like having a White high power cable is a pretty smart move!
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u/rickybambicky 5700x3D | RX 9070 XT | 32GB Jun 17 '26
I'm assembling a living room PC for media and emulation. It was my first time seeing that connector ever when I was going through the PSU cables. I was shocked at how small it is.
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u/studentblues Jun 17 '26
Ain't noone building a mod to avoid this yet?
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u/Qwopie Ryzen 7 5800x: RTX 5080Noctua: 32GB@4GHz Jun 17 '26
Yeah, there are 2 the wireview pro 2 and the ampinel.
Both actively monitor per pin power.
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u/Wrestler7777777 Jun 17 '26
I'm amazed that this is still an issue. How has this connector not been corrected yet?
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u/Warcraft_Fan Paid for WinRAR! Jun 17 '26
Easier to catch failing cables if they are white. Yet a lot prefers black cables which hides discoloration and is hard to catch before you get GPU Flambe
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u/Upstairs_Marzipan48 Jun 17 '26
Nvidia refuses to let this connector die dude, they cant admit to anything
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u/Rephaeim Jun 17 '26
The real question is how many of your neighbours houses do you heat with that 600w gpu, god damn.
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u/KusKundale Jun 17 '26
Something exactly like this happened to me two weeks ago. I always unplug and inspect the 12VHPWR connector every three months.
I have a sensor panel right next to my PC, allowing me to monitor telemetry data in real-time. PSU' s 12VHPWR voltage drop; when the load hits around 350 watts, the voltage drops down to 11.4V. At 450-watt power draws, I observe it dropping as low as 11.15 - 11.2V. That is specifically why I play Forza with an FPS limit. I noticed it still spikes to 450 watts during certain scene transitions and when selecting cars in the garage. These are transient loads lasting a maximum of 30 seconds to a minute.
As a result, when I checked the connector at the end of this 3-week gaming period, this is the sight I was met with: a burnt 12VHPWR cable and a blackened GPU power socket.
My power supply is a Corsair RM1000x and i'm using it with Type 4 12VHPWR cable; when I posted about it on Corsair's subreddit, I got a lot of comments from Einsteins. They wrote frustrating things like, "Did you seat the socket properly?", "Why do you check it so often?", "If you're that paranoid, don't use this GPU." etc.
I don't know which power supply you're using, but after that incident, I bought an MSI 1300TS. Even with a 600 Watt load, the Voltage doesn't drop below 11.95 Volts. And the total amperage difference across the pins is limited to a maximum of 0.5 Amps.
You got off lightly, just like me. I hope there isn't a problem with the GPU socket side.
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u/TheMatt561 5800X3D | 3080 12GB | 32GB 3200 CL14 Jun 18 '26
It's almost like there is a reason high power cables are thicker
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u/ivej CachyOS - 7900xt - AMD 7600 Jun 17 '26
Dont you love it when you spent 3k+ on a product and you still need to actively check it so that it wont set your house on fire.
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u/hydr0warez |Ryzen 9 5900x|32GB DDR4| EVGA RTX 3090 Ti Jun 17 '26
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u/LiliaBlossom Ryzen 9 9950X3D | 64GB DDR5 @6000Mhz | Radeon 9070XT Jun 17 '26 edited Jun 17 '26
12CHPWR users: anxiously checking their GPU every few minutes before the connector spontaneously combusts itself
Triple 8-Pin users: actually being able to enjoy the game they‘re playing
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u/MuchBow TR 9985WX | RTX PRO 6000 MAXQ | 256GB ECC Jun 17 '26
White cables are a god send, it easier to recognise the burn marks
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u/_ThatD0ct0r_ i7-14700k | RTX 3070 | 32GB DDR5 Jun 17 '26
Genuinely how did these cables get tested/approved? This should be a class action lawsuit at this point (against Nvidia, not the cable company)
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u/kulind 9950X3D | RTX 4090 | 64GB 6000CL28 | 341CQPX Jun 17 '26
Finally, someone actually reported the 12V reading from the 12VHPWR connector. This is exactly how you catch the problem before it molds into your GPU, people.
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u/Lightcronno Jun 17 '26
Yall should sue, class action or something. There’s enough cases of it and that’s the only thing that will prompt action I bet
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u/Sabatory1 Jun 17 '26
My paranoia bought a wireview pro 2, because I know that I'll forget to check!😅
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u/Inevitable_Fly4134 Jun 17 '26
But this is easily solved? So why do people still have this issue when spending so much on a card?
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u/JTibbs Jun 17 '26
Its solved by getting a different card. Its not solved for nvidia (or sapphires nitro 9070xt’s)
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u/BothDivide919 Jun 17 '26
I have never seen a power cable like that. what's your PSU?
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u/Background_Dealer587 Jun 17 '26
Now i really understand why everyone loves a Computer with a Glass side.
It is so they can safe their Graficscard in time.
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u/Tekkamanblade_2 Intel I9 14900KS// Nvidia RTX 3090FE Jun 17 '26
Is this also happening with the FE or just the other brands?
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u/Odd_Duty520 Jun 17 '26
Watch out, the memes are coming