It’s no news that the power connector on one of Nvidia’s best graphics cards can sometimes melt, and yet, it’s still new. Typically, the 12VHPWR connector found on the RTX 4090 will either melt quickly or not melt at all. Bad news for those who thought they were out of the woods and safe from the problem – it appears the RTX 4090 can still melt after a year of use.
Will the saga of RTX 4090 melting connectors never end? It doesn’t seem so. When the card was launched a year ago, reports of cables melting on the GPU side started surfacing, but then slowly died down. However, now, Biogor on Reddit has posted a photo of the melted connector on the PCMR subreddit. After working properly for a year, the user encountered problems and noticed that the connector had melted.
Often, these issues are dismissed as user error, even though GPUs covered under warranty are normally replaced. Both the GPU and the connectors are very large, so it is often difficult to fit them inside a PC case. This may result in some bending, and will prevent the cable from being installed properly. As a result, under heavy use, the connector may melt.
It seems that Biogor was aware of the issues surrounding the RTX 4090 as they say that they made sure that there were no bends or excess pressure in the cable, and also that it was pushed all the way in. From the early days. It’s disappointing that this is a thing,” the Reddit user said.
The 12VHWPR connector has malfunctioned, and various attempts to repair it have been futile. Even CableMod’s adapter suffers from the same (or more) problems, and to top it all, it voids the warranty for the GPU.
User error or not, it looks like Nvidia is slowly phasing out 12VHPWR in favor of the new 16-pin 12V-2×6 connector. It comes with increased power delivery, which now reaches 660 watts, which is enough for the RTX 4090. We haven’t heard any reports of it melting yet, but who knows how long it will take before anyone can be sure it works well. One thing is certain: one year is not enough. Let’s hope Nvidia removes 12VHPWR altogether before moving to the RTX 5090.