Great, now even the RTX 4090 power connectors are starting to melt

By Nathan Drescher Published November 4, 2022

The Nvidia drama just got worse as Tom’s Hardware has reported on an Nvidia RTX 4090 power connector meltdown. This comes hot on the heels of stories of the GPU’s 16-pin power adapter overheating and melting.

“Maybe the first burnt connector with native ATX3.0 cable,” redditor u/nk950357 posted, along with a photo of a melted connector. The photo shows a 12VHPWR power connector from the RTX 4090’s own native power supply. This doesn’t appear to be a case of using a cheap third-party power supply.

the rtx 4090 power adaptor melted — image: Ricky TO / Facebook Image used with permission by copyright holder

It’s been a bad week for Nvidia, with nearly two dozen reports of melting 16-pin power adapters hitting the headlines. One 4090 even burst into flames. While the 4090 is a powerful graphics card, there’s clearly a problem here. AMD latched onto it and dunked on Nvidia during its RDNA 3 launch.

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“There’s no need to for a new power adapter,” head of graphics at AMD, Scott Herkelman, said during the event.

Nvidia said it will replace any unit with a 16-pin power adapter that has melted, but now it seems there are new components melting.

The Reddit post follows the same post on Facebook from a user called Ricky TO. Although written in Chinese, the post explains he used an MSI GeForce RTX 4090 Gaming X Trio 24G card. He chose to go with the native ATX3.0 power supply rather than risk trouble with the 16-pin power adapter.

If you are using a GeForce RTX 4090 graphics card, you are probably feeling nervous right now. You can use an adapter and potentially void your warranty. Likewise, you may want to stick to your CPU’s integrated graphics for the time being until we hear more about this issue, and any potential fixes.

The problem could be much bigger than issues with the power supply. It could be an issue with the RTX 4090 itself, or at least something with the quality of the components that make up the 12VHPWR power connector. Nvidia hasn’t said anything yet as it continued to investigate. This latest melting component doesn’t make us feel any more confident.

Nathan Drescher

Computing Writer

Nathan Drescher is a freelance journalist and writer from Ottawa, Canada. He's been writing about technology from around the…

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