Nvidia’s glorious GeForce RTX 4090 wowed reviewers and set a new bar for just how stupidly fast a graphics card could be. Unfortunately, the launch of the $1,600 GPU has been marred by multiple reports of melting 12VHPWR connectors used in the cards damaging both the connector and the GPUs at times.
The new 12VHPWR connector is a compact power connector that combines the capability of multiple older 6- and 8-pin connectors into one tiny plug. It was originally adopted with the GeForce RTX 3090 Ti Founders Edition and is now used in the GeForce RTX 4090 Founders Edition as well as custom versions of the RTX 4090 built by the likes of Asus, MSI, et cetera. The 12VHPWR connector was also used in newer RTX 40-series graphics cards like the RTX 4080 and RTX 4070 Ti, though not in AMD’s Radeon RX 7000-series GPUs.
Update: The latest updates we’ve added to the saga of the melting 12VHWPR connectors revolves around Intel slightly revising the ATX 3.0 power supply spec to recommend specific types of internal connectors for added reliability.
With this fast-moving, confusing, and also very serious situation, PCWorld has decided to round up the facts you need to know to help separate fact from fiction. Nvidia officials have declined to comment while it investigates, but the latest development seem to point to bad 12VHPWR adapter cables. There’s also the possibility that not fully inserting the cable may cause increased resistance and enough heat to melt the connectors. We’ll update this story as new information is released.
- Sept. 10 Hassan Mujtaba of WCCFTech reports of an alert issued from PCI-SIG to members of a “thermal variance, which could result in safety issues under certain safety conditions.” The member alert advises vendors to “work closely with their connector vendors and exercise due diligence in using high-power connections”
Brad Chacos/IDG
- Sept. 22 VideoCardz’s editor WhyCry reports that GPU maker Zotac’s guidance on the new 12VHPWR connector is rated for 30-insertion cycles which raises alarms as to the lifespan and durability of the new connector. VideoCardz later amends its report to say that while 30 cycles appears very low, many Molex connectors introduced over the last 20 years have had similar mating cycles.
- Oct. 24 The first report of a melted 12HPWR connector is posted on the Nvidia sub-reddit. The GPU appears to be a Gigabyte 4090 Gaming OC using an Nvidia-branded 12VHPWR adapter cable. Both Nvidia and Gigabyte reach out to the owner who reports a replacement card has been received. A second report of a melted dongle is received as well on that day with damage to the adapter cable and an Asus RTX 4090 TUF Gaming OC Edition occurring. The Reddit post immediately goes viral on the high-profile graphics card with many assuming the new connector to be at fault.
- Oct. 24 A few hours after the initial melting report on Reddit, renowned power supply reviewer and the principle behind PSU certification company Cybenetics, Aristeidis Bitziopoulos, attempts to replicate the melting 12VHPWR connector by subjecting it to 600 watt loads for more than 90 minutes. He is unable to damage the cable while seeing only a small thermal variance. It should be noted that the test used a native 12VHPWR cable on an ATX 3.0 power supply rather than Nvidia’s adapter. Bitziopoulos concludes the 12VHPWR connector doesn’t seem to be an issue in his testing.
- Oct. 24 Overclocker Buildzoid of Actually Hardware Overclocking,
&xcust=2-3-1372988-1-0-0&sref=https://www.pcworld.com/feed" data-type="URL" data-id="" target="_blank">posts a video criticizing the new 12VHPWR connector noting that the new connector drastically reduces the number of pins and wires carrying power.
- Oct. 25. With failures now reported at three, Nvidia officials tell the Verge’s Tom Warren that “we are investigating the reports” and are in contact with the owners of the impacted cards.
- Oct. 25 Former HardOCP editor Kyle Bennett reports AMD’s upcoming RDNA3 GPUs will not use the 12VHWPR connector in its reference designs. Neither Bennett, nor his sources at AMD indicate when the design decision was made to skip 12VHPWR.
- Oct. 25 Showing what a distraction the 12VHPWR has become, AMD’s Scott Herkelman publicly confirms the new Radeon cards will skip 12VHPWR and receives responses such as “That is a HUGE relief, happy with that news.”
- Oct. 26 The official Reddit megathread listing showing documented failures now numbers five damaged 12VHWPR connectors.
- Oct. 26 Jason Langiven, aka JayzTwoCents, who has long been critical of the connector being “dangerous,”
&xcust=2-3-1372988-1-0-0&sref=https://www.pcworld.com/feed" data-type="URL" data-id="" target="_blank">attempts to replicate the failure on a native 12VHWPR cable and is unable to induce a failure on the cable under heavy loads.
Nvidia’s 12VHPWR adapter needs to connect to three or four 8-pin power cables.
Brad Chacos/IDG
- Oct. 27 Igor Wallossek of IgorsLab.de conducts a tear down and failure test of a 12VHPWR power adapter and concludes that the issue doesn’t appear to be the 12VHPWR design itself nor the much-touted insertion cycle concern raised previously. Instead, Wallossek concludes it is the design of Nvidia’s adapter itself, which he describes as “inferior quality (and) can lead to failures and has already caused damage in single cases.” Wallossek said he believes bending and kinking of the adapter can cause weak solder joints and bridges to break and increase the resistance causing the melting.
- Oct. 28 Ronaldo Buassali of TecLab.net.br
&xcust=2-3-1372988-1-0-0&sref=https://www.pcworld.com/feed" data-type="URL" data-id="" target="_blank"> posts his own failure tests, including swinging a power supply using just the connector and subjecting to a stress test of 1,532—well beyond its rated sustained wattage of 600 watts.
- Oct. 29 The number of confirmed damaged connectors on Reddit now numbers 15.
- Oct. 30 Stephen Burke of Gamers Nexus
&xcust=2-3-1372988-1-0-0&sref=https://www.pcworld.com/feed" data-type="URL" data-id="" target="_blank"> attempts to replicate the melting failure by intentionally damaging a 12VHPWR adapter similar to what IgorsLab.de had reported and subjected it to a 99 percent load for 8 hours with no melting observed. Burke also notes that his five adapters all appear to be constructed the same—and yet differently than the adapter IgorsLab had. Burke said his five 12VHWPR adapters use wires labeled for 300 volts versus the 150 volts the adapter Wallossek had. Burke concludes that we just don’t know what the issue is, but it is a real problem on some adapters—but not all of them. He also mentions a theory being floated that the smaller connector may not easily seat as well as the larger traditional power connectors. He also points out that contrary to what many consumers believe, a native connector that plugs directly into a power supply may also fail the same way if the native cable is constructed the same as the failed adapters. Burke also asks owners of RTX 4090 cards to report which cable adapters they have.
Just keeping everyone updated: Out of about 130 emails so far to the 4090cable inbox, we've received 7 that are 150V rated
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