- Nvidia has mentioned it isn’t ‘anticipated’ that cable melting points will occur with the RTX 5090
- The corporate reminded us in regards to the modifications made to the 16-pin energy connector after the RTX 4090 bumped into points
- Nonetheless, a California-based restore store has flagged up individually that it nonetheless fixes melted RTX 4090s on a ‘day by day’ foundation
Nvidia has assured us that the RTX 5090 GPU is “not anticipated” to have any points with melting energy connectors, as seen with the RTX 4090 (and we’ll come again to dive into the historical past, and present scenario with the Lovelace flagship, later on this article).
South Korean tech web site Quasarzone printed an article detailing Nvidia’s ‘RTX AI’ day which features a Q&A session (observed by VideoCardz), and one of many questions requested was with reference to the 16-pin energy connectors utilized by the RTX 4090, and in addition employed within the imminent RTX 5090.
An attendee on the occasion famous that there was a problem with the connector melting because of overheating with the RTX 4090, and requested: “Has this been resolved with the RTX 5090?”
An Nvidia consultant replied: “It’s anticipated that such points won’t happen with the RTX 50 collection. In response to the problem on the time, some modifications have been made to the connectors, and after about two years, we consider these issues have been resolved.”
I ought to be aware that that is translated from Korean, and we should always bear that firmly in thoughts when it comes to the accuracy of what’s been mentioned right here, and the precise which means, however the gist is evident sufficient.
Evaluation: Energy paranoia
Okay, time to hit the rewind button for a second. You may bear in mind the melting cable affair with the Lovelace flagship GPU when it first got here out, however it’s value indulging in a fast recap. (Or if you need the total background, head right here first).
In a nutshell, this was an issue with the 16-pin connector (12VHPWR) from the PC’s energy provide to the RTX 4090 graphics card not being seated correctly within the card, and overheating because of this. If that overheating obtained to a important sufficient stage, the plastic would begin to soften (and a poor connection was extra seemingly if the adapter needed to be bent spherical at a sharper than preferrred angle, because of area points contained in the PC case).
Following the emergence of those experiences of melting adapters, Nvidia introduced in a brand new 16-pin energy connector design (12V-2×6, a revision of 12VHPWR) to mitigate the attainable hearth threat of a loosely seated connector.
Primarily, Nvidia put the issue all the way down to a person error (not making certain the connector was plugged in absolutely), then moved to vary the connector to reduce any likelihood of that occuring. This connector revision concerned making modifications to the size of the pins, together with making the ‘sense’ pins shorter, in order that if the connector isn’t absolutely seated, or it loosens and begins to fall out, the graphics card will energy down and never work (moderately than proceed to function and trigger the overheating difficulty).
This would be the similar scenario for the RTX 5090, so the security side ought to be advantageous, or that’s the assertion Nvidia is making right here. Besides that there’s a notable nuance within the (translated) language right here having been couched when it comes to it being ‘not anticipated’ that any melting points will occur with the RTX 5090.
That’s not a cast-iron ruling out of any downside, however in fact we have to be cautious across the translation from Korean, as already famous. The extra fear with the RTX 5070 is that it severely ups the energy utilization to 575W (a minimum of, in comparison with 450W with the RTX 4090), however regardless of that, Nvidia is saying it doesn’t count on to see any issues with melting connectors.
The opposite concern right here, as VideoCardz factors out, is that whereas the Nvidia rep observes that after two years the melting cable issues with the RTX 4090 seem to have been resolved, there have been nonetheless experiences of this occurring all through 2024 – and whilst latest as this month, January 2025. That’s in accordance with NorthridgeFix (a tech restore store in California, US), which claims to be getting RTX 4090 boards with melted connectors every day nonetheless.
So, there’s a stage of paranoia right here, and that’s not sudden in itself, notably given, as famous, how a lot additional the RTX 5090 pushes with its energy consumption in comparison with its predecessor.
Finally, the proof will likely be within the energy cable pudding (there’s an unenticing sounding dessert), and the way people get on with the brand new flagship GPU when it’s launched. Till then, we clearly can’t decide the RTX 5090 on the melting rating, however you’d hope that a method or one other, this is a matter that it could’ve been an absolute precedence for Nvidia to design towards and absolutely put to mattress.
