Igor’s lab (opens in new tab) has published an article outlining potential solutions to prevent one of the best graphics cards on the market, the GeForce RTX 4090, from being damaged by Nvidia’s 16-pin power adapter. According to Igor Wallossek, editor-in-chief of the publication, the solution may be to crimp the connector instead of soldering it.
Wallossek claims that soldering is the arch enemy of 16-pin power connectors. Soldering can cause some problems, he says, which can lead to structural failures within the connector. His list of potential problems includes hard tin plating and soldering of strands that are already under tension, and working in a way that unravels and breaks strands. But one of the biggest problems he said is the soldering process, where air bubbles form during the process and can lead to corrosion.
Wallossek believes that, ideally, manufacturers should crimp the individual wires of the 16-pin wiring harness. This eliminates all potential problems with soldering and improves the structural integrity of the wire.
A great example of a proper 12VHPWR wiring harness, according to Igor’s Lab, is the Quiet! Dark Power Pro 12 power supply, which converts two 12-pin plugs into a single 16-pin power connection. Each wire consists of a very flexible 18AWG cable. This keeps the wires themselves cooler and each connector has a total of 6 12 volt and 6 ground wires each. Connecting the two 12-pins from the PSU to the 16-pins that go to the graphics card is a crimp connection maintained on each cable and the wires from the 12-pins are connected and converted to a single wire .
Wallosek says the be quiet! design represents one of the safest ways to build a 16-pin wiring harness. The wire is very flexible and thick, which reduces heat build-up in the wire itself and allows the user to freely manipulate the wire without significant risk of damaging the connector or the wire harness itself. Also, the motion that crimps the connection eliminates heat and corrosion issues that can occur with soldering.
This solution applies specifically to 16-pin wiring harnesses, not Nvidia’s power adapters, but the method suggested is easier to use with Nvidia’s adapters, specifically crimping the connections instead of soldering them. I can do it.
