RTX 4090 Woes Get Worse: Native 16-Pin Reportedly Melts as Well
By now, you may have read many horror stories about Nvidia’s 16-pin power adapter melting on a GeForce RTX 4090. But the fear doesn’t end there. GeForce RTX 4090 owners (via reddit (opens in new tab)) reported the first suspected case of a 12VHPWR power connector meltdown from a native ATX 3.0 power supply.
Although a little pricey, the GeForce RTX 4090 is one of the best graphics cards for gaming.Rather than letting the price tag scare consumers away, the fact that the included 16-pin power adapter is a potential fire hazard is disappointing.There were 18 “confirmed” cases. reddit (opens in new tab) Available from various graphics card vendors. Nvidia immediately looked into the matter and instructed a partner to send his melted GeForce RTX 4090 graphics card back to the chipmaker’s lab for analysis.
according to Facebook post (opens in new tab), the owner used an MSI GeForce RTX 4090 Gaming X Trio 24G graphics card and a MEG Ai1300P power supply. A user who read horrible user feedback about the 16-pin power adapter opted for his ATX 3.0 power supply with the native 12VHPWR power connector. Unfortunately, looking at the pictures, the power connector had started to melt. Some ports already seemed deformed. He didn’t share a photo of his system, but the Facebook user claimed he didn’t bend the cable excessively. MSI contacted him to replace the graphics card and power supply.
Nvidia has not shared the results of its investigation. This suggests the company may still be trying to figure out what caused the problem. So far, meltdowns have only been seen with 16-pin power adapters. However, this new user report questions whether the problem is more serious than his Nvidia’s 16-pin power adapter design. Instead, the problem could be his 12VHPWR power connector, component quality, GeForce RTX 4090, or a combination of different factors. When the 12VHPWR power connector debuted on his GeForce RTX 40 series graphics cards, there were concerns about the danger of pushing his 600W through that tiny power connector. The GeForce RTX 4090 is a 450W graphics card, but if you start overclocking, running benchmarks or running torture tests like FurMark, the power consumption will quickly see him easily exceed the 500W to 550W mark.
Initially, 16-pin power adapters were scapegoats for disasters. A third-party adapter or direct connection to a power source seems to mitigate the meltdown. Apparently, the solution may not be so easy after all. There’s a shortage of ATX 3.0 power supplies right now, which could explain why we don’t see many reports of his 12VHPWR power connector melting natively. Or maybe it’s a fluke. Again, this is what many thought when the first case of his 16-pin adapter melted power supply occurred, and now he has 18 incidents.
GeForce RTX 4090 owners are probably in a tough spot right now because neither the power adapter nor the power connector seems safe. So, should you unplug and stick to integrated graphics while you wait for a solution, or should you keep playing Russian Roulette? Unfortunately, Nvidia has been silent since the 16-pin power adapter meltdown disaster began, but that doesn’t help either.