Earlier this week, a few Reddit customers reported that the facility connectors for his or her costly new Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 GPUs had partially melted and that Nvidia was wanting into the problem. Since then, no less than 9 extra Reddit customers have posted about the identical downside with the 16-pin energy connector (a thread accumulating all data on the issue is right here).

Igor Wallossek of the German-language {hardware} website Igor’s Lab has additionally carried out extra testing, and stated that the facility adapter cable (somewhat than the GPUs or the 12VHPWR connector) could also be in charge for the issues. The adapter, which is outwardly manufactured by an organization known as Astron and was offered by Nvidia to all of its board companions, makes use of “a complete of 4 thick 14AWG wires distributed over a complete of six contacts,” with a skinny solder base that Wallossek says will be broken simply when the cables are moved or bent.

“If, within the worst case, the 2 outer wires break off, your entire present within the center flows by way of the remaining two wires,” Wallossek wrote. “The truth that this then turns into actually sizzling doesn’t should be defined individually.”

Distinction Nvidia’s adapter cable to the 12VHPWR cable supplied with a Be Quiet! Darkish Energy Professional 13 energy provide, one of some newer ATX 3.0 PSU fashions with a 12VHPWR cable that connects proper to the PSU somewhat than counting on an adapter. The cable is thicker than the one in Nvidia’s adapter as a result of each pin has its personal wire, however it additionally runs cool and delivers dependable energy to the GPU.

Wallossek additionally stated that Nvidia advised its companions to ship all affected playing cards again to Nvidia for additional investigation and testing. We requested Nvidia about this downside and the investigation earlier this week and can replace if we obtain new data.