Nvidia's RTX 4090 card just dropped and it already has major issues.
Nvidia released their flagship card despite warnings from 3rd party tests prior to launch. Many customers are reporting melted power connectors.
By Ethan Latimer
Nvidia has a pattern of releasing their new generations two years apart, and this release is no different. The Oct. 12, 2022 release of the RTX 4090 came with some new quirks that were not present in the previous generations of cards.
Side Profile of GeForce RTX 4090 (Image: NVIDIA)
Over the last few weeks, several individuals have posted on Twitter and Reddit that the power connectors, which are reportedly quite delicate, are melting to poor quality connection and fragility. According to a story published by PCMag, the 12-volt high power connector, or 12VHPWR for short, combines 32 wires into only 16. The adapter has been failing, causing the plastic Molex connector to melt.
Molex connectors have been a standard for high power DC applications for over 80 years, but the amount of power being transferred through such a small conduit is a relatively new concept.
PCI-SIG, or Peripheral Component Interconnect Special Interest Group, conducted independent tests of the new connector prior to Nvidia's new release. When they stress tested the connectors for potential faults, their findings were concerning.
After only 2 1/2 hours, the adapter had signs of overheating, and after 10-30 hours, the connector started melting. This occurred in a lab without the intent to damage the equipment, but within a threshold to ensure that the units were safe for the majority of buyers. Nvidia still released the 3090 only weeks later with the same connector.
PCI-SIG believes that the issue may occur due to minor imperfections in either side of the connector, or if not seated with each pin perfect, could cause a change in resistance and thus, overload a certain area of the connector causing it to melt.
According to Zotac, a major manufacturer of these cards, the 600 watt 12VHPWR adapter that powers these new chips can only be unplugged up to 30 times before it needs to be replaced. While this is not a concern to the average user, it is important to be mindful to prevent damage, and signifies just how delicate the power connectors are.
It may not come as a surprise that these new cards are having issues, especially with PCI-SIG's preliminary report showing strong evidence of overheating and melting. More concerning is that this is the "Founders Edition," or base design from Nvidia. Most card manufacturers such as MSI or EVGA put out boards that have higher limits. For example, the RTX 3080 Ti was launched with a limit of 350 watts, yet EVGA released the same card with a limit of 450 watts, the EVGA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti FTW3 ULTRA.
As most manufacturers make their own cards beefier, the Founders RTX 4090 should be able to to handle its own rating. If the power correlates to previous designs, we can expect 550-600 watt RTX 4090 models from OEMs. This could mark a major issue because the power output on an aftermarket card often greatly exceeds the base models.
Nvidia's own RTX 3090 Ti that launched earlier in March has the same connection, the 12VHPWR, but with only 3 connectors on the other side, providing a theoretical maximum of 450 watts, and does not have the same reported issues.
Zotac 12VHPWR adapter (Image: Zotac)
According to an article from TechPowerUp, the upcoming RTX 4090 Ti will have an 800 watt TDP, almost twice that of a single RTX 4090. With the current situation, it is unclear if or how Nvidia will change the manufacturing process.
Card manufacturers will have to decide on whether or not to utilize the 12VHPWR connector that has likely been causing these issues, or a traditional 8-pin connector that has been traditional for years prior for better reliability.