Testing suggests faulty cable may be to blame for melting RTX 4090 connectors - Ars Technica

powerfulness nonaccomplishment —

More reports of overheating powerfulness connectors person surfaced each time this week.

Andrew Cunningham - Oct 28, 2022 9:52 p.m. UTC

Enlarge / The powerfulness adapter for the RTX 4090 feeds 4 8-pin powerfulness connectors into a azygous 12VHPWR connector.

Sam Machkovech

Earlier this week, a mates of Reddit users reported that the powerfulness connectors for their costly caller Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 GPUs had partially melted and that Nvidia was looking into the issue. Since then, astatine slightest 9 further Reddit users person posted astir the aforesaid occupation with the 16-pin powerfulness connector (a thread collecting each accusation connected the occupation is here).

Igor Wallossek of the German-language hardware tract Igor's Lab has besides performed further testing, and said that the powerfulness adapter cablegram (rather than the GPUs oregon the 12VHPWR connector) whitethorn beryllium to blasted for the problems. The adapter, which is seemingly manufactured by a institution called Astron and was provided by Nvidia to each of its committee partners, uses "a full of 4 heavy 14AWG wires distributed implicit a full of six contacts," with a bladed solder basal that Wallossek says tin beryllium damaged easy erstwhile the cables are moved oregon bent.

Enlarge / The solder wrong of Nvidia's powerfulness adapter cablegram tin beryllium damaged if the cables are moved oregon bent excessively much.

"If, successful the worst case, the 2 outer wires interruption off, the full existent successful the mediate flows done the remaining 2 wires," Wallossek wrote. "The information that this past becomes truly blistery does not person to beryllium explained separately."

Contrast Nvidia's adapter cablegram to the 12VHPWR cablegram provided with a Be Quiet! Dark Power Pro 13 powerfulness supply, 1 of a fewer newer ATX 3.0 PSU models with a 12VHPWR cablegram that connects close to the PSU alternatively than relying connected an adapter. The cablegram is thicker than the 1 successful Nvidia's adapter due to the fact that each pin has its ain wire, but it besides runs chill and delivers reliable powerfulness to the GPU.

Wallossek besides said that Nvidia told its partners to nonstop each affected cards backmost to Nvidia for further probe and testing. We asked Nvidia astir this occupation and the probe earlier this week and volition update if we person caller information.