• Nvidia has mentioned it isn’t ‘anticipated’ that cable melting points will occur with the RTX 5090
• The corporate reminded us in regards to the modifications made to the 16-pin energy connector after the RTX 4090 bumped into points
• Nonetheless, a California-based restore store has flagged up individually that it nonetheless fixes melted RTX 4090s on a ‘day by day’ foundation

Nvidia has assured us that the RTX 5090 GPU is “not anticipated” to have any points with melting energy connectors, as seen with the RTX 4090 (and we’ll come again to dive into the historical past, and present state of affairs with the Lovelace flagship, later on this article).

South Korean tech website Quasarzone revealed an article detailing Nvidia’s ‘RTX AI’ day which features a Q&A session (observed by VideoCardz), and one of many questions requested was with regards to the 16-pin energy connectors utilized by the RTX 4090, and likewise employed within the imminent RTX 5090.

An attendee on the occasion famous that there was a problem with the connector melting on account of overheating with the RTX 4090, and requested: “Has this been resolved with the RTX 5090?”

An Nvidia consultant replied: “It’s anticipated that such points is not going to happen with the RTX 50 collection. In response to the problem on the time, some modifications had been made to the connectors, and after about two years, we consider these issues have been resolved.”

I ought to observe that that is translated from Korean, and we must always bear that firmly in thoughts by way of the accuracy of what’s been mentioned right here, and the precise that means, however the gist is obvious sufficient.

Evaluation: Energy paranoia

Okay, time to hit the rewind button for a second. You would possibly keep in mind the melting cable affair with the Lovelace flagship GPU when it first got here out, nevertheless it’s price indulging in a fast recap. (Or in order for you the complete background, head right here first).

In a nutshell, this was an issue with the 16-pin connector (12VHPWR) from the PC’s energy provide to the RTX 4090 graphics card not being seated correctly within the card, and overheating consequently. If that overheating acquired to a important sufficient degree, the plastic would begin to soften (and a poor connection was extra possible if the adapter needed to be bent spherical at a sharper than best angle, on account of area points contained in the PC case).

Following the emergence of those stories of melting adapters, Nvidia introduced in a brand new 16-pin energy connector design (12V-2×6, a revision of 12VHPWR) to mitigate the attainable fireplace danger of a loosely seated connector.

Basically, Nvidia put the issue right down to a person error (not making certain the connector was plugged in absolutely), then moved to vary the connector to reduce any probability of that occuring. This connector revision concerned making modifications to the size of the pins, together with making the ‘sense’ pins shorter, in order that if the connector isn’t absolutely seated, or it loosens and begins to fall out, the graphics card will energy down and never work (reasonably than proceed to function and trigger the overheating challenge).

This would be the identical state of affairs for the RTX 5090, so the security side ought to be wonderful, or that’s the assertion Nvidia is making right here. Besides that there’s a notable nuance within the (translated) language right here having been couched by way of it being ‘not anticipated’ that any melting points will occur with the RTX 5090.

That’s not a cast-iron ruling out of any drawback, however in fact we should be cautious across the translation from Korean, as already famous. The extra fear with the RTX 5070 is that it severely ups the energy utilization to 575W (at the least, in comparison with 450W with the RTX 4090), however regardless of that, Nvidia is saying it doesn’t count on to see any issues with melting connectors.

The opposite concern right here, as VideoCardz factors out, is that whereas the Nvidia rep observes that after two years the melting cable issues with the RTX 4090 seem to have been resolved, there have been nonetheless stories of this taking place all through 2024 – and whilst latest as this month, January 2025. That’s in keeping with NorthridgeFix (a tech restore store in California, US), which claims to be getting RTX 4090 boards with melted connectors each day nonetheless.

So, there’s a degree of paranoia right here, and that’s not surprising in itself, significantly given, as famous, how a lot additional the RTX 5090 pushes with its energy consumption in comparison with its predecessor.

Finally, the proof shall be within the energy cable pudding (there’s an unenticing sounding dessert), and the way of us get on with the brand new flagship GPU when it’s launched. Till then, we clearly can’t decide the RTX 5090 on the melting rating, however you’d hope that a technique or one other, this is a matter that it might’ve been an absolute precedence for Nvidia to design towards and absolutely put to mattress.

• AMD reveals RX 9070 GPUs gained’t go on sale till March, which is perhaps too late to forestall Nvidia cleansing up with RTX 5070 fashions
• Rumor has it AMD’s feeling the warmth from Nvidia’s RTX 5000 GPU launch costs – however a call on RX 9070 pricing should be made quickly
• The tip of the Nvidia RTX 4000 collection is nigh – with the RTX 4070 anticipated to promote out in weeks