So far, people have been used to simply connecting the appropriate power plug from the power supply to their graphics card and getting started without having to worry about it. Ironically, things are different with the new, extremely fast Geforce RTX 4090 for over 2,000 dollars. This is once again suggested by fresh findings on the problem of the sometimes melting power connections.
It is becoming increasingly apparent that cables that are not properly engaged could play an important part, such as a new one Report by Igorslab clarified. However, this seems to be much less due to inattentive owners of the RTX 4090 than to a lack of adequate feedback and other problems when plugging it in – and a lack of protection in the event that the connector is not seated correctly.
You can find out why our author Peter Bathge has a problem with new gaming hardware like the RTX 4090 hardware for completely different reasons in his following column:
Lunar prices for the RTX 4090
If things go on like this, I won’t be able to afford my hob by anymore
How does the problem arise and why does it rarely occur?
Measured by the assumed number of buyers of the RTX 4090, only a few cases of melting cables are known, as well this overview on Reddit indicates. But shouldn’t this happen more often if it’s relatively easy for the cable or adapter to not sit properly? The following factors help to significantly mitigate the problem:
- The adapters for the new 12VHPWR power connection that are primarily affected are those of Astron originate, whereby in some, but probably not in all cases, there seems to have been a production error that makes the occurrence of problems more likely. If you have a model without this production defect, you have a better chance of being spared.
- Second manufacturer’s adapter designer not only have they been spared from production errors, but according to Igorslab they can also be snapped into place better. If you use one of these adapters, you run less of a risk of unnoticed having to deal with an incorrectly seated connection.
According to Igorslab, the NTK adapters have three important advantages over the Astron models, which help with correct engagement: the lug for locking gives better tactile and acoustic feedback, the spring contacts have only one slot instead of two, which at the expense of ease of movement more durability and stability and the quality of the injection molding is higher, which prevents protruding material from being pushed between the plug and socket.
To make matters worse, the power connector is not exposed in some custom designs of the RTX 4090 or there is little space around the connector, which can also make it difficult to plug it in correctly. Igorslab also suspects the reason why Nvidia’s Founders Edition is affected less often, since the power connection is easily accessible here.
The revision of the plug running in the background is intended at the same time to prevent the plug from being used for operation even if it has not been fully plugged in, thanks in part to shorter pins. In the new revision, the decisive contact that enables starting only exists at the moment when the connector is really fully engaged. However, it remains unclear for the time being why this very sensible-sounding safeguard was not implemented from the start.
How do I know which adapter I have?
At first glance, the Astron and NTK adapters look very similar, but if you look closely you can tell them apart. Close-ups of the first page of the Article by Igorslablocated in the section The x4 adapter from NTK
Find.
According to the pictures, pay particular attention to the lug for locking, which has two small openings on the NTK adapter, and to the two slots at the top and bottom of the contacts.
However, since there are also cases in which native 12VHPWR cables have melted without an adapter (we reported), there is currently no guarantee that nothing will go wrong with either an NTK adapter or a native cable, even if the total number of known cases is still clearly within limits.
What’s the best way to behave now?
We generally recommend using a native cable as shown in the picture above instead of an adapter, provided this is offered for your current power supply unit (some are available for purchase). You should also make sure that the cable is properly snapped in (both on the PSU and on the graphics card) and bend it as little as possible, both horizontally and vertically.
At the same time, it is still to be hoped that Nvidia and its partners will get rid of the problem as quickly as possible. Because even if the RTX 4090 runs without problems in many cases, nobody wants to spend more than 2,000 dollars on a graphics card and then have to worry (so many) about the correct power connection.
Not only the prices, but also the power consumption of graphics cards has increased significantly in recent years. You can find out more about this using the example of Geforce GPUs in the following article:
Watt madness with new graphics cards: How bad is it really now?
How exactly do you make sure that the power cable of your graphics card is correctly snapped in? And if you don’t already own an RTX 4090, do recent reports of melting cables put you off a possible purchase? Feel free to write it in the comments!