Reports from NorthridgeFix indicate that owners of NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 GPUs are still experiencing “12VHPWR” connector issues, including melting and burns.
Repairing Channel Exposes Continued Vulnerability of NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 GPUs to “12VHPWR” Connector Issues
Since the launch of the GeForce RTX 4090, the history of its problematic 12VHPWR connector has been riddled with cases of melted and burned connectors. Despite the global presence of these cards for over a year, these issues persist, with NorthridgeFix receiving “20 to 25 graphics cards per week” with the same problem. The repairman has even resorted to using a respirator mask to avoid health risks due to the noxious burning smell and exposure from handling these affected cards.
“We get them in so much that I bought myself this Hiroshima mask, so I do not have to smell the burn on those conductors. It smells like fireworks times ten. It cannot be healthy to keep smelling burnt connectors.”
– NorthridgeFix
The issue is not exclusive to a specific vendor or model, as ASUS, MSI, ZOTAC, and Gigabyte GPUs are all affected. The root cause of the problem is often traced back to inadequate power connector installation, resulting in poor contact force and disruptions in the power delivery process.
While newer cards like the RTX 4070 have addressed the issue with the 12V-2×6 power connector standard, a large number of NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 GPUs still utilize the older design, requiring extra care and handling. Companies like Cablemod have introduced fixes, but users with affected cards may need to seek professional repairs to prevent rendering their expensive graphics cards useless.
Source: Northridge Fix
