• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

RTX 4090 12VHPWR cable appears to be very dangerous

benno

Member
What do you think happens when there is a short circuit due to overheating.
I think it'd just heat up where the resistance is. If it were to generate that much heat that the whole 2ft length of wire melted then that heat would desolder the GPU connector etc. I'm sure it would have images of or mentioned that if it had.
Of course it can burn everything. This connector is a dander for everything, the PSU and the GPU. And if things go really, really, bad might even damage the rest of the system.
I simply asked how the power supply end of the cable can melt if it's the GPU end of the cable which is causing the heat build up.
"It just does ok" isn't really an answer is it.
 
Last edited:

winjer

Member
I think it'd just heat up where the resistance is. If it were to generate that much heat that the whole 2ft length of wire melted then that heat would desolder the GPU connector etc. I'm sure it would have images of or mentioned that if it had.

I simply asked how the power supply end of the cable can melt if it's the GPU end of the cable which is causing the heat build up.
"It just does ok" isn't really an answer is it.

The cable heats up, burns the isolator, then the wires connect and cause a short circuit, burning everything.
 

Fredrik

Member
I like to keep my pc clean so no geforce experience for me, i don't need an app to regulate settings for me and i don't stream so...
I usually just download the latest driver after the initial window settings.

For the bios, i heard that some rare times a non-updated bios can cause problems and this time i want perfection for my build, i never want to ask myself if the game is broken or is my pc that is not going well for some obscure reason.
Didn’t know the mb bios was that important. When I first started it the ASUS mb wanted me to install some software package, stumbled onto a thread that said ASUS had crap software and installing the armour crate or whatever it was called was like installing bloatware, so I skipped that.
 

benno

Member
The cable heats up, burns the isolator, then the wires connect and cause a short circuit, burning everything.
Yes, at the GPU end. The image you linked shows both ends. So, that would mean there was some form of bad connection at the PSU end for the heat to also build up there.

Do you have the link to the actual PCI-Sig article rather than some image posted on some foreign twitter clone feed?
 

winjer

Member
Yes, at the GPU end. The image you linked shows both ends. So, that would mean there was some form of bad connection at the PSU end for the heat to also build up there.

Do you have the link to the actual PCI-Sig article rather than some image posted on some foreign twitter clone feed?

When there is a short circuit, there is a risk that everything burns.
 

bbeach123

Member
Yes, at the GPU end. The image you linked shows both ends. So, that would mean there was some form of bad connection at the PSU end for the heat to also build up there.

Do you have the link to the actual PCI-Sig article rather than some image posted on some foreign twitter clone feed?
The image is months ago . And the test actually come from Nvidia, which send to gamers nexus by SIG iirc .


7:07

 
Last edited:
Doc Brown Shock GIF by Back to the Future Trilogy
 

smbu2000

Member
It's not like it's new. The ATX 3.0 PCIe connector has shipped on ~500W 3090 Ti's for like 6 months by now and the 12-pin variant (without the sense pins) has shipped for 2 years on some AIB 3090s using ~450W.
Could it be because of the larger size of the 4090 cards compared to the 3090ti causing issues with cables coming into contact with cases causing bending.

Also maybe the placement of the connectors. I have a 3090ti with the 16pin connector with a 3x8pin adapter (Gigabyte Gaming card). When I looked at the specs for the equivalent 4090 card it was longer and taller than my card. In addition the 16pin connector on my older 3090ti card is slightly recessed a bit into the card so it isn’t right at the edge. On the equivalent 4090 version the connector appears to be right on the edge which would cause issues that my older/smaller card with the 16pin connector doesn’t have.
 

GymWolf

Member
Didn’t know the mb bios was that important. When I first started it the ASUS mb wanted me to install some software package, stumbled onto a thread that said ASUS had crap software and installing the armour crate or whatever it was called was like installing bloatware, so I skipped that.
It's not that important, but this time i want to have everything to be perfect.
 

Fredrik

Member
It's not that important, but this time i want to have everything to be perfect.
Yeah I’m not criticizing your priorities, it’s how I wish I did things as well but I rushed it (should’ve waited on 13600K, 13700K or 13900K), I too should look into the bios 👍
 

benno

Member
The image is months ago . And the test actually come from Nvidia, which send to gamers nexus by SIG iirc .
thank you.

When there is a short circuit, there is a risk that everything burns.
So, the PCI-Sig image you posted was actually an older article and with completely unrelated images stuck on for effect and made to look like the burnt connectors were the results of the tests.
 
Last edited:

winjer

Member
thank you.


So, the PCI-Sig image you posted was actually an older article and with completely unrelated images stuck on for effect and made to look like the burnt connectors were the results of the tests.

Wrong again.
It's a report from PCI SIG, warning about issues with the cable. And referring to testing that NVidia had already done. Some of the images are from NVidia.
PCI SIG recommends that each manufacturer tests their cables for potential failure and submit results with NVidia.
Meaning, all of these companies are trying to search for causes of failure. Maybe they can come up with improvements to safety of these connectors.
 

benno

Member
Watch the video from GN.
I stand corrected.

The video is over a month old and the tests must be even older than that on pre-release cables. Hopefully they aren't the version of cables which come boxed with the GPU. My 4090 is fine, I touched the connecter and it's cool. I'm about to spend a shitload on a PC which will be connected to a shitload of expensive digital processing equipment so don't want it going kerput.
 

winjer

Member
I stand corrected.

The video is over a month old and the tests must be even older than that on pre-release cables. Hopefully they aren't the version of cables which come boxed with the GPU. My 4090 is fine, I touched the connecter and it's cool. I'm about to spend a shitload on a PC which will be connected to a shitload of expensive digital processing equipment so don't want it going kerput.

Yes, because these companies already knew about the issues.
And NVidia continued to push this connector, despite knowing better.

Just avoid bending the cable and you should be fine.
 
Last edited:

LiquidMetal14

hide your water-based mammals
20221026_174633b2e68.jpg



Sasquatch level potato cam. This is a Gaming OC 4090 pressed against the glass a little. Corsair 200T. Running fine and this card is not meant for this case.
 

benno

Member
LiquidMetal14 LiquidMetal14 yeah, my cable looks the same as yours.

NS2rhfQ.jpg


Very strange how the 3090Ti's have been out for 6 months with the same connecter but no reports of this happening. The 3090Ti has 3 connection cables rather than 4 though.
 

Reallink

Member
Regardless of how real or widespread this is, with daily reports of a new Meximelt, it seems all but guaranteed they're going to wind up "unlaunching", recalling, and redesigning all the 4XXX's with new power connectors.
 
Last edited:

Buggy Loop

Member
After all the fear mongering he couldnt replicate any issues?

There’s so many factors into this. An image of a melted connector is really not enough to point fingers and he’s starting to realize it.

You can find images of USB cables / PCIe 6+2, cpu 8 pins, molex, 24 pins motherboard, sata, hdd power, all melted. Listening to everyone making a huge deal out of this, we should never use electricity if we applied this logic to anything with a possible failure point.
 

daffyduck

Member
There’s so many factors into this. An image of a melted connector is really not enough to point fingers and he’s starting to realize it.

You can find images of USB cables / PCIe 6+2, cpu 8 pins, molex, 24 pins motherboard, sata, hdd power, all melted. Listening to everyone making a huge deal out of this, we should never use electricity if we applied this logic to anything with a possible failure point.
Agreed. Though this is a really expensive component to have to worry about, though. Especially with rma support going downhill.
 

PhoenixTank

Member
There’s so many factors into this. An image of a melted connector is really not enough to point fingers and he’s starting to realize it.

You can find images of USB cables / PCIe 6+2, cpu 8 pins, molex, 24 pins motherboard, sata, hdd power, all melted. Listening to everyone making a huge deal out of this, we should never use electricity if we applied this logic to anything with a possible failure point.
Possibly add cable quality control issues as a factor? Thinking out loud.
 
  • Like
Reactions: GHG

Buggy Loop

Member
Possibly add cable quality control issues as a factor? Thinking out loud.

Yes very much so, as I posted on previous page :



There seems to be a lower quality checks on these items. Manufacturers are getting hit hard by employees leaving, turnover, loss of knowledge, etc.
 
Last edited:

GHG

Gold Member
Seems Galax did some testing and they concluded it's the result of the cable not being pushed in correctly

RGzKikx.jpg




So what is it? Cables not being pushed in properly, cables being bent or poor QC for cables?

It's a bit all over the place at the moment. Maybe this is what they planned to push me towards a 3xxx series card, because if so they are doing a good job.
 
Last edited:

Tams

Member
More fearmongering from Jay?
I need to block this guys Youtube channel.

90 degree and 180 degree connectors should be used anyway.
Cablemod-12VHPWR-adapter.jpg




1cae8e33-82a6-4375-988c-ac0564a1ac59.__CR0_0_2000_1237_PT0_SX970_V1_600x.jpg
Does it say in the manual that for tight(ish - this isn't even that tight) mends that you must use an adapter?

If not, then yes, this is on Nvidia. They should have seen this coming.
 

Fredrik

Member
Quoting myself from the 4090 thread.
For science! Some heat camera pics when playing the new A Plague Tale.

Just booted it up:

nlyFf9J.jpg


A couple minutes later, stabilized for awhile with 99% GPU usage

ONPJMZo.jpg


dQSpWhY.jpg


bgJkQJG.jpg


Bonus pic. If anyone ever wonder where the heat comes from in a PC 😅

5TNkKsy.jpg



The heat on the 12VHP connector was building up over time but stabilized just under 50C, I couldn’t see that the heat comes from the actual connection, or a specific spot on the connector, it looked like it slowly spread from the graphics card itself and into the cable and became cooler the further away on the cable I looked, the 4 adapter plugs were cool all the time.
🤓
I don’t think there is anything to worry about here tbh, as long as you make sure the plugs are seated properly of course. The heat I’m seeing looks like normal heat spread from the graphics card, not from bad connection which would’ve happened quickly and on specific problematic pins, the further away from the graphics cards I look the cooler cable is.
ONPJMZo.jpg
 
Last edited:

Rentahamster

Rodent Whores
Interesting information from Igor. Mainly he tries to make sure everyone is on the same page by making clear that the connector itself is not the problem, but more like the adapter Nvidia provides.


Summary and conclusion

The overall build quality of the included adapter for the GeForce RTX 4090, which is distributed by NVIDIA itself, is extremely poor and the internal construction should never have been approved like this. NVIDIA has to take its own supplier to task here, and replacing the adapters in circulation would actually be the least they could do. I will therefore summarize once again what has struck those involved (myself included) so far:

  • The problem is not the 12VHPWR connection as such, nor the repeated plugging or unplugging.
  • Standard compliant power supply cables from brand manufacturers are NOT affected by this so far.
  • The current trigger is NVIDIA’s own adapter to 4x 8-pin in the accessories, whose inferior quality can lead to failures and has already caused damage in single cases.
  • Splitting each of the four 14AWG leads onto each of the 6 pins in the 12VHPWR connector of the adapter by soldering them onto bridges that are much too thin is dangerous because the ends of the leads can break off at the solder joint (e.g., when kinked or bent several times).
  • Bending or kinking the wires directly at the connector of the adapter puts too much pressure on the solder joints and bridges, so that they can break off.
  • The inner bridge between the pins is too thin (resulting cross section) to compensate the current flow on two or three instead of four connected 12V lines.
  • NVIDIA has already been informed in advance and the data and pictures were also provided by be quiet! directly to the R&D department.
 

GymWolf

Member
Interesting information from Igor. Mainly he tries to make sure everyone is on the same page by making clear that the connector itself is not the problem, but more like the adapter Nvidia provides.


Summary and conclusion

The overall build quality of the included adapter for the GeForce RTX 4090, which is distributed by NVIDIA itself, is extremely poor and the internal construction should never have been approved like this. NVIDIA has to take its own supplier to task here, and replacing the adapters in circulation would actually be the least they could do. I will therefore summarize once again what has struck those involved (myself included) so far:

  • The problem is not the 12VHPWR connection as such, nor the repeated plugging or unplugging.
  • Standard compliant power supply cables from brand manufacturers are NOT affected by this so far.
  • The current trigger is NVIDIA’s own adapter to 4x 8-pin in the accessories, whose inferior quality can lead to failures and has already caused damage in single cases.
  • Splitting each of the four 14AWG leads onto each of the 6 pins in the 12VHPWR connector of the adapter by soldering them onto bridges that are much too thin is dangerous because the ends of the leads can break off at the solder joint (e.g., when kinked or bent several times).
  • Bending or kinking the wires directly at the connector of the adapter puts too much pressure on the solder joints and bridges, so that they can break off.
  • The inner bridge between the pins is too thin (resulting cross section) to compensate the current flow on two or three instead of four connected 12V lines.
  • NVIDIA has already been informed in advance and the data and pictures were also provided by be quiet! directly to the R&D department.
2400 euros in europe for a 4090 and they can't even bother to put a quality cable?

nvidia-jensen-huang.gif


Last famous words.
 

benno

Member
So what is it? Cables not being pushed in properly, cables being bent or poor QC for cables?
All the images of the burnt connectors are from setups without severe bends, also on the official Nvidia forum the consensus is that the PCI-Sig tests on the bending were early prototypes and not release versions of the cable.
The Galax test vid goes into a little detail on the bending, if you can watch the video with subtitles, and they didn't find anything. Basically, the Galax test was as they were pulling the cables apart, they could see the cable heat up rapidly and pushing it back together again would cool it back down again.
I personally think it's mostly bollocks and internet pitchforks. 4 cards have failed out of thousands sold, which could be anything from a faulty batch of cables to incorrectly seated connectors. If mine fails I'll just return it and get another, just like I do with everything else which fails.
It's just odd how the loudest people who have issue with all this don't actually own the GPU.
 
Last edited:

Fredrik

Member
All the images of the burnt connectors are from setups without severe bends, also on the official Nvidia forum the consensus is that the PCI-Sig tests on the bending were early prototypes and not release versions of the cable.
The Galax test vid goes into a little detail on the bending, if you can watch the video with subtitles, and they didn't find anything. Basically, the Galax test was as they were pulling the cables apart, they could see the cable heat up rapidly and pushing it back together again would cool it back down again.
I personally think it's mostly bollocks and internet pitchforks. 4 cards have failed out of thousands sold, which could be anything from a faulty batch of cables to incorrectly seated connectors. If mine fails I'll just return it and get another, just like I do with everything else which fails.
It's just odd how the loudest people who have issue with all this don't actually own the GPU.
Could be a bad batch, hard to know. After looking with a heat camera I can’t see any reason to be concerned for my card and cable at least, card don’t reach over 70C and the cable stabilize just under 50C at 99% usage. If it would get hot after 10 hours at 100% then so be it, it’s a scenario I’ll never have anyway. Maybe cryptominers should look at a different card idk
 

GHG

Gold Member
All the images of the burnt connectors are from setups without severe bends, also on the official Nvidia forum the consensus is that the PCI-Sig tests on the bending were early prototypes and not release versions of the cable.
The Galax test vid goes into a little detail on the bending, if you can watch the video with subtitles, and they didn't find anything. Basically, the Galax test was as they were pulling the cables apart, they could see the cable heat up rapidly and pushing it back together again would cool it back down again.
I personally think it's mostly bollocks and internet pitchforks. 4 cards have failed out of thousands sold, which could be anything from a faulty batch of cables to incorrectly seated connectors. If mine fails I'll just return it and get another, just like I do with everything else which fails.
It's just odd how the loudest people who have issue with all this don't actually own the GPU.

There are plenty of people who have these cards who are now worried and are talking about it.

I hope for everyone's sake that if theirs happens to fail for whatever reason it only takes out the cable or the card and nothing else.
 

OZ9000

Banned
Interesting information from Igor. Mainly he tries to make sure everyone is on the same page by making clear that the connector itself is not the problem, but more like the adapter Nvidia provides.


Summary and conclusion

The overall build quality of the included adapter for the GeForce RTX 4090, which is distributed by NVIDIA itself, is extremely poor and the internal construction should never have been approved like this. NVIDIA has to take its own supplier to task here, and replacing the adapters in circulation would actually be the least they could do. I will therefore summarize once again what has struck those involved (myself included) so far:

  • The problem is not the 12VHPWR connection as such, nor the repeated plugging or unplugging.
  • Standard compliant power supply cables from brand manufacturers are NOT affected by this so far.
  • The current trigger is NVIDIA’s own adapter to 4x 8-pin in the accessories, whose inferior quality can lead to failures and has already caused damage in single cases.
  • Splitting each of the four 14AWG leads onto each of the 6 pins in the 12VHPWR connector of the adapter by soldering them onto bridges that are much too thin is dangerous because the ends of the leads can break off at the solder joint (e.g., when kinked or bent several times).
  • Bending or kinking the wires directly at the connector of the adapter puts too much pressure on the solder joints and bridges, so that they can break off.
  • The inner bridge between the pins is too thin (resulting cross section) to compensate the current flow on two or three instead of four connected 12V lines.
  • NVIDIA has already been informed in advance and the data and pictures were also provided by be quiet! directly to the R&D department.


This looks like a good option to avoid Nvidia's connector.
 
Last edited:

benno

Member
So it is user's fault. Got it. Nicely done by Galax and Nvidia (figures).
What would you like them to say? It's all on video. They ran 1500w through the connector and tested it and couldn't recreate the increase in temps by bending the cable. Should they just lie to appease the latest internet bandwagon drama?
 
Top Bottom