- A small number of overheating and fusion of RTX 5090 power cables have been confirmed
- This follows widespread reports of similar problems with the previous RTX 4090
- However, third party cables may be to blame this time
Remember “cablegate”? At the end of 2022, users began to point out that the supply connectors of their NVIDIA RTX 4090 graphics cards overheated and mainly based in unusable plastic guys – and now, according to some buyers, the same problem could be afflicted The new release RTX 5090.
NOW, I covered the cable fiasco When the story was at its peak, and at the time, I was ready to attribute at least part of the blame to Nvidia, because the special PCIe interest group (PCI-SIG) had previously published a warning report of The “ Thermal variance ” The risks concerning the 12VHPWR adapter used for the RTX 4090. This time, however, I am really not so sure that Nvidia is at fault.
To start, problems seem much less widespread than with the RTX 4090; While there were literally dozens of reports in 2022 (which continued well in 2024), we have only seen two confirmed cases isolated from cable molding with regard to the RTX 5090. The first came from a Reddit userWhile the second was reported by the Spanish YouTube channel Critics of Toro Tocho. Both reported the same problem: the overheated and melted power cable both ends, something we have not seen in the majority of the failures of the RTX 4090 connector.
Second, the first of these cases was confirmed as having involved a third -party supply cable of the Modding PC Moddiy supplier, introducing a new potential failure point. NVIDIA has now switched to the 12v-2 × 6 connection standard for more stable power and more secure PIN connections, and although Moddiy affirms that its cables support the new standard, the Reddit user said they had used this cable for two years with a RTX 4090. Compaatibility behind with third -party cables 12VHPWR is likely to continue to be a problem for NVIDIA GPU – in particular, Moddiy has now A page on his website Advise buyers with the GPUs of the RTX 5000 series to buy new 12V-2 × 6 cables for 2025.
So, is there really a problem?
In other words, at least one of these cable molding cases seems to have been caused by a user error: the 12VHPWR cable that has melted, although it was physically compatible with the RTX 5090, has Probably not been able to manage power delivery. Nvidia’s last flagship GPU is a hungry girl, after all, with an obscene 575W TDP.
The PC modders go modern, of course, but given the known problems with the power connector of the previous card, I would personally be very Reluctant to use something other than the cables provided in the box at this stage. A Reddit Megathread On the subject was created to compile additional cases, and there are a lot of debate in the comments as to Nvidia must blame or if users should take more care to avoid third -party cables – even if they claim be compatible.
Naturally, I contacted my contact in Nvidia to ask for a quote, but Team Green refused to comment – not even a “ we investigate ”, emphasizing me rather that the moddiy page warning of the use of 12vhpwr Plus cables old. It seems that Nvidia feels more confident this time, further strengthening the idea that the cases we have seen so far have not been caused by the GPUs themselves but rather third-party equipment.
It is always possible that we are only at the beginning of a raz of tidal reports – given the Extremely limited availability of RTX 5090 at launchWe could still be to see the full extent of the problem because only a small number of users have managed to get their hands on the GPU.
However, we must not draw conclusions. Two cases (with a few others not confirmed) are not exactly the cavalcade of the problems we saw after the launch of the RTX 4090, so there is every chance that these problems are not so widespread. If you were Fortunately to hang one of Nvidia’s new flagship GPUs, my only advice is as follows: stay with the cables provided for now! If you have reflections on this subject, do not hesitate to tell me which genius / idiot I am in our section of brilliant comments below. Frankly, I would like to chat with someone who managed to buy one of these cards …
