Joined in 2023 
82 
63 About this deal
The new connector helps eliminate the use of multiple 6-pin or 8-pin PCIe cables, decreasing cable clutter and making cable management easier. Nevertheless, the GeForce RTX 3090 Ti can also be powered by three 8-pin PCIe cables, although it would be a lot more unwieldy. So far the melting 16-pin connector issue was affecting mostly the GPU side as you can see in the image above. However, we now have the first case of a Reddit user Shiftyeyes67k who had a 16-pin melt on the SMPS side. The affected model happens to be a 1000W Dark Power 13 from Be Quiet. We are investigating additional ways to ensure that the connector is secure before powering on the graphics card." The chipmaker does warn against using third-party adapters, such as the Cablemod and the upcoming Seasonic one, which will void your warranty — though note that all the cases of melted connectors so far have been with the official Nvidia adapter. Can someone build a better right-angle connector than Nvidia's official adapter? Almost certainly, and it will still technically void your warranty. As our brand is known for highest quality standards, we treat this seriously and have initiated an investigation.
Several have said that they have heard from Nvidia or other card vendors after reporting their melting connector, or that they have received a replacement card. Use only the included PCIe Gen 5 compliant power connector adapter for your GeForce RTX 40-series Founders Edition graphics card. Use of non-compliant or third-party power connector adapters may cause technical issues, and may void your manufacturer warranty." The company said that in testing cables returned from customers, a "wear line" can be seen, suggesting that the cable wasn't fully inserted into the connector on the card. What has the PCI-SIG said about this? Nov 24th 2023 Special Chinese Factories are Dismantling NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Graphics Cards and Turning Them into AI-Friendly GPU Shape (47)Amphenol ICC confirmed that the connector is designed for 600W graphics cards. It didn't specify whether it's for gaming or data center graphics cards. However, the company did list AI and cloud, gaming consoles, graphic interface, networking, server and storage as potential target markets for the connector. The specifications for the 12V-2x6 power connector aren't final; however, Igor's Lab believes they're unlikely to change. For example, MSI has already launched new ATX 3.0 power supplies with the 12V2x6 connector. The fact that the vendors can spec the 12V-2x6 power connector for 150W or 300W might mean that we could potentially find the new power connector on lower-end graphics cards as well. The new NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 Ti graphics card is the first to use the new 16-pin PCIe 5.0 power connector. Our findings to date suggest that a common issue is that connectors are not fully plugged into the graphics card. To help ensure the connector is secure we recommend plugging the power dongle into the graphics card first to ensure it's firmly and evenly plugged in, before plugging the graphics card into the motherboard.
We do not know precisely how many RTX 4090 cards have been sold that use the 16-pin 12VHPWR connector. There are also RTX 3090 Ti and RTX 4080 cards that also use the same connector. By that token, there could be hundreds of thousands of cards with 16-pin connectors now in the hands of consumers, and only a very few of those have failed — Gamers Nexus claims the graphics card companies are saying the failure rate is between 0.05% and 0.1% right now. So about one in a thousand to one in two thousand. Some companies are already announcing new adapters for the GPU. CableMod, for instance, has a right angle adapter that it says requires less bending. What has Nvidia said about all of this? Interestingly, Nvidia has used a 12-pin precursor to the PCI-SIG 16-pin connector on the Founders Edition RTX 30-series cards. To our knowledge, no one reported any melting 12-pin adapters over the past two years. RTX 3090 Ti cards also use a 16-pin connector, but they still come with a 12-pin adapter cable.Initially, there were some concerns that the 12VHPWR connector could fail if the cables were bent in the wrong place. CableMod, a third-party cable manufacturer, published a "12VHPWR Cable Guide" claiming that it can't be bent near the plug, and all bends should start at least 35mm from the connector. PSU manufacturer Be quiet! places that distance at 40 mm. This is difficult to do in most PC cases. It also suggested that people need to ensure they're plugging in the cables completely. The 16-pin connector is largely the same, but it adds four extra "sense pins" that can communicate with the power supply. In our experience, the 16-pin connector does require a bit more force to fully insert. Multiple theories suggest the root cause may be improperly inserted connectors, perhaps pulled out after doing some cable management. But there is no hard proof as yet that this is the only possible cause. Bottom Line
When Nvidia launched the RTX 4090, the card was almost universally praised for the performance uplift it offered while also being not very expensive compared to its predecessor, the RTX 3090. In fact, the RTX 4090 is probably the most recommended card among all the other RTX 40-series GPUs, except maybe the 4070, as most of the Ada Lovelace (RTX 4000) GPUs offer terrible value. This is murky territory. In the box for the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 Founders Edition, the documentation reads: Having said that, some custom GeForce RTX 3090 Ti cards like the EVGA Kingpin Hybrid Gaming even come with two PCIe 5.0 power connectors, which means up to a ridiculous 1,200W of power delivery. Nvidia has suggested that the issue is caused because 16-pin adapters are not being plugged completely into the graphics card. Here are some of the first pictures of a GIGABYTE GeForce RTX 4070 Ti custom-design graphics cards, the RTX 4070 Ti AERO. GIGABYTE targets the AERO brand of graphics cards, motherboards, and notebooks, at creators who like to game, hence the product design that's a lot less flashy than the company's AORUS or Gaming OC brands of graphics cards. An interesting aspect of this card is that it features a 16-pin ATX 12VHPWR connector, and includes an NVIDIA-supplied power adapter that converts two 8-pin PCIe power connectors to one 12VHPWR. We know this adapter is different from the 2x 8-pin to 12-pin adapter NVIDIA included with the RTX 3080 Founders Edition, looking at the four sensor pins.
Another interesting bit of information from the draft concerns temperatures on the 12V-2x6 power connector's pins. The temperature life is 168 hours at 105 degrees Celsius, while the expectancy is 92 hours at 105 degrees Celsius with preconditioning. Therefore, manufacturers must consider temperature limits when designing their graphics cards to ensure that other components, such as the shunts, VRM, or coils, don't add unnecessary heat to the header. Here's what we know about the issues with the 16-pin 12VHPWR connector incidents so far. What is happening? With Ampere, Nvidia pushed the 12-pin PCIe power connector, but it never caught on. Only the Founders Edition utilized that connector. The chipmaker's partners still preferred the standard 6-pin and 8-pin PCIe power connectors for their custom Ampere offerings. The introduction of the 12VHPWR power connectors will be troublesome for power supply manufacturers. They'll either have to design new products that comes with the 12VHPWR power connector or provide existing owners with an adapter. RS supply a wide range of high quality components. They include heavy duty industrial connectors, power connectors, modular connectors, electrical connectors, electronic and data connectors. They are divided into the following categories: Nvidia and our partners are committed to supporting our customer and ensuring an expedited RMA process, regardless of the cable or card used.”
Despite the PCIe 5.0 connector having 16 pins, its overall size has still been reduced to something similar to that of the older 8-pin connector. The distance between the power pins has been reduced from 4.2mm to 3mm, and the connector measures just 18.85mm long. It's not tiny, but it still occupies much less space than three 'traditional' 8-pin PCIegraphics power connectors.
Plug or male
The PSU maker has issued a statement to Tom's Hardware regarding this confirming that it is looking into the matter. The case has been labelled as unique and rightfully so as there have not been any reports online similar to this. Be Quiet's full statement is given below: The guidance to not bend the cable too close to the connector still stands with the 12V-2x6 power connector. With the previous 12VHPWR power connector, the recommended spacing was at least 35mm from the connector before bending, although some power supply vendors suggested up to 40mm for good measure. However, the distance for the 12V-2x6 power connector is unknown as Igor's Lab didn't provide the specific measurement in the report. The 12V-2x6 document also delves into more technical aspects, such as testing methodologies.
Great Deal 
New Comment