Fresh reports of melting power connectors on Nvidia's flagship GeForce RTX 5090 have emerged, casting doubt on the updated 12V-2×6 standard.
Hardware site Club386 and YouTuber Daniel Owen both experienced connector meltdowns during testing.
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Club386 reported that their RTX 5090 Founders Edition suffered severe damage after the 12V-2×6 connector melted.
Photos show charred and deformed pins on both the GPU and cable, along with damage to the power supply.
The test setup used a 1000W Be Quiet Dark Power 13 PSU with a single native 12V-2×6 cable, properly installed without user error.
Daniel Owen encountered the same issue on his RTX 5090 Founders Edition, even when using a 4×8-pin to 12V-2×6 adapter.
These failures add to a growing list of problems since the RTX 50-series launch, occurring even with power limits lowered and correct cables.
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Connector Design Under Scrutiny
The 12V-2×6 connector was introduced to fix melting issues with the older 12VHPWR design.
It features shorter sense pins for better detection of incomplete seating and can handle higher power.
However, real-world usage with the RTX 5090's power spikes exceeding 500-600W continues to expose weaknesses.
Uneven current distribution across pins, slight cable bending, and heat buildup appear to still cause problems.
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Club386 called the connector “flawed” and “not fit for purpose,” urging Nvidia to acknowledge the issue.
Nvidia maintains that the connector meets ATX 3.1 specs and recommends using native cables from quality PSUs.
Some third-party companies like MSI have introduced reinforced cables with monitoring features.
Despite this, high-profile failures suggest that RTX 5090 owners should double-check cabling, ensure full insertion, and consider undervolting.
Affected users are advised to document everything for RMA purposes.
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It remains unclear if Nvidia will implement a hardware fix or other solution to resolve the connector drama.
