$1,599 from Nvidia A very powerful graphics card, the GeForce RTX 4090 has a significant power draw in exchange for its performance. Similar to some of the RTX 3000-series cards, Nvidia supplies the card with power via a novel 16-pin 12VHPWR power connector. To save some board space, up to four 8-pin GPU power cables can be connected to the 12VHPWR adaptor, which then connects into the GPU’s socket.
The 12VHPWR connectors of at least two RT 4090 customers, however, have reportedly overheated and melted while in operation. We don’t know the precise setup of each user’s PC, so treat these concerns with a grain of salt as they come from Reddit (via Tom’s Hardware). The power supply, the specific type of graphics card (a Gigabyte RTX 4090 Gaming OC for one user, an Asus RTX 4090 TUF Gaming OC Edition for the other), and a variety of other elements could have caused the connectors to overheat.
Nvidia, for its part, told Tom’s that it was “investigating the complaints,” that it was “in communication with the first owner,” and that it was going to get in touch with the other owner. Nvidia was contacted again, and if it has further information to give, we’ll update this piece.
