It’s been a whirlwind week for Nvidia. After several reports of the RTX 4090’s power adapter melting GPUs. However, they are reportedly working with AIB partners to resolve the issues with their adaptor quickly.
After reports of melting RTX 4090s, Nvidia has reportedly been scrambling to resolve the issue with its AIB board partners. Investigation into the issue showcases that the fault may be caused by a faulty connection between the supplied adapter and the graphics card. Bending the included 12VHPR adapter before a safe 3.5mm limit appears to be the main issue.
Igor’s Lab has corroborated these reports with his own investigation. He states that the adapter is not of proper quality to sustain the strain of being bent. However, he also says that this issue has not been replicated in ATX 3.0 power supplies like the BeQuiet Dark Rock Pro, which uses heavier-duty wires. Equally, there has also been a report that a 12VHPWR adapter from the company had loose pins.
Now the designs of the individual manufacturers are also increasingly coming into focus. Three community members with a 12VHPWR PSU adapter from be quiet! have already posted in the forum. Individual pins came loose from the connector. No fire started! pic.twitter.com/L0sEEqZVoX
— Andreas Schilling 🇺🇦 🇮🇱 (@aschilling) October 25, 2022
Manufacturers investigate 4090 power adapter issues
Galax’s own overclocking team attempted to replicate the issue with intense torture testing. It showcased that an importer connection of the 12VHPWR port can also cause thermal spikes, which is leading the wires of the adapter to melt. This is reportedly down to the loosening of the contact pins after being bent.
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Nvidia is working with AIBs to resolve the issue
According to Igor’s Lab, Nvidia notified all AIB manufacturers that any 4090s which suffered from these issues need to be submitted to Nvidia HQ for analysis. We’re still waiting to see any direct action from Nvidia regarding this issue. Considering that this is all down to their 12VHPWR adaptor, we wouldn’t be surprised to see a recall. However, Nvidia will need to develop and be able to resolve the issue, too.
So, if you have your 4090 fail, you should be able to submit an RMA order, where it’ll presumably be shipped off to Nvidia for investigation. The RTX 4090 is a powerful GPU, but did this adapter simply fly too close to the sun?