Nvidia Controversy Returns as 4090 Owner Says Fully-Connected 12VHPWR Still Melted!

Not long after the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 was officially released to the public, alarming posts began to appear online showing the 12VHPWR power adaptor melting. – And this wasn’t an isolated incident either as the user reports continued to grow to the point that no other conclusion could be drawn. Something was (and is) clearly wrong with the design somewhere.

Why was this happening? Well, in truth, we still don’t really know, and while Nvidia has confirmed that they are investigating the matter, they’ve still yet to make any formal comment on the matter.

It was recently speculated, however, that a key factor in the problem was the 12VHPWR adaptor not being fully inserted into the graphics card. – Something not entirely improbable given the size of the 4090 as well as the fact that the adaptor itself is notably chunky. – Following a report via Reddit user ‘u/m_hijazi‘ though, they are thoroughly debunking this theory by posting various images of their 12VHPWR adaptor and GPU power port melting despite their cable being fully and entirely inserted!

Nvidia 4090 12VHPWR Still Melts Despite Cable Being Fully Inserted?

As part of the post, the Reddit user pretty much debunks all of the current theories surrounding why the 12VHPWR cable might be melting. This includes not just the one about it not being fully inserted, but also the clearance offered as it exits the GPU:

“Hello. I recently got a Zotac 4090 AMP Extreme AIRO. It is such a good card looks and performance. Coming from a 3080, It was a huge jump in performance…. Until today. I was playing Cyberpunk 2077 and noticed screen flashing, seconds later I noticed a burning smell. I jumped immediately and turned off the PSU ( SuperNova 1600W T2) and I knew it was the adapter. There were no extreme bends and the cable was properly inserted into the socket ( click sound after inserting it) I have attached images of how it was connected and images after discovering the issue.”

As noted above, this isn’t just a theory or story either as the user has posted a number of images which clearly show the port and the 12VHPWR adaptor melting towards the top left area. – I mean, at this point, surely no Nvidia 4090 owner can be feeling entirely comfortable about the continued use of their graphics card since, based on this report, all of the best theories to date now appear to be entirely (but certainly not maliciously) inaccurate.

“Don’t Buy a 4090”

The Reddit user concludes their post by strongly advising people to not buy an Nvidia 4090. – Well, more accurately, for them to at least wait until Team Green make some kind of statement (and hopefully a solution) to the matter so that they “don’t make a 1700 – 2000 dollar mistake.”. – Given that it’s now been over two weeks since Nvidia first announced they were investigating the matter, however, their silence so far is undoubtedly worrying for 4090 owners and more so as while they clearly want to use their new GPU.

Based on this new report though, given that it seemingly debunks all prior user theories on why the adaptor might be melting, the most frustrating part is that there no longer seems to be any advice to offer anymore. I guess you’ve just got to do what you can, or at least what you think is smart, and hope it doesn’t happen to you.

We will, of course, keep you posted as soon as we hear anything. – Given that the 4080 is set to utilise this adaptor too though, Nvidia need to figure this problem out, and pretty damn quick too!

What do you think? – Let us know in the comments!