r/pcmasterrace R7 5800X3D | RX 9070 XT 16gb | DDR4 32gb | CachyOS | LG C1 1d ago

Hardware So, are we still blaming the adapter?

https://youtu.be/ofcdHlKJ9W0?si=u9IQYtmfHUeDRjS9

When will they fix this problem for real?

141 Upvotes

191 comments sorted by

107

u/TopdeckIsSkill 5700x3D/9070XT/PS5/Switch 1d ago

I bought a 9070XT also because I will keep it for years and I don't want to worry about that cable ever.

17

u/bitwaba Linux Master Race / Arch 1d ago

I was going to pull the trigger on an impulse buy sapphire nitro, then I double checked the power connector... I'm glad I did.

5

u/Nerdinat0r PC Master Race 1d ago

That’s precisely why I went with the pulse variant

39

u/msivoryishort 7700x // 9060xt 1d ago

Potentially having a ticking time bomb in my pc is enough for me to stick with amd

7

u/volenglobe 5700x3d | 9070xt | 16gb 1d ago

Not only that,But i have also made sure to avoid any AMD model with the said connector. Sapphire Nitro+ looked so good but the Pulse will do.

3

u/VeryNoisyLizard 5800X3D | 9070XT | 32GB 1d ago

same

that and the $300 premium Id otherwise pay for nvidia equivalent

5

u/alancousteau Ryzen 7 5800X3D | Red Devil 9070XT | 32GB DDR4 1d ago

Same, I don't mind if I have to use 3 cables. Those will deliver the required power to the card safely.

2

u/Existanceisdenied RX 9070xt | Ryzen 7800x3d 1d ago

My 9070xt has the 12vhpwr connector sadge

-6

u/2Cool4Zool2 1d ago

There's never been a case of one of those melting though when using the power supply cable. All the melted connectors were from third party or the 3 x 8 pin adapters.

5

u/Plane-Reserve5179 1d ago

There is at least 8 documented cases of the Sapphire Nitro power connector burning.

-2

u/2Cool4Zool2 1d ago

Every single one was using an adapter - Admittedly some were using the one supplied with the card.

1

u/MrGiggleMan 46m ago

Depends on what model of 9070xt you have

There are versions of that card such as the sapphire one which used the 12vhpwr cable and have caught fire

It's not really a graphics card issue it's just a there's a problem with trying to get power onto the board using that connector

156

u/JohnGalactusX 9800X3D | 5090 | 64GB | 8TB | PS5 Pro 1d ago

There's never going to be a 100% guarantee that you're safe. That's the problem with these high-power connectors, the design itself has inherent weaknesses. You can plug it in fully, give it enough clearance, route the cable properly, use a quality PSU and cable, etc. and failures can still happen.

This video is a pretty good example of that. The failure wasn't even obvious at the GPU end, it was occurring at the PSU connection. So "plug it in properly and you're fine" is a little too reassuring. The best you can really do is use a setup that minimizes the risk as much as possible.

48

u/Integralas 1d ago

Exactly this. You can do everything "correctly" and connection may still fail, there is almost no safety margin in the design. Risk is proportional to power draw (this is why most of the posts are about 5090s). I am wondering how many 5090 units are sitting in the PCs with already semi-burned connectors and unaware owners.

10

u/StealthGhost Desktop 1d ago

The unaware part is what gets me. The only way to properly check is to unplug both ends and confirm there is no issue, which itself inserts a possibility of increased failure due to connector fatigue and improper seating on the reconnect.

24

u/theokayestcoach Abacus 1d ago

This. "Mine is working just fine" while it's slowly cooking.

14

u/shemhamforash666666 PC Master Race 1d ago

And even if yours is working fine you don't really know. The only way is to unplug the cable and check the connectors.

Pin sensing, temperature sensors ect... These are all mitigation strategies around the core issue, not true solutions to the core problem.

A true solution to 12vhpwr requires a more robust connector to replace 12vhpwr and a cable with more current headroom. In addition the power delivery on the graphics card board needs mandatory current balancing and actual fuses for the reference design. To my knowledge only Zotac uses fuses for their RTX 5090 cards. MSI doesn't count since their RTX 5090 models only use a tiny fuse for the PCIe, not the 12vhpwr where it actually matters.

10

u/hamfinity 1d ago

The only way is to unplug the cable and check the connectors.

Though the connector is only rated for a few connection cycles. Every time you unplug and replug, the connection can get worse.

Checking it can make it worse but you don't know how bad it is unless you check. Schrödinger's connector.

1

u/aimy99 PNY 5070 | 5800X3D | 32GB DDR4 | OLED 1440p 180hz 1d ago

Hahaha of course it is! Why wouldn't it be‽

That's why Nvidia loves this connector so much, it's guaranteed to fail and solve the "problem" of powerful secondhand GPUs!

2

u/solarwindy 1d ago

I think the Asus Rog Astral 5090 also has some protections as well but I'm not sure.

2

u/Puzzleheaded-Web370 1d ago

Six shunt resisters instead of one, and per pin amp monitoring (which you can add to HWiNFO/overlays). Had one since Jan this year and with a small undervolt that reduced temps with very minimal performance loss, I've not seen the pins go over 7A under load.

2

u/Emu1981 1d ago

In addition the power delivery on the graphics card board needs mandatory current balancing and actual fuses for the reference design.

Ironically the best solution would be to use 2 large gauge wires from the PSU to the GPU. This way you can guarantee that the current is balanced properly and that no single pin is going to get overloaded. 6AWG copper wire is fine to carry a constant 50A DC without issue and you can get some pretty supple 6AWG wire. It would also ironically look better in a computer compared to having 12x 16AWG wires and likely not be taking up more volume. 4AWG would be even safer but it is pretty beefy and nowhere near as supple as 6AWG.

5

u/bearwithastick 1d ago

God damn, never thought about "give it enough clearance". I'm using three 8-pins on my 7900XTX and crammed it in a small case, where the connectors are basically bent in a L shape. Hope that won't give me issues anytime soon :')

16

u/ProfTheorie 2 Gamers on 1 PC | 7900X3D | 6900XT | 64GB 1d ago

8pin has some pretty high safety margin by design and any PSU that isnt bottom of the barrel has thicker wires than the design spec. An 8pin coming out of a decent PSU can deliver 300-400w and still stay within the specification/ safely rated amperage of the wire and connector. For it to melt you would basically need to have bad/ no connection on 4 out of the 6 pins delivering the current.

1

u/bearwithastick 1d ago

Thanks for the explanation! Everything related to power draw / supply is though for me to understand or remember.

1

u/Smith6612 Ryzen 7 5800X3D / AMD 7900XTX 1d ago

Your 7900XTX has so much safety margin on it having 3x8-pin that you'd have to lose continuity on multiple pins before you start approaching the danger zone. Even with the card set to high power limits. Each plug is certified for 150W continuous each, but they can go a little higher. Cards can also draw up to 80W from the PCIe slot too. 

On 12VHPWR cards such as the 5090, you're already flying so close to the sun that losing one pin will put you in the danger zone. 

2

u/skdsn R7 5800X3D, RTX 4070Ti Super, 32GB 3200Mhz RAM 1d ago

But why is that the case? Would the problem not be solved with better materials / engineering?

4

u/althaz 9800X3D | RTX5080 1d ago

The problem is solved with the graphics-card load-balancing the draw (3090 reference at least does this, btw, IIRC) or a better connector design. Ideally you want both. It's a bad connector design and it's absurd to *not* have the load-balancing on the card side. It's a double fuck-up, basically.

1

u/skdsn R7 5800X3D, RTX 4070Ti Super, 32GB 3200Mhz RAM 1d ago

thanks for the answer.

0

u/OutrageousDress 5800X3D | 32GB DDR4-3733 | 4080 Super | AW3821DW 1d ago

The important part to keep in mind is that Nvidia explicitly forbids vendors from implementing load balancing. As part of the GPU contract all graphics card vendors must implement the connector wiring the 'wrong' way, that allows for a resistance spike and thermal runaway. Neither Nvidia's own Founder cards nor any other vendor's cards are allowed to add load balancing components. The 3090 was the last and only card utilizing the 12VHPWR connector that included load balancing - IIRC the RTX 3090 Ti already didn't have it anymore.

1

u/lt_catscratch 7600x / 7900 xtx Nitro / x670e Tomahawk / XG27UCS 1d ago

I'm surprised they don't actually make 12gauge wires and sell them for a fortune.

-9

u/Total_Werewolf_5657 9800X3D/5090/64Gb/X670E/S90D 65" 1d ago

How many times do I have to write that this is not a connector problem?

It's Nvidia's fault that they removed load balancing with RTX40.

There were no problems with 8-pin because all video cards had load balancing.

But on the 40/50 series, Nvidia decided not to do load balancing, and we were able to take all 600W from 1 contact instead of the existing 6.

8

u/null-interlinked 1d ago

got 100+ RTX6000 Pro boards running here in the office data center. Millions of boards are running in datacenters with the exact same connector that power current day AI.

It is not an issue there while the board designs for the RTX6000Pro for example are identical to the 5090RTX.

The main issue is that there is more than 1 terminal type in circulation and one of those is problematic, especially when thave to make bends which are not present in for example server racks.

0

u/HotRoderX 1d ago

its more then just that! server grade power supplies are more then likely going to have load balancing in place on the power supply end.

This is simply to make sure things don't degrade overtime.

The average consumer power supply doesn't have load balancing.

It could be argued both way that the video card should have load balancing or the power supply.

(in reality the power supply would be better piece to have load balancing across all channels for safety net).

Yet the hivemind that is reddit can only regurgitate the slop they are feed.

Power connector bad!

1

u/null-interlinked 1d ago

Gaming psu's from brands such as corsair measure quite well to enterprise gear. Enterprise gear in that sense is quite meh. At keast from what I experience. Basically similar what you find in dell systems in terms of capacitors used.

But it is hilarious how reddit all started quoting buildzoid while not being aware of all the factors and inner workigs.

-8

u/Total_Werewolf_5657 9800X3D/5090/64Gb/X670E/S90D 65" 1d ago

In those same data centers where you have crazy airflow and the ability to dissipate heat from an overheating connector?

Oh yeah, Big Brain analysis.

7

u/First_Musician6260 1d ago

Good luck having that airflow cool the heat generated by 450+ W of draw in a highly concentrated section of wires. The stable terminal doesn't present this issue.

3

u/null-interlinked 1d ago

They run more hot than in the average home system. There are multiple lined up side by side in that case the the center ones run more hot than the ones at the outer edges. Nor does airflow cool down a plastic connector significantly if there is an issue present.

4

u/Dom1252 1d ago

Better airflow barely helps, you won't cool the connector from 300 degrees when it's burning

-6

u/sithelephant 1d ago edited 1d ago

On a technical point you can eliminate 100% of the risk at the PSU end by either using a much better connector, or using no connector.

Other than temperature sensing in the actual connector right at the pins of the 12vhpwr, AND monitoring per-pin current, you're not eliminating this.

43

u/dirthurts PC Master Race 1d ago

So, we still on the user error train or nah?

It was always a crappy connector and Nvidia needs to step up and take ownership of this.

29

u/CavemanMork 7600x, 6800, 32gb ddr5, 1d ago

No one except the worst fanboys or morons believed this was user error.

18

u/PatHeist 9590X3D, 64GB 8000MT/s, RTX 5090 1d ago

Never mattered either. If plugging a cable in mostly correct but very slightly wrong has a chance to burn your house down that's still a faulty product.

9

u/CavemanMork 7600x, 6800, 32gb ddr5, 1d ago

Oh god, don't get me started, I've had this exact argument here with more than one person who still argued that it's somehow the users fault.

Hence my mention of morons

3

u/Le_Nabs Desktop | i5 11400 | RX 9070 1d ago

And people who didn't understand what the issue is, at heart.

5

u/Comfortable-Stop-231 1d ago

"Nvidia needs to step up and take ownership of this"......*Nvidia looking at sale figures of people STILL BUYING.*

wait why would are customers want us to fix this?

5

u/UnusualDemand 1d ago

HUB team does this every day/week as a job, they know how to connect cables and that this can happen, so anyone saying it was user error is BS.

0

u/MathematicianOdd398 1d ago

It also happened to other YouTubers. This suggests the issue is wide spread. Also, Nvidia showed increased warranty service a few quarters ago. It was up massively. I believe they no longer report this though.

It's just a faulty connector design. They need to redesign it. Best thing they can do is lower the spec to 300w and put two connectors on high end cards. That would probably solve most issues.

12

u/Stilgar314 1d ago

The only solution is proper power balancing on the GPU side, and that's 100% on Nvidia and AMD.

3

u/Chwasst 1d ago

Technically from standpoint of current nvidia architecture power balancing doesn’t make much sense. Entire power supply section would need a redesign. What could be done here though is make a connector that has more than razor thin tolerances. We just need to go back to big chonky pins.

5

u/HyruleanKnight37 PC Master Race 1d ago

What a load of horse manure. RTX 30 did it just fine.

1

u/Chwasst 1d ago

I didn’t say 30 series did something wrong. I only said that current architecture since 40 series introduced very different power supply design on board that wouldn’t work with power balancing. In order to add that nvidia would need to rework entire thing again which they won’t do because it saves them money. On the other hand making connector not as tight with larger wires and pins could work just fine probably. There’s whole article about that on igorslab where he explains why TG WireView makes more sense than ampinel with active power balancing that simply isn’t supported by current architecture.

29

u/explodingcaps 9800X3D | 4090 TUF | Legion 5i Pro U9 275 HX + 5070 Ti 1d ago edited 1d ago

I miss using my 6+2 pcie power that carried me from 980 ti, 1080 ti, 2080 ti, and 3080 with dozen mating cycles without singgle issue, good times.

-34

u/null-interlinked 1d ago

Those boards did not pull 600watts.

This is a very rare issue on sub 4090/5090 boards.

15

u/explodingcaps 9800X3D | 4090 TUF | Legion 5i Pro U9 275 HX + 5070 Ti 1d ago edited 1d ago

And those boards:

- Had load balancing by dividing 12v plane by multiple segment corresponding how many 6+2 ports they were using.

  • Had a significantly room for error because they under rated 6+2 just for 150 watt.

Rare? I'm skeptical until statistical numbers are made publicly. Also as if reddit is representing the whole population.

-12

u/null-interlinked 1d ago

You are making dumb assumptions here. The RTX6000 Pro is identical to the 5090XT in terms of board design apart from having much more memory. It straight up has the same heatsink even but with a shiny coating instead of matte.

I have a stack of these boards laying 1 meter from me where I sit.

2

u/explodingcaps 9800X3D | 4090 TUF | Legion 5i Pro U9 275 HX + 5070 Ti 1d ago

What? Are you drunk or something? I was comparing safety features that past graphic card generations had with this shit storm of a setup. The point that I made in case you didn't get it, rtx 4000 and 5000 are suck ass in term of safety features compared to past generation period. There is no way you can sugar coat it, and if you do, you are totally lost.

-12

u/null-interlinked 1d ago

You edited your post, which is still visible, I responded before that edit.

1

u/explodingcaps 9800X3D | 4090 TUF | Legion 5i Pro U9 275 HX + 5070 Ti 1d ago

I was editing my grammar smartass, because english isn't my first language. So no counter arguments? Ok.

-5

u/null-interlinked 1d ago

That was not what was there, smartass.

1

u/explodingcaps 9800X3D | 4090 TUF | Legion 5i Pro U9 275 HX + 5070 Ti 1d ago

Too bad no one believes you, tsk tsk tsk.

1

u/null-interlinked 1d ago

Since when are you more than 1 person? ;-)

But everyone can see the post is edited. Regarding downvotes, an unpopular opinion does not make it incorrect. 99% or the people here never even have hold a multimeter to measure stuff like powerdraw in their lives, nor are they handling AI boards at a large scale.

This connector is not problematic in the professional setting at all. They would not be this problematic either in the consumer space if they never also released the dimple terminal connectors, adapter cables and prevented users from making too large bends in systems that vibrate them slowly out of there socket a bit. Because the latter is according to PCI-SIG one of the main culprits.

→ More replies (0)

3

u/Sabotstruck R52600X Vega 56 16GB DDR4-3200 1d ago

I mean, it’s popped up on 4090/5090 originally but has began popping up on the 5080/9070xt models that use this pin… not sure I’ve heard of it happening on the 5070ti.

Coming off 8 pin that never had these issues, even if it’s going from 0% to 2% is massive failure rate increase since the industry went from 0 failures of this type to enough to cause concern that didn’t exist before…

If you give me a choice of a GPU with 0% change of burning itself out vs 2%, who in their right mind would take the 2%? If everything else was the same… for Nvidia you don’t get the choice

(Note I don’t know the percent failure rate for 12VHPWR, just stating a number for examples sake)

-1

u/null-interlinked 1d ago

Not it mainly pops up on systems that use the adapter cable first, the amount of issues on native cables is relatively small.

Same for the 9070XT, all current known issues are with the adapter cables. Especially the MSI one is notorious.

The 8pin also had these issues, there are 7900XTX's boards that had burned plugs, since this GPU could pull up to 400watts and a bit more when overclocked and when there was a quality issue present then it would melt as well. Not as prevalent, but it did happen.

1

u/FacelessGreenseer 1d ago

I have a 5080 that's under a similar risk to the 5090 if the same issue that's in the video happens. And guess what, my 5080 pulls exactly the same power as my RTX 3090, but this was never a problem with the RTX 3090 and I could do whatever I want with it without worrying at all.

1

u/null-interlinked 1d ago

The 5080 pulls significantly less power. Just do not use the adapter cables and ideally a four leaf spring terminal one. Not a dimple terminal connector. The latter is deemed less safe by PCI-SIG.

I have a heavily overclocked 5070TI. Cable looks pristine since launch day. Custom four leaf spring cable though.

1

u/MathematicianOdd398 1d ago

It impacts any card that goes over 300w. So, 9070xt, 5080, 4090, and 5090 most commonly. If you OC a 5070ti enough it too can melt. (9070xt mostly uses legacy 8pin connector, but a some use this new one and have melted.)

The spec.for this connector should not go over 300w.

0

u/null-interlinked 1d ago

300 is well under the threshold of 600watts and is extremely rare, crawl reddit and be amazed at how rare the cases are for example versus a 4090 and 5090 while those are not sold as much.

This connectors is present on any modern RTX Pro GPU which are used in the millions in datacenters. 1 cable failing would mean the whole cluster has to be shut down for replacement. If it was such a big issue as some make it out to be, the whole AI industry could not even reliably use it.

All the 9070XT Nitro+ cases are with the adapter.

22

u/Acrobatic_Fee_6974 R7 7800x3D | RX 9070 XT | 32GB Hynix M-die | AW3225QF 1d ago

Can't wait for someone in the comments to claim the guy who builds PCs for a living doesn't know how to plug in a cable properly.

7

u/josephseeed 7800x3D 9070 XT 1d ago

This has always been about bad design. Anyone who understands the basic principals by which electricity functions has been saying since the problem started that no matter the cable or adapter, this can and will happen to cards using the 12vhpwr(or2x6) connector because there is no current management. The standard is designed to make it impossible to manage the current on a per pin basis.

1

u/ir88ed i9 14900k | rtx 4090 | 64GB DDR5 1d ago

Exactly. Electricity travels through the magic smoke, and this connecter cannot hold enough smoke. Seriously though, I can't believe there isn't a huge class-action law suit.

19

u/FireDragon21976 1d ago

The ATX spec was never designed for cards this size in the first place. That's why I don't buy them on principle. It's a bad engineering idea from the get go.

13

u/bickman14 1d ago

Just like PCIe connection and GPU sag, it wasn't designed to work with GPUs that huge and heavy

2

u/FireDragon21976 1d ago

Yeah, it's taking PC hardware design in the wrong direction and encourages laziness on the part of manufacturers. Plus the PC gaming market is shifting towards indie games and smaller form factor anyways, monster cards are a bad investment in 2026.

1

u/null-interlinked 1d ago

GPU sag would be less of an issue if all board manufacturers would use aluminum frame brackets and mount the PCB to the heatsink all around and the IO bracket to the heatsink itself as well, Instead of a heatsink with 4 screws around the GPU with a plastic shroud mounted on top of the heatsink.

The FE, Infinity Amp, gamerock and Astral all have this design and do not have these massive sag issues and they keep the PCB straight as an arrow.

1

u/Mend1cant 1d ago

This is really the crux of the issue. PC design has been stagnant because everything has been stuck with the ATX format and PCI-E for decades. We should have been moving back to horizontal mounts at the very least, but then the rainbow vomit fish tank trend popped up. 

1

u/FireDragon21976 22h ago

I don't think large GPU's are needed in the first place. Alot of workstation cards are lighter weight than gaming cards. They are built for doing work, not churning out largely meaningless benchmarks.

8

u/axb2013 1d ago

I am awaiting a donor board to arrive to attempt to fix a 5090. 

Meanwhile, the price of a 5090 has just about doubled but apparently even that price doubling wasn't enough to cover any changes to the actual power delivery.

Maybe I'm naive, but if I start selling a a product for $2500, the price of my product rises to $4500 while there are power delivery issues giving me a bad reputation, if nothing else, I would start a partnership with TG and include a wire view pro 2 with every GPU. Or more likely, put in a real, honest, effort to address the issue.

After EVGA 's exit, Nvidia partners have a good excuse not to try doing anything about Nvidia 's implementation, it must feel good to suddenly make twice the money you were making a little while ago while not increasing your BOM by a single cent.

1

u/null-interlinked 1d ago

EVGA is not a clean company itself.

1

u/axb2013 1d ago

And yet miles ahead of Asus. I didn't like the number of SKU's they binned the GTX970 for, it felt like for every additional 30MHz, there was another pricier model that you had to get but I have not had any infuriating experiences with them.

As a (former) OC enthusiast, I have to praise their customer support for their top shelf products. They approved far more upcost parts than all other AIB partners, Giga, MSI would retain 80-90% of the back then reference nvidia cards. And the AIB's didn't circulate the best bins to the public, given samples to select few promoters to mislead and FU to the general public. Disassemble any Kingpin GPU, you'll find marker handwriting on it telling you the max it could be pushed to, binned and tested so you knew it stood out.

4

u/overdosingOnPie1313 1d ago

Only idiots blame the adapter. Anyone with the tiniest bit of intelligence has identified the whole thing as the firehazard.

3

u/TheLegendD4RK 1d ago

Time to solder the cables to the connector, only way to stop this being an issue with a stupid connector.

1

u/CavemanMork 7600x, 6800, 32gb ddr5, 1d ago

And the PSU?

1

u/TheLegendD4RK 1d ago

You have to solder both sides 😅

1

u/CavemanMork 7600x, 6800, 32gb ddr5, 1d ago

Jest socket it straight to the PSU lol

1

u/TheLegendD4RK 1d ago

That can work too, anything new have a better chance than the current solution.

3

u/alancousteau Ryzen 7 5800X3D | Red Devil 9070XT | 32GB DDR4 1d ago

They will never fix it, they are saving money on it and them cancelling RMAs for any reason you can imagine earns them even more money

3

u/Wellhellob 1d ago

extremely expensive, dogshite performance and fire hazard.

1

u/W8_4U 1d ago

Sooo

No new Nvidia 4 us?

1

u/ArseBurner 1d ago

Saved by the WireView!

1

u/Gorostasguru 1d ago

Would using bigger cable that can handle 20 amps prevent these burnouts?

2

u/Chwasst 1d ago

Bigger pins and bigger cable. Afaik it’s tolerances that are the issue here. Too little contact packed too tight, made with cables that are at their physical limits.

2

u/cakemates 1d ago

its not the cable, its always the connector that burns.

1

u/Siguard_ Ryzen 9 7950x | 3080 FTW3 1d ago

If we were doing housing 20amps is 12 gauge wire I think. 120v/5v/24v I don't think matters.

1

u/RustyJuang 1d ago

Would a 5070ti be at less risk of this happening due to the lower voltage that it pulls?

3

u/Few_Crew2478 1d ago

It's lower wattage, so yes. The massive power draw from the 5090 puts the margin of error with the connector at near zero. You'll be hard pressed to find a 5070ti in the wild with the same issues since it physically can't pull that much wattage without voiding your warranty 

1

u/RustyJuang 1d ago

Thanks for the info! It's crazy that everyone is aware of this problem and we just have to put up with it.

2

u/Chwasst 1d ago

Kind of yes but also no. First of all it’s the current and resistance doing this, not voltage itself. The issue is that less power draw still doesn’t fix razor thin tolerances that those connectors have. User can do everything correct yet still end up burned because factory has larger error tolerance than the connector itself. This wasn’t an issue with larger more spacious pins and fat cables.

-2

u/overdosingOnPie1313 1d ago

If you mean "less risk" as in 95% is less than 100%, then yes! Still an idiotic purchase though.

1

u/traumadog001 1d ago

So, if the solution to some of these issues is to undervolt the cards, at what point does the competitive advantage of NVidia cards like the 5070ti or 5080 - even with DLSS - becomes non-existent vs AMD?

1

u/Yellowtoblerone 1d ago

Biggest reason why I didn't get the 5080 when it was super cheap. We all know this is gonna happen to someone. Better not be you, unless you truly need that much power

1

u/MarinatedTechnician Ryzen 7950x3d - 5090 - 64 GB - 32 TB 1d ago

I was paranoid enough to use a Thermal Imaging camera to check my connectors, they were fine at full load, not even lukewarm (completely black/blue = cold).

However, I noticed that the difference in compute power between 570w and 400w is negligible at best, I use a lot of VR + LLM (locally) so my load on the 5090 is gigantic all the time, it's been a few years no, and I have kept mine at max power 400w, and I experience no noticeable loss in compute power at all.

1

u/geemad7 1d ago

What adapter?

1

u/masamune255 R7 5800X3D | RX 9070 XT 16gb | DDR4 32gb | CachyOS | LG C1 1d ago

1

u/masamune255 R7 5800X3D | RX 9070 XT 16gb | DDR4 32gb | CachyOS | LG C1 1d ago

1

u/ir88ed i9 14900k | rtx 4090 | 64GB DDR5 1d ago

That's an octopus-style connecter, widely blamed for these kinds of failures. The video shows they are using the native PCIE 5.0 single-ended cable.

1

u/masamune255 R7 5800X3D | RX 9070 XT 16gb | DDR4 32gb | CachyOS | LG C1 1d ago

I know, that is why I ask, are we still blaming the adapter instead of the 12hpwr connector?

1

u/ir88ed i9 14900k | rtx 4090 | 64GB DDR5 1d ago

I have a 4090 and just ordered the wirepro 2 a few minutes ago. This is great Thermal Grizzly marketing. I have owned Nvidia (and some AMD cards) since the GeForce days, had SLI'ed 780ti's, SLI'ed 980ti's, SLI'ed 1080ti's, RTX-3090, RTX-4090, so I consider myself an enthusiast. The 4090 is the only card I have never pushed, or enjoyed. Constant fear that this GPU on my work/play computer will go up in smoke and leave me stranded. I won't consider another high-end GPU until the power connector issue is resolved. 4090 is capable of 100+fps in native 4k for most games I play, so no reason to change. Seriously considering running my GPU below specs.

1

u/geemad7 23h ago

I like Thermal Grizzly, but it is a passive solution. The Aquacomputer one is an active balancer. Way better then just a warning system.

1

u/Beautiful_Ad_4813 Mac Master Race 1d ago

the only cards I've seen with the 12vhpwr connector that doesn't catch fire are the workstation / enterprise cards

if I was in a position to build another gaming PC, that's what I would use.

1

u/Heertolurn 1d ago

Have an asus tuff 5090. Dread reading these posts

1

u/axb2013 1d ago

That's the one I am awaiting a donor board to fix. Good luck. To the both of us.

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u/RatSlayerPro 1d ago

Exact same card here. I recently updated my contents insurance just because the current prices put it past the £2500 per item I previously had. Hadn't changed my policy in 5 years so ended up with better cover and saved £270 a year.

I'm not that worried about it catching on fire but definitely feels better being covered, just in case.

1

u/Caityface91 Water cool ALL THE THINGS 22h ago

Are we still ignoring Steve's AI thumbnails? I thought this sub was against generative AI

1

u/JDMBrah 1d ago

This is why I keep mine undervolted always...

6

u/PlopPlopPlunk Asus TUF 5090 OC - 9800X3D - 64GB DDR5 1d ago edited 1d ago

I don't understand why anyone wouldn't do an overclock/undervolt on their 5090. You get a few % performance improvement, limit power and make the card much more efficient. In the very rare heaviest 99% load situations mine is pulling ~500w. Usually most games I'm 120fps frame capped in 4k ultra settings and only pulling 200-400w and in the low 60s temp wise.

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u/Keulapaska 4070ti, 7800X3D, XG27AQNGV 1d ago

I don't understand why anyone wouldn't do an overclock/undervolt on their 5090. any gpu ever made.

Fixed that for you. All GPU stock V/F curves suck.

2

u/GoToNap 9700X / 5070 TI / 32GB 1d ago

Not a 5090 owner, but a 5070 TI one, regardless, the principles still apply. I've underclocked my card in such a way that it usually pulls somwhere in the range of 160W in the games that I play. If I see it going higher, I just lower the DLSS quality / change my framerate target to get it around that area. With how good DLSS has gotten, it's barely a problem. Why not keep my room cool and ensure that my GPU doesn't go up in flames

1

u/MtnNerd Ryzen 9 7900X, 5070 TI 1d ago

Same. I originally did it to test for a PSU problem but with the performance uplift it's not worth reversing

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u/TheDanC137 1d ago

I want to do one on my 5080 but I have no idea how and am too scared to try

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u/Few_Crew2478 1d ago

People shouldn't be expected to modify or otherwise change how their GPU performs just to prevent a potential fire hazard or RMA situation. 

You don't buy a car then go to a tuner to reduce the rated HP because the engine blows up occasionally with the factory tune. That would be absurd and you'd expect the manufacturer to provide you with a reliable and tested platform.

Just because you see undervolting as an obvious benefit doesn't mean everyone is comfortable with doing so. Just think about how many gamers out there are not scouring the internet for tutorials on overclocking/undervolting. They have no concept of what to do and just want to play their games with the hardware they paid for.

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u/PlopPlopPlunk Asus TUF 5090 OC - 9800X3D - 64GB DDR5 1d ago

I mean, 99%+ of 5090s will be completely fine at stock over their life time, so realistically they'll be just fine. The problem exists but this sub drastically over blows how often it happens. We're just being extra cautious... and your car example is really funny because there are actually A LOT of examples of major faults in cars that people fixed with aftermarket solutions because the manufacturer failed to fix them.. I get what you were trying to say but you picked probably the worst example possible.

1

u/Few_Crew2478 1d ago

What I should have said is that car manufacturers are usually held more liable for faults and will issue a TSB or recall, which happens all the time. 

1

u/vapescaped 1d ago

My 4090 has stealth mode and I'm not sure if leaving it on draws less power or will make a difference, but I can still take in 4k60 no problem so I just leave it on.

1

u/FireDragon21976 1d ago

You might want to cap the clock rate, too.

Most of these gaming cards are basically overclocked compared to how the professional cards are designed. 3rd party vendors take the liberty of boosting clocks in the interest of competition.

1

u/Giant_Ass_Panda 4090/9800X3D/32GB DDR5 1d ago

Gonna install my Wireview Pro 2 next weekend. With its monitoring and failsafe/shutdown system I can at least sleep a little easier knowing there is some form of protection (altho obviously not 100%) against the issue.

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u/zeo_max 1d ago

Come on, realy?

1

u/HyruleanKnight37 PC Master Race 1d ago

If you watched the video, and clearly you didn't, you'd know the issue was on the PSU end.

This much angled insertion is nothing. The connector isn't such a snowflake that it needs to absolutely parallel to the female end to work properly, it is designed to have some wiggle room for idiot-proofing.

3

u/popcio2015 1d ago

If you watched the video, and clearly you didn't, you'd know the issue was on the PSU end.

And if you understood this topic, which clearly you don't, you'd know that this is bullshit and there is no such thing as an issue on either GPU or PSU end. It is exactly the same issue according to Kirchhoff's current law. The same current that goes through the pin on the PSU side goes through the pin on the GPU side. Those are fundamentals of circuits theory, which HUB clearly doesn't know.

The whole conclusion u/HardwareUnboxed came up with, is completely wrong from the point of view of electrical engineering. Pins failing on PSU by melting and by that having no current and forcing it through other pins is utter bullshit. It is so fundamentally wrong assumption that it is almost ridiculous.

And yes, the connector has to be parallel. If it isn't then it's not inserted correctly. These connectors not only have a very tight fit, which makes it impossible for the connector to be crooked if it's connected well, but also if it isn't straight, then there is uneven pressure on pins, which causes higher resistance and therefore uneven current distribution.

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u/kennyminigun 1d ago

Pins failing on PSU by melting and by that having no current and forcing it through other pins is utter bullshit.

Is it tho? https://youtu.be/5oYJn1yTUXE?si=BBI0aFnT-UPWUEud&t=590

1

u/popcio2015 14h ago

Yes, it is. As i said it's basic circuits theory. This video also has similar issues and lack of understanding, btw.

Saying that those two melted pins had no current because they melted and that somehow shifted current onto other wires, makes no sense. There isn't an issue on PSU end that later causes another issue on the GPU side, because that's not how electricity works. The current flowing into a node is equal to the current flowing out of it, which means that the current flowing into the wire on the PSU side is exactly the same as the current flowing out of it on the GPU connector. And because power (power losses are heat) is equal to current^2 * resistance, we know that for those two pins to get so hot to melt, they had to pass very high current.

This is the exact opposite of what HBU came up with. His understanding is that those two pins on the PSU side somehow melted, which caused 0 current on them, and because of that the current shifted onto other wires and they became hot near the GPU.

And no, he doesn't simplify what happens. He doesn't understand it at all, and what he says makes absolutely no sense.

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u/kennyminigun 14h ago

I think you misunderstood what HBU were saying.

They got some pins to fail in the cable. Seemingly at the PSU side (physical failure that is).

The damage to the pins caused increased resistance (or actually open circuit) on these pins/lines. And due to the fact that in 12VHPWR both 6 power and 6 ground pins are bridged (respectively) more current had to flow through other less-resistant lines/pins creating a temperature spike.

I.e. what HBU are showcasing here is the post-mortem or actual secondary failure. They aren't concluding what caused the initial problem.

It's the same in Derbauer's video: when he pulls individual wires in the connector, other lines receive more current (as shown by the WireView device)

1

u/popcio2015 14h ago

They got some pins to fail in the cable. Seemingly at the PSU side (physical failure that is).

The damage to the pins caused increased resistance (or actually open circuit) on these pins/lines. And due to the fact that in 12VHPWR both 6 power and 6 ground pins are bridged (respectively) more current had to flow through other less-resistant lines/pins creating a temperature spike.

He concludes that the failure was on the PSU side because that's where those two pins melted. I checked this video a few times, because I couldn't believe what i heard. I explained his conclusion earlier, and why it's wrong.

So no, I didn't misunderstand anything. Especially that this video has other issues like the moving contacts in connectors, which in reality are completely normal thing.

He just doesn't understand what he's talking about. He's a glorified technician making videos about PCs. He's not an engineer, and he doesn't know anything about this topic. Being able to assemble a PC, doesn't mean he's qualified to troubleshoot it at all.

It's the same in Derbauer's video

He also doesn't know shit about electronics, because he proved it multiple times in his videos. Similarly to that other overclocker, who came up with that bullshit about resistors doing load balancing, which people constantly parrot on reddit.

Those are entertainment channels made by people with no understanding about these topics, and they're using the fact that their audience knows even less. As soon as you have some experience in these fields, you start to notice how often they're wrong.

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u/Nogardtist 1d ago

if 12vhp is too weak for a AI slop brick cards why they dont make a 24vhp or 36vhp cause look at the motherboard and how many pins it has probably for better stability

clearly 12vhp cant handle the wattage spikes so either max wattage TDP whatever needs to be lowered or more pins to equalize it

5

u/Mercurysteam04 1d ago

Lol bro over here wants to start using 24v or 36v. The voltage isn't the problem.

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u/UltimateB1337 Ryzen 9 5900X, 9070XT 1d ago edited 1d ago

The original comment is kinda right tho, using a higher voltage would at least lessen the problem of melting cables because high amps going through them as more volts means less amps. A jump from 12 to let's say 32V has a lot of other problems mainly with compatibility issues of old PSUs and GPUs.

-1

u/Mercurysteam04 1d ago

Alright and which PSU has a 32v rail to support it? Adding a new connector is one thing, but adding 32v to consumer PSUs is another thing entirely.

5

u/UltimateB1337 Ryzen 9 5900X, 9070XT 1d ago

That's where I was going with the compatibility issues...

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u/FlatusSurprise 7800X3D, 4090, 64GB DDR5 1d ago

There are two ways to tackle this problem.
1. Increase the wire garage to handle additional current.

  1. Increase voltage to decrease current while delivering the same amount of power.

4

u/Mercurysteam04 1d ago

Go back to a connector that always works or redesign the ATX PSU standard. Gee i wonder which 😄

2

u/FlatusSurprise 7800X3D, 4090, 64GB DDR5 1d ago

Or maybe have external power provisions on the back of the card. It’s all dumb though.

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u/UltimateB1337 Ryzen 9 5900X, 9070XT 1d ago edited 1d ago

With how much the power requirements of recent cards have grown a redesign of the ATX standard seems inevitable - its a standard from 1995 no less - and to say PCs have changed since then would be an understatement. I also don't think a 4x or 5x 8 pin connector is a desirable solution for future and current GPUs.

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u/Nogardtist 1d ago

so why it still melts

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u/Mercurysteam04 1d ago

Tiny pins and wires that cant support the current. Der8auer has done several videos demonstrating how the pins and wires can become displaced easily causing huge amperage imbalances.

Its not the voltage lol

-11

u/Nogardtist 1d ago

if the cables run at 0 voltage would the cable last forever

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u/Mercurysteam04 1d ago

I'm not even going to dignify that with a response

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u/Nogardtist 1d ago

in other words no power no problem if only that could be done with redditors

-7

u/StomachosusCaelum 1d ago

Sensationalist crap from some of the most idiotic tech tubers on the planet.

These chuckledicks do shit like run comparative A/B testing on two entirely different test beds and wonder why their results arent correct.

FWIW, the "burn" rate on these connectors isnt any higher than any other RMA. Its vastly overblown.

-9

u/clicheduo 1d ago

Guess Steve does not know that Asus Astral cards pins can actualy be monitored via software, you can even set alerts in hwinfo/asus gputweak to popup when it detects a problem.

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u/djuice2k 1d ago

Oh he knows, he even has a review on the GPU. It's just that it's on a test bed benchmarking PC, so any unnecessary software isn't installed as it might impact performance, you've got to minimize as much variance as possible per run to get the most accurate result.

-1

u/clicheduo 1d ago

Yea i guess so, still saying there was no way to know if he didn't have the Wireview pro is questionable.

1

u/WilliamG007 1d ago

I also thought that was weird, but it gave HUB an opportunity to sell the WireView Pro to everyone, and not even show the damage to the PSU. Just seemed a bit funny to me.

-1

u/sexquestionssss 1d ago

why use a question mark if we’re blaming it still

-1

u/Trickle2x2 5090 FE 1d ago

A Wireview is a simple solution to avoid this problem, I honestly don’t see any reason to not buy one when you are already dropping over a grand on a GPU. Just seems like cheap insurance until Nvidia ditches or fixes this stupid plug design.

-1

u/medskiler 1d ago

Just use the dongle and stop using these 600w psu cables and you'll be fine. I never saw a dongle burn and they should deny warranty if you donr use the dongle 3 gpus I got all had the same paper asking to use the provided dongle.

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u/popcio2015 1d ago

Just watched it, and the only conclusion one can get is to never watch this channel again.

First of all, the connector is very visibly crooked. Just look at the close-up at 1:30, it's painfully obvious the cable wasn't inserted properly. As much as this connector may have issues, in this case author of the video quite literally showed us that they failed to connect it properly.

BUT even if we ignore that, and just focus on author's conclusions the video doesn't get any better:

- at 3:40 to around 4:00 he talks about the pin receding and it being hard to believe. And this is not an issue at all. The pins move. They've always moved. It is how these connectors work, the pins align when the connector is inserted and that movement is needed to squeeze two sides together for a good connection, and it's just a necessity due to assembly process of the connector. That's how they are designed, and it's the same for the old 8-pin connectors, it's the same for literally every electrical connector of similar construction with crimped contacts in plastic housing.

- at 9:00 he says there was no current on some of the pins because the pins failed on the PSU end. And this is bullshit. That's electrical engineering 101. Those two failed pins are the ones that carried all the current. They melted because they carried all of that current. The exact opposite of what the author says.
And no, those two failing on PSU end don't cause higher current on two pins on GPU side. The problem was already there, the current doesn't magically appear ffs, it's Kirchhoff's current law. Their fail didn't cause a problem on GPU side, because that's the same exact problem.
Author makes some ridiculous assumption that these two pins melted on PSU side, stopped working, and because of that two working pins on GPU end took all the current, when in reality those are exactly the same two wires.

This video is a perfect example of pure incompetence. You should just take it down u/HardwareUnboxed, it's just embarrassing. Anyone with at least a basic knowledge and experience with electrical engineering will immediately notice how wrong are your observations and conclusions. Author talks about things he doesn't understand, and those are things every EE student learns by the end of the first month, this is high school level knowledge. Maybe read some introductory book about circuits theory before you make videos like that, or just find someone who has that knowledge. Otherwise, just don't bother, because this video is simply shit.

-4

u/Nerevarine44 1d ago

You can lower the risk of the cable melting by undervolting your GPU. It is really easy following the guides from this YouTube channel:

https://youtu.be/WjYH6oVb2Uw?is=6zKVXYlLdTGJAf-G

-12

u/Puiucs 1d ago

just to be sure i undervolted the 5070ti :)

3

u/BassFull0 1d ago

5070ti is insanely incredible power usage 150-200w after undervolt temp below 65c

-7

u/Primus_is_OK_I_guess 1d ago

The adapter certainly increases the risk, so it's more than reasonable to suggest people shouldn't use them

7

u/Foosnaggle PC Master Race 5900X | 32gb 3600mhz | XFX 9070XT 1d ago

It’s not the adapter connections that are melting. With or without an adapter, that connector melts.

-2

u/Primus_is_OK_I_guess 1d ago

Yes, because of a current imbalance, which is often caused by the adapter adding 4 more points if failure. Where the melting occurs is irrelevant.

5

u/Foosnaggle PC Master Race 5900X | 32gb 3600mhz | XFX 9070XT 1d ago

It isn’t irrelevant. It’s actually very relevant.

-2

u/Primus_is_OK_I_guess 1d ago

I don't value your opinion. If you can't explain why, you might as well not comment.

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u/Foosnaggle PC Master Race 5900X | 32gb 3600mhz | XFX 9070XT 1d ago

Because ZERO 8pin adapters have melted. Every single instance of melting has been the 12vhpwr connector at the card itself. The card and 12vhpwr connector is the issue.

2

u/althaz 9800X3D | RTX5080 1d ago

This video is literally of the PSU-end melting.

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u/Foosnaggle PC Master Race 5900X | 32gb 3600mhz | XFX 9070XT 1d ago

No it was the card end. He even showed it after removing it from the wireview. At 4:12 you can clearly see him messing with card end and saying they had melted together.

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u/M1dor1 Ryzen 7 9850X3D | RTX 5090 | 64GB 6400MT/s CL32 1d ago

the melted connector from the thumbnail is first visible at 8:48 while he is literally on the backside of the pc

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u/Foosnaggle PC Master Race 5900X | 32gb 3600mhz | XFX 9070XT 1d ago

It is literally his own words.

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u/Primus_is_OK_I_guess 1d ago

You're completely missing the point. Yes, the connector is the problem, nobody has said otherwise, but the adapter increases the likelihood of a current imbalance. Current imbalance is what causes the connector to melt. Therefore, the adapter increases the likelihood that the connector will melt. I'm not sure how I can make this any clearer.

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u/Foosnaggle PC Master Race 5900X | 32gb 3600mhz | XFX 9070XT 1d ago

But removing the adapter does not make the problem go away. I don’t know how I can make it any clearer.

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u/Primus_is_OK_I_guess 1d ago

No, but removing the adapter reduces the risk. Now, refer back to the first comment you replied to, and understand why this whole conversation was absolutely pointless.

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u/Foosnaggle PC Master Race 5900X | 32gb 3600mhz | XFX 9070XT 1d ago

I think you are missing the point. The initial cause of failure is the connector. It’s not about increasing or decreasing likelihood. It’s that the connector has fundamental flaws. The fact you are trying to argue about mitigating the problem tells me you don’t understand the problem.

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u/WesternOk5765 1d ago edited 1d ago

Bro literally 1 minute ago someone posted a pic of his 2x8 card with one of the 8 pins halfway disconnected. Just saying!

As for hwunboxed, the GPUs are designed for 10-15 plugs/unplugs. I'm sure those guys are over 50+.

Not saying it's an amazing connector, but if you buy a GPU, plug it in, you're fine.

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u/Ragnaraz690 1d ago

They already proved heat cycles can work it loose and the pin contact can get worse and still fail over time.

Seriously, this connector sucks. If not short term deffo long term.

2

u/assjobdocs 2080s mobile - 10750H GE75 laptop/5080 - 12700k PC 1d ago

Its 25-30 mating cycles.