Check Your 4090's 12vhpwr Connectors To Make Sure They are in Pristine Condition

[jrodga2k5]

It does seem more and more likely that people haven't plugged the adapters in fully doesn't it? There are a lot of reports that seem to suggest this is the likely cause now because essentially most other theory's that have been tested haven't seen failures. I'm now three weeks into using my adapter and not one sign of an issue when I unplugged it last week to re-organise things.

Granted I have ordered a Cablemod cable as I wanted something less messy but honestly I've got no concerns at all with my adapter.

 

[pc-guy]

When you eliminate all the possibilities, then you left with the only likely scenario.

You have Nvidia adaptor burnt, you have psu native connection burnt, you have multiple sources tested various scenarios of “bend” and not yield any burnt connectors, you have a number of burnt connectors showing connectors not been plugged in properly and a number of original posters saying they didn’t plug them in properly, there is no wide spread cases of connector burn up. The % of connector burnt doesn’t correlate with manufacturing defects. The % seems to correlate very well with general level of human stupidity.

So I really think the picture is quite clear the issue is user error

 

[DDH]

If that were the case Nvidia would have issued a statement already, an AIB partner wouldn't be holding shipments until they can replace the adapters and it would be easily repeatable

 

[lsg1r]

So I really think the picture is quite clear the issue is user error

While entirely possible, the unfortunate thing is that in todays world of tiktok (just look at some of the stupid challenges they do.... toxic washing pods in mouth for example) companies need to make things idiot proof.

Having said that I do think the 4 way adapters could have been made in a way that prevented bending.... even a simple right angled plug would have limited the bend to further down the wire and also made it a lot easier to fit into most cases.

Mind you I think it would have been a much better idea to have had a bigger socket, it's not like there wasn't enough space for them to have kept the pins the same size as the old 8 pin sockets

 

[peahead]

Proper cable arrived today.
Shame I've nothing to plug it into at the moment

My cable arrived today also and i have just installed it now, looks so much cleaner now.

Quality

 

[sparkymark75]

So I really think the picture is quite clear the issue is user error

Yeah, buying a 4090

 

[Grim5]

Yeah, buying a 4090

Time for the 4090ti, instead of worrying about one cable burning now they can worry about two cables

 

[Twinz]

So I really think the picture is quite clear the issue is user error

Then we should have seen burnt-connector megathreads with every GPU launch.

I don't recall seeing this kind of cluster_*uck before.

I suspect the majority of people with melted cables managed to not melt the power connectors on their previous GPU installs yet, strangley enough, must have forgot how to plug in a power cable when they purchased their 4090's.

What a coincidence.

 

[Shaz12]

If that were the case Nvidia would have issued a statement already, an AIB partner wouldn't be holding shipments until they can replace the adapters and it would be easily repeatable

It's likely the adaptors provided by nvidia are defective so it's not user error.

 

[Shaz12]

The Nvidia subreddit is now filled with more pics of the 12VHPWR connectors rather than the 4090 itself. That's all people are going to remember about this generation. What a mess.

 

[JonRGV250]

Looks like the sense cables are non-existent on 3 of the pcie8

There's sense cables in two of the PCie8's

 

[arknor]

So I really think the picture is quite clear the issue is user error

I bet 100% of the melts are thicktok addicts probably giving less than 30% of their dopamine limited attention span to the cable as they plugged it in


At least 1 cable seems to have been damaged but I would have thought the poins were inserted after the connector would have been moulded so no idea how one pin ended up with plastic half filling the cavity

The key word is "yet". There is certainly the potential for one, though I think most people with one of these cards will likely be aware of the issue and are probably keeping an eye on things.

It's sceitnfically impossible unless they arer wrapping the pins with tinder before they insert them.

and I don't mean the app...

 

[EastCoastHandle]

Then we should have seen burnt-connector megathreads with every GPU launch.

I don't recall seeing this kind of cluster_before.

I suspect the majority of people with melted cables managed to not melt the power connectors on their previous GPU installs yet, strangley enough, must have forgot how to plug in a power cable when they purchased their 4090's.

What a coincidence.

Good point here. How can someone victim blame for not inserting the connector correctly when they were able to insert the pcie connectors just fine. For well over a decade now.

Perhaps, just perhaps the connectors are not fitting properly? Have a look:


This user suggests that these connectors are not fitting properly per jonnyguru.

Reddit - Dive into anything

www.reddit.com

Anyway, this user found out that his cables female pins are uneven. At first glance you might miss it. But if you look inside of each plastic connector you will see that the metal female pins are not even inserted.

Therefore, if you bought cables you want to check to make sure that the metal female pins are inserted evenly now.

Reddit - Dive into anything

www.reddit.com

These myriad of issues could actually be contributing to the issue. Which is why it's hard to replicate.
-connectors not fitting properly
-uneven pins
-bent cables
-using solder
-etc
Could all be factors to why they melt. Not just bent cables alone. Just an overall flawed design IMO.

 

[pc-guy]

Then we should have seen burnt-connector megathreads with every GPU launch.

I don't recall seeing this kind of cluster_*uck before.

I suspect the majority of people with melted cables managed to not melt the power connectors on their previous GPU installs yet, strangley enough, must have forgot how to plug in a power cable when they purchased their 4090's.

What a coincidence.

New connection format.

Previous Nvidia 12pin condition doesn’t have those sense pins.

The added pin could have made things a bit more resistant thus more prone to not being pushed in all the way

 

[Twinz]

New connection format.

Previous Nvidia 12pin condition doesn’t have those sense pins.

The added pin could have made things a bit more resistant thus more prone to not being pushed in all the way

Or there could be tolerance issues causing variance in how well some addapters fit (or rather don't fit).vs others.

"Just plug it in correctly" they say....


"Stop being so weak and push harder." Okay then...


And now you've jacked-up the connector on your shiny new graphics card.


This "New connector format" isn't going well at all.

Reddit - Dive into anything

www.reddit.com

 

[EastCoastHandle]

Found another instance where the connections is not seating properly. This is not user error. But tolerance issues with the male portion of the connector fitting inside the female portion. It's not fitting flush.

It's pretty hard to see. I suggest 4090 owners take your phone's camera and put it on macro mode. Then take a picture of your connectors to see if the male portion of the plug is flush inside the female portion connected on the gpu.

 

[arknor]

how do you know they didn't just not properly insert it all the way in the first place then it slightly pulled out with cable management.

doesn't seem like much of a bend but probably wouldnt take much force to unseat it when it's not clicked in place

seems like a small batch of cables came with pins being faulty though and some plastic moulds look like they are more akin to rush job clones ready to head to knock off alley.



they are all supposed to be sourced from Nvidia but the FE ones seem to have better quality assurance

 

[Shaz12]

Good point here. How can someone victim blame for not inserting the connector correctly when they were able to insert the pcie connectors just fine. For well over a decade now.

Perhaps, just perhaps the connectors are not fitting properly? Have a look:


This user suggests that these connectors are not fitting properly per jonnyguru.

Reddit - Dive into anything

www.reddit.com

Anyway, this user found out that his cable mod cables female pins are uneven. At first glance you might miss it. But if you look inside of each plastic connector you will see that the metal female pins are not even inserted.

Therefore, if you bought cables you want to check to make sure that the metal female pins are inserted evenly now.

Reddit - Dive into anything

www.reddit.com

These myriad of issues could actually be contributing to the issue. Which is why it's hard to replicate.
-connectors not fitting properly
-uneven pins
-bent cables
-using solder
-etc
Could all be factors to why they melt. Not just bent cables alone. Just an overall flawed design IMO.

That's a Moddiy cable BTW and not Cablemod. Basically eliminates them as a good quality option as they seem to be skimping on QC to achieve those super fast shipping speeds. Cablemod seems unimpacted with QC so far.

 

[EastCoastHandle]

how do you know they didn't just not properly insert it all the way in the first place then it slightly pulled out with cable management.

doesn't seem like much of a bend but probably wouldnt take much force to unseat it when it's not clicked in place

The real question is how do you prove that they did? I can only show you the results. These same people have been using pcie connectors for years w/o issue. That's is how I can prove to you that they inserted the connector properly.

It's getting quite obvious, for me, that the connectors themselves are not true to tolerance. And the cause of the imperfections to actual fit and finish is the fact that the design of the connectors is flawed. Heck, at a guess if you took a metal filer and evenly shaved off some of the plastic it would seat correctly. But that's just one of a many different issues we are seeing with these connectors. We have to see the forest before the bark of a tree.

 

[Shaz12]

Found another instance where the connections is not seating properly. This is not user error. But tolerance issues with the male portion of the connector fitting inside the female portion. It's not fitting flush.

It's pretty hard to see. I suggest 4090 owners take your phone's camera and put it on macro mode. Then take a picture of your connectors to see if the male portion of the plug is flush inside the female portion connected on the gpu.

That bend is asking for trouble and I bet that's why its getting loose at the connector end. Per Jony Gerow, bending it horizontally that much will cause the adaptor to melt for sure. Vertical bends are safe (nvidia adaptor is an exception) on third party cables as PCI SIG revised the terminals to prevent them from losing contact in a North to south bend. East to west bends continue to be very dangerous.

That case clearly cannot handle the 4090 and needs the Cablemod 180 adaptor mandatorily. People should stop trying to force it to fit.