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

Associate
Joined
10 Jan 2022
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1,029
Location
London
This image is just ugh...

The NVidia adaptor is soldered. Every cabling standard that exists has a clause that says "Do not use solder on connections without strain relief". You get a high stress concentration at the joint between solder and no solder, where you'll get broken cores in single digit articulation cycles...

It's literally 101 of cabling and connectors. You use a crimping tool or you don't use the connector.

NV deserve BIG heat for this. Unimaginably dumb.
Yeah I cant believe they used this... but this also means that if you are using properly crimped cable you should be safe - and hence why there are no reports of melting with native cables.
 
Man of Honour
Joined
13 Oct 2006
Posts
91,647
So the problem is the adapter indeed... its not 12 pin... its 2 pin in all fairness as everything is connected to each other and soldered... what the actual f....

Please please tell me someone is having us on with that picture... even as someone who just does electronics like that as a hobby I know it is an unbelievably dumb thing to do.
 
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Associate
Joined
26 Apr 2017
Posts
1,267
Yeah no he's wrong, just look at some of his statements

"Standard compliant power supply cables from brand manufacturers are NOT affected by this so far."

This is false, cables from Corsair and Be Quiet have already shown to be affected and Nvidia did not design this cable, it was actually designed by Intel as part of their ATX3.0 spec


Here is a Be Quiet cable





Here is a Corsair cable


Trusts an engineer vs some random guy on a forums opinion
 
Associate
Joined
29 Jun 2016
Posts
530
Trusts an engineer vs some random guy on a forums opinion
To my eye those looked crimped and not soldered, or have I got that wrong? I guess the next argument is what is the margin applied on the continuous current rating of the connector.

For these sorts of connectors, I'd be tempted to uprate such that the loss of 1 contact was still within spec. It's pretty common, without special retainers that some manufacturers provide, that you get a bad insertion or the crimp's pawals are damaged and you get a partial contact.

The whole situation reeks of the connector spec being abused, i.e. not conforming to maximum AWG sizes, hence you just solder instead of crimp. This is pure speculation, but if this came onto my desk (where I have recently worked on several custom connectors, cables and looms), that's how I would read it...
 
Soldato
Joined
8 Jan 2003
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3,736
Location
Scotland
I stand by my previous statement of leave the nvidia adapter in the box or bin it!

Not worth risking it, get a proper cable!
But if you’ve spent £1700+ on a product, I think it’s fair to assume that the items supplied with it work and are safe. Fair enough buy another cable if you want better aesthetics but it shouldn’t be a necessity!
 
Associate
Joined
12 Jun 2021
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1,663
Location
Leeds
I am sure there are some excellent posts in here from people with real soldering and electronic qualifications and experience. I am here to give this thread balance from the idiots viewpoint and when you are selling to the general public an item that can consume upto 600w then it has to be idiot proof.

When there are 10s of thousands of these cards in the hands of every Tom Dick and Jane you will at times find them used in less than ideal situations and the connector has to be robust enough that it is almost impossible to use it wrong. The 3000 series connector was ugly and stupid as hell and it has not improved with this generation. Yes there were issues moving from molex to 6/8 pin connectors back in the day but for over a decade we had an idiot proof power delivery method and Nv decided to add in danger and risk and that is just stupid.

What they should have done right from the 3000 series launch with this new connector is put proper 90 and 180 degree adapters in the box that totally remove all risk and make it idiot proof for the average Joe like me. As it currently stands you are paying over £1600 for an electronic component that you have to goto Cablemod to get the proper adapters and cables to make it safe, that is pathetic penny pinching imho.
 
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Soldato
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13 Mar 2004
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Location
Norwich
But if you’ve spent £1700+ on a product, I think it’s fair to assume that the items supplied with it work and are safe. Fair enough buy another cable if you want better aesthetics but it shouldn’t be a necessity!

You're right, they should be safe and work. I think the design of the adapter to allow compatibility with current spec PSUs is sound but they obviously haven't been made to a high standard.
 
Associate
Joined
23 May 2013
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Poole dorset
I've been using this since day 1 no issues, should I be worried now? Much neater than the adapter and can't see any bend.

Fasgear PCI-e Gen 5.0 Power Cable - 70cm 12VHPWR 16-pin 3x8pin(6+2 pin) Male Sleeved Cable - 600W GPU Power Cord for RTX 3090Ti & 4080 4090 Series
 
Soldato
Joined
31 Oct 2002
Posts
9,910
TLDR here seems to be:

1. If you're using an ATX3.0 PSU with it's own 21vHPWR connector, you're fine
2. If you're using cable mods custom cables, you're fine
3. If you're using the Nvidia adaptor, make sure it's completely straight with no bends, consider options 1 or 2 if this isn't possible with your case.
 
Associate
Joined
24 Sep 2020
Posts
90
Yep, I think I'll keep the side of my case off until that Cablemods right-angle adapter is available. I measured and I'm actually pretty close to 3cm before a bend with the case on, but better safe than sorry.
 
Associate
Joined
25 Apr 2015
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126
Location
London
I wonder if this adaptor drama is the reason we haven't seen the FEs on sale for over a week now. The fewer cards the public have the easier it is to do a product recall.
 
Soldato
Joined
19 Jan 2006
Posts
4,551
Yeah no he's wrong, just look at some of his statements

"Standard compliant power supply cables from brand manufacturers are NOT affected by this so far."

This is false, cables from Corsair and Be Quiet have already shown to be affected and Nvidia did not design this cable, it was actually designed by Intel as part of their ATX3.0 spec


Here is a Be Quiet cable





Here is a Corsair cable


To be fair, connectors that look like that are quite common - I've seen cables like that since I started building computers across every different type of power connector I've used except SATA.

Cables like that are a quick fix, broken solder tabs on the NVIDIA supplied connector are not.

In fact, I'd wager that those cables used like that without manually fixing/ensuring good seating, would handle more current and generate less heat than the NVIDIA pad soldered crap.

EDIT: This is exactly what CableMod are worried about happening with their connectors too, given the small pin size, hence the "don't bend too close to the connector". Reseating them in these types of cables is possible, fixing the NVIDIA supplied adapters is not.
 
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Soldato
Joined
6 Feb 2019
Posts
17,830
**** that's some service. They must be concerned if they personally showed up to replace it

And as for the sticky megathread, it's also a nice way of containing any new posts about other people with the same issue

They've apparently also asked the AIBs to return all damaged cards and cables back to Nvidia now

TLDR here seems to be:

1. If you're using an ATX3.0 PSU with it's own 21vHPWR connector, you're fine
2. If you're using cable mods custom cables, you're fine
3. If you're using the Nvidia adaptor, make sure it's completely straight with no bends, consider options 1 or 2 if this isn't possible with your case.

just don't use the adaptor - if it's as weak and brittle as Igor implies then you can damage the cable just by bumping or dropping it, you don't even need to bend it to break the soldered points off and you have no idea off he adaptor is already broken when you receive it as it can be broken in the box.
 
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Caporegime
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
30,070
I've been using this since day 1 no issues, should I be worried now? Much neater than the adapter and can't see any bend.

Fasgear PCI-e Gen 5.0 Power Cable - 70cm 12VHPWR 16-pin 3x8pin(6+2 pin) Male Sleeved Cable - 600W GPU Power Cord for RTX 3090Ti & 4080 4090 Series
Which PSU do you have m8?
 
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