A new report of a burnt 16-pin connector emerges, and this time it was recorded as well and showed that the connector was fully inside the GPU port but still melted.
DSO Gaming Reports Melted 16-pin Connector on RTX 5090 Despite a Proper Connection; GPU Works Fine After Reseating the GPU and Not the Connector
This isn't yet another incident of a melting 16-pin power connector, but surely has a lot in common with what we have seen in numerous reports, except that it was properly documented. DSO Gaming's Editor-in-Chief, John Papadopoulos, reported how his GeForce RTX 5090 suffered from a burnt and melted 16-pin power connector despite having done everything right.
This is one of the very few incidents where the whole process was documented, and John even took photos before he started loading the GPU to 100% usage. John says that he used the 12Vx2-6 power cable that came with the GPU and never swaps the cables even for a different GPU like RTX 4090 or RTX 5080. Despite this and a properly inserted connector, he started to see smoke coming out of the connector, but surprisingly, he didn't see any game crashes or anything like that when that happened.
He argues that even though some readers reported a 'gap' between the port and the connector in the pick, this was as far as the connector could go inside the GPU port. For over 20 minutes, the GPU ran at 100% and he saw no signs of smoke or burning smell, and the temperatures were below 78 degrees Celsius, which indicates a good connection. Nonetheless, the connector did suffer from overheating and as we can see, the bottom row of the pins was melted.
John says that the "supposed" gap was at the top of the connector, and therefore, the bottom row of the GPU connector shouldn't have melted, as it should have been the top row, which didn't make a full contact. However, this isn't how the melting occurs on these GPUs because the entire load is distributed to only those pins, which establish a full connection. Therefore, it's likely that the bottom pins were carrying all the power, which resulted in overheating, and indicates that the top row wasn't connected properly.
Once again, this may or may not be John's fault or "user error" since he says the connector couldn't go further in. He is also well familiar with how stuff works and has documented everything from the start. Even if the connector didn't make full contact, this could be due to a flaw in the connector's design, which has resulted in numerous such cases. Unfortunately, there is no way of telling if the connection is fully secure, as the GPU doesn't have any mechanism that would stop it from pulling all the power from the connected pins, even if it is one.
Now, there was another surprise. John reports that he just removed the GPU from the slot and plugged it back in without reconnecting the connector. This was done after he smelled the burning of the connector, and the GPU was doing just fine. No smoke or melting, which again, indicates that he did properly connect the cable, but due to the inherent flaw in the connector's design, it sometimes fails to make a proper contact.
News Source: DSO Gaming
About the author: Sarfraz Khan is a hardware reporter with a focus on PC components and the builder community. With years of experience writing about PC hardware and laptops, his work has been featured on several reputable technology publications. Sarfraz's hands-on experience is demonstrated through his first-person accounts of using and comparing different hardware configurations, providing practical and relatable insights for everyday users. His technical analysis is respected by peers in the enthusiast community and has been cited by specialized hardware sites such as Germany's Igor's Lab.
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