Since we reported the first case of a 16-pin NVIDIA connector melting on the GeForce RTX 4090 graphics card, there have been various findings. Now, several days after the issues were first reported, it looks like GamersNexus and Igor’s Lab have finally fixed the issue.
The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 adapter is to blame, but not all! 300V 14 AWG wire works perfectly fine, 150V leads to melt.
As NVIDIA and its AIB partners work to resolve 16-pin connector issues, the PC tech community is working hard to uncover the true cause of the problem. In the previous report we learned that it was the adapter that was responsible for the fusion and not the card or the socket on the card itself. The 16 pin connector has become very hot when proper contact has not been made or the cable has been bent too much. This led to an excessive amount of current flowing through the cable, which further led to higher temperatures and the resulting melting occurred.
GamersNexus’ Steve Burke has now discovered that while the cables themselves are the problem, not all cables can cause the card to burn or melt. The tech outlet noticed that all of their cables were labeled “300V 14AWG” while those shown by Igor were rated at 150V. It’s a big difference. But not only that, there was also a difference in the soldering between the two cables.
NVIDIA 16 pin 300V adapter cable (cable known to be in good condition):
Since both sockets ripped out the connector, it was discovered that the 300V cables use high quality solder whereas on the 150V each line of cable is soldered individually and with a smaller solder area which can result in damage when bending. This must explain why the cable in Igor’s case came loose. The cable used by Steve (GamersNexus) and Ronaldo (TecLab) was able to withstand the torture through various endurance and durability tests. GamersNexus and TecLab also ran the cable for hours under load.
NVIDIA 16 pin 150V adapter cable (bad soldering via Igor’s lab):
In the case of GamersNexus, their NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 graphics cards ran for over 48 hours under load while TecLab ran its 16-pin adapter cable under a load tester with a sustained load of 1530W. That brings us so to the conclusion that there are only bad cables causing the problem, but why they are there in the first place is something that only NVIDIA and its AIBs have the answer to.
NVIDIA 16 pin 150V vs 300V solder quality (Image credits: GamersNexus):
There’s no way to tell which cable you’re getting unless you pull back the sleeve a bit. In case you got a 150V 16 pin cable, you can ask the manufacturer to replace it with the correct 300V cable. The good thing is that there are not a large number of users who received the 150V 16 pin cable. NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 4090 graphics card is now with thousands of gamers and although there are less than 20 reports of the card melting down, they are still enough to be cause for concern. Based on surveys conducted by HardwareLuxx and PlayersNexusit seems that the number of users who got the 150V adapter is less than 7%.
As we have quite a number of GeForce RTX 4090 buyers on our forum @hardwareluxx_de, I asked the question which adapter comes with the card. 3x 8 pin 150/300 V or 4x 8 pin 150/300 V. So far the result looks like this. There is therefore approximately 150 V nominal circulating. pic.twitter.com/BiWdDSbuD2
—Andreas Schilling 🇺🇦 (@aschiling) October 30, 2022
Keep everyone posted: out of about 130 emails sent to the 4090 cable inbox so far, we’ve received 7 that are 150V wires (and therefore potentially indicative of a different power supply) , or 5%. This rating doesn’t instantly mean it’s bad. Reply to a few for info
— GamersNexus (@GamersNexus) October 31, 2022
GamersNexus also advises owners of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 16-pin adapter cable to use the following instructions to verify the cable version they received with their card:
So the vast majority of gamers who have the 300V adapters shouldn’t worry too much, but it’s still a good idea to check your cable to see if it’s definitely the correct one or not. We have already checked 7 of the cables that came with our samples (FE, SUPRIM X, SUPRIM Liquid, Vulcan X, TUF Gaming, AORUS Master, SG) and all are rated at 300V. You can also tell us in the comments below which cable you got with your NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 card (FE or AIB) if you have one.
News source: tomshardware
#NVIDIA #pin #adapter #flavors #300V #good #GeForce #RTX #150V #fire #hazard