Melting 4090 and CableMod. JayzTwoCents and Gamers Nexus Response. Blame NVidia or User?

Thank you both Steve and Jay. Check response videos at links below
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[@endorphinADMIN]

While I, and hopefully the entire userbase that follows Jay Steve or Alex, certainly appreciate the work each one of them devotes to investigative journalism backed by proven and professional techniques as well as decades of experience, certainly do not appreciate or advocate for any of them to work against each other and basically execute a tech pissing contest about Nvidia's melting 4090 power connectors. Grow up boys. Work together. Stop throwing rocks at each other. You're making us, the followers, the subscribers, the bread and butter of a chunk of your income, cannon fodder for this silly bickering. Work it out. Post something collaborative. We're not appreciative of tabloid tech news and updates.

[@NorthridgeFix]

I don't think anybody is against anybody. I made the video from my point of view and the way I see it. Opinions can differ. If all people shared similar opinions, the world would stop and no further innovations or advancements would be made. Looking at this from 3 points of view is not enough. That's where the viewer comes in. I mentioned at the end of the video, |let me know what you think, do you agree with GN, Jay or Me?" The topic is left neutral and open to further investigation. The way i see it, the issue remains an Nvidia and not a user problem. What I said should be taken with an open mind and not as someone attacking anyone.

[@JayShady84]

It seems like you have almost the same opinion just you place all the blame on the 4090 having a design flaw connector, and Steve is saying it's both user error and a design flaw. Either way the conclusion is the same that the 4090 12vhpwr connector is designed wrong and needs to be fixed

[@TreyJays]

After reading your comment, it is clear that you are too ignorant to realize how ignorant your comment was showing you'd be a hard one to teach, and I cannot be your teacher, but I will hope that you will read your one-sided very simple comment once more, despite how hard it may be, and realize it has only collapsed on itself due to you crying heavily over the page you are writing on, smearing the letters as you try to make an argument about how men shouldn't argue when it comes to different opinions like the one you just gave. Also while speaking on everyone else's opinions as if you know all. Broaden your horizon. Speak for yourself. Not everyone else 👌

[@OhHeyItsShan]

Endorphin, how you came to that conclusion after watching this video, I have no idea. Quite honestly it doesn't even sound like you watched the video. None of the names you mentioned have been fighting or arguing against each other with regards to the 4090 connector. They simply came to their OWN conclusions. Obviously with opposing viewpoints someone will be correct and someone won't. To the community however the fact that all these techtubers are willing to go to great lengths to showcase the issue, only benefits us the consumer.

[@CoalitionGaming]

​@@NorthridgeFix Well said

[@TheKrokogil]

Agree with you Alex, if the connector misaligns so easily, the manufacturer should take responsibility.

[@geoffh4578]

which cable, the 3rd party cable ?, how many of these melted while using the standard cable, if I was looking for a failure point I would be testing the 3rd party cable to see if the materials used are up to the job i.e. can carry the current without heating up, when conductors heat up they increase in resistance to the current which them causes more heat and eventually total failure

[@marcv7260]

@@geoffh4578 the problem is its not the third or 5th party cable that is melting.... its the actual connector that is melting.

[@testickles8834]

If you know a car is going to burn down when you start it, would you still buy it? If you buy one, knowing there is a problem, then the only fault is yours

[@--_DJ_--]

@Geoff H They had this problem from the start, when only 1st party cables were available. It isn't the cable, it is the connection at the pins. This has all been well documented at this point.

[@--_DJ_--]

@Kamelt Oefan What if only 1 in 1000 burns when you start it? Is it your fault then too?

[@bakenbard]

gtx series: nothing bad happened with cable connectors rtx 2000: nothing bad happened with cable connectors rtx 3000: nothing bad happened with cable connectors rtx 4000: cable connectors melting users: - oh no, I forgot how to connect cables

[@blackshadow4852]

lmao ... right on point bruh

[@azteamr0per]

Or like 20 years of general PCI-E power connectors no problem - New proprietary connector comes out and has issues - must be user error lmao

[@duskairable]

Exactly

[@leorickpccenter]

hahaha

[@Trip4man]

The thing is also... There's wayyyy more people now building their own pc's than before! And let's not forget the crypto miners niche also... So, more people can equal to more mistakes/accidents. It's important to not to jump to conclusions and investigate FIRST

[@vicvector7878]

You are absolutely right, people didn't suddenly forget how to plug in a power connector, and ONLY on 4000 series gpu's. Frankly, it's a disgusting practice when any company refuses to accept responsibility for their products and instead tries to gaslight their customers.

[@iamleidig]

Especially a trillion dollar company

[@jnh2003]

I’m on a MSI Ventus 3x 4090 with the 90degree cable mod adapter and Cable mod PSU cable. I’m also an independent IT consultant and PC builder who has built thousands of PC’s in my time. I have been keeping an eye on my system since the 4090 was installed. Non of my cables are bent or under tension I’m using an AIO and 140mm fans so little vibration is in the system. The GPU is power restricted to 80%. About once a week I check the cable is seated home and about half the time it has worked it’s way out a small amount. Thinking it could be vibrations from the fans I replaced them all with Noctua ones. Still happens. From what I can tell it’s due to thermal expansion. With the connector repeatedly heating and cooling with use it’s causing the connector to work it’s way out then once it’s far enough out to increase the resistance it starts to melt or arc. This is totally a design flaw. All the cards should be recalled and the connectors replaced with larger more substantial ones before a fire is caused and someone dies.

[@MarsIncorporated_]

this guy PCs

[@Mason_bluegrass]

im pretty sure you are right

[@JacobLara]

Whatever ends up being the case, these cards cost WAY too much money for them to be damaged permanently by slight disconnect. Nvidia should fix this issue and take responsibility.

[@mikerzisu9508]

Completely agree

[@triadwarfare]

No wonder GPU sales are low.

[@JdMetal]

It's not just about way too much....as current market stands, the flagship GPUs now cost thousands of dollars ....on top of that, this users bought this flagships just its to melts because supposedly user error....we gave away too much money to this corporate to treat the consumer like shit!

[@damine4740]

gamersnexus is such a fkin simp Xray and Lab tests to prove the user is to blame the mental gymnasitcs on this guy wow !!! nvidea should hire him

[@Ryan_DeWitt]

@@triadwarfare Probably has more to do with the video card gouging that only recently has cooled down left a very bad taste in a lot of peoples mouths. People are now just plain refusing to upgrade until they absolutely have to.

[@MeitsMSX]

There's a reason why 12V was always supplied over mutiple cables, to spread the power evenly. Combining all that power into one socket on a power hungry card is a disaster waiting to happen.

[@FourtySixx]

This

[@AP_Sim]

Well with hwinfo you'll see atleast on my 3080. It's far from evenly. But I agree with you I like the fact that the power is running through 3 connectors instead of one.

[@jbeckva499]

Another vote for THIS.. And that's where actual proof could come out that it's a bad design. If under load the individual pins are measured for actual current draw, then there just might be a smoking gun (pardon the pun) in that some of them will show a very large imbalance in current from one to another.

[@katlegomogwera3424]

Too little surface area to pass all the voltage and current causing this issue.

[@x8jason8x]

Intel made the spec, and they chose not to use it. Should have been nVidia's first clue, but they've proven unable or unwilling to "read the room" as of late. On just about everything to do with consumers anyway, they probably don't care because their AI/enterprise side is cashing checks.

[@neiswestnij]

I have the feeling the connector itself is undersized for the 500+Watt. On my previous card there were 3 connectors on the GPU to run with 300-400W and now we have 1, which is way smaller, which runs 500+.

[@rocksntwigs]

I think if you're suddenly seeing a massive uptick in melting GPU cables when neither the connector or the average skill and ability of the users changed then there really is no other alternative than it's the GPU deaign.

[@nikolaivasilev7371]

not to mention small problem of where it starts melting and overheating ...being from the card side always

[@BRANFED]

pretty much thought the same thing..

[@marcinnowogorski]

Maybe it's the influx of new, highly demanding, poorly optimized games that started coming out not long ago ;)

[@Syntappi]

People has built computers for like over 20 years now with GPU:s that need external power hooked up to them. And this seems to be first time that the connector melts. So in my eyes the reason is VERY obvious, the connector has to be too undersized for the application. It can't be that suddenly hundreds or even thousands of people don't know how to connect that connector right.

[@x8jason8x]

6 and 8 pin atx connections have not failed because of their design, ever, and ATX standards have been around about +/- 50 years now. Defects and mistakes happen, but this connector is failing year one, repeatedly. Some of it was user error, sure, but it's all nVidia's fault that it happened in the first place.

[@stanimir4197]

@@x8jason8x ATX origins - 1995. I know when you are young the difference between 30 and 50 is indistinguishable but ATX is not even 30.

[@adranonim]

Well maybe there are thousands of people who don't know how to connect cable so Nvidia should change design, provide sufficient training on card installation or put requirement that only qualified electrician may install 4090 in your computer.

[@adamdunne6645]

Other connectors have melted before, this is just blowing up more because they're new cards and the connector was causing controversy before the 40 series even released.

[@x8jason8x]

@@stanimir4197 I'm not young first of all. Second, I'm not talking about form factors. ATX power supply connections can be found in things as old as IBM Selectrics. I know when you think you know everything, you tend to neckbeard it, but probably save the fedora for the real dance, pal.

[@markoherranen8108]

You are totally right Alex. We never had these problems when we had the older style of connectors because they were oversized for the job. The connectors now are theoretically up to handle the power of the cards..

[@sole_less]

Was super paranoid about this and made sure my connecter was fully seated numerous times. Literally not even 20 minutes ago while playing Diablo 4 I smelled a plastic burning smell from my not even a month old PC and knew where it was coming from. Opened up my case and the connecter is hot to the touch. There’s definitely some melting and I’m scared to pull it off.

[@dudee789]

Which 4090 do you have?

[@sole_less]

@@dudee789 it was the white strix OC

[@jimmyhuang7481]

I agree with Alex. Throughout my many years of tinkering with electronics, I've never had a connector melt because it was plugged in partially. Most of the time it just won't make an electrical connection, and a re-seat fixes it. The only time a near connection poses a problem is with high voltage/amperage where electricity may arc across a small gap. Repeated arcs will melt even metal as seen in arc welding. The only other time they melt is when I run too much amperage over a connection but that was me being lazy and knowingly pushing the envelope on underrated wire/connectors. If the connector fails through regular usage, it is just plain bad design. If you need a degree in electrical engineering to properly plug in a connector, it's also bad design in any commercial equipment. Imagine if plugs of any home appliance would burn your house down if they were not absolutely seated 100%.

[@Chimera420]

The only user error there could possibly be here is purchasing a 4090

[@HaloinfiniteEternal]

The 4090 should be $799 max

[@user-xg9bw7vx5s]

@@HaloinfiniteEternal Fantastic observation

[@radoslavsk8591]

4080 melting tooo

[@ASHOT3359]

If you look at it from another angle: I bought 4090 with the money i collected for 2 years. And now i'm learning soldering and electronic repair while waiting for the delivery of my wannabe mini laboratory to arrive, soldering station, heatgun, thermal camera, microscope, consumables, the whole shabang. I'm always wanted to learn e. repair, but was very lazy about it. Now i have the most powerful gaming GPU in the world (that works, hope to not jinx it), and soon skills and equipment to fix it if needed. Thanks for a little push 4090!

[@NerdThingsAndMore]

😂

[@DerKopfsammler666]

I'm not usually a fan of podcasts, but I'm really interested in watching Jay, Alex and Steve discussing this issue together.

[@redragongaming]

Steve is wrong on this one, he can't see past his own ignorance, gotta love the whole money he's getting from Nvidia.

[@Ryan_DeWitt]

@@redragongaming "The shill gambit, a type of ad-hominem and poisoning-the-well rhetorical move, occurs when one party dismisses another party's arguments by proclaiming them to be on the payroll of some agency."

[@redragongaming]

@@Ryan_DeWitt Your comment doesn't disprove what i just said, it only enforces the facts and those are with me. You can't prove Steve isn't involved with Nvidia because he is. Of course he's gonna side with the corporation, doing the opposite could mean penalties to him. Once you're involved with the rules you gotta play by the rules, otherwise no one's going to like the hard cold truth. I'm happy to say Alex and Jay are on the right track on this one, corporations are still made up of people and they gotta respect the customer, not shift the blame from one another.

[@Ryan_DeWitt]

@@redragongaming Do you have proof Nvidia is paying him off to have his opinion? The burden of proof is on you since you are the one making the claim. It is one thing to say you disagree with his conclusion, a whole other to make a "he is a paid shill" accusation. This may come as a shock, but people may disagree with you and that doesn't mean they are getting paid somehow to do so.

[@FackThePresent]

@@redragongaming Go back to a "how to argue 101" class then return to this comment section just to start deleting your below-the-grass-level-brow comments. The case of Hitchens's razor in full public view here. One can hope something was at least learned.

[@seitenryu6844]

It's amazing that the new connector made it to users. Even from a laymans point of view, the change from 2/3/4 8pin plugs, to a single plug would make me expect failures. Perhaps it could be executed properly, but it just seems undersized to achieve any sort of thermal isolation. There should be larger gauge wires and larger pins, at a minimum, but a more sophisticated latching mechanism would help as well. Software or sensor checks against the connection would be great.

[@Baoran]

It might be problem with the card itself but I think the point about cablemod sending them was that cablemod was like a buffer for the cards and collected them from longer period of time and then sent them all to you in short period of time which made more cards coming in shorter period of time than if users had sent them as they failed themselves.

[@Stubbies2003]

I'd say the video itself squashes this one as both the video here and from Steve at GN state eight cards from cable mod. Whereas this video showed a whole rack of cards from users waiting to be fixed. Those eight cards aren't making or breaking this numbers wise.

[@Henrik_Holst]

@@Stubbies2003 true, but that is a fact that only came out in this video so hard to blame GN or J2C for that when it was completely unknown info to them

[@Stubbies2003]

@@Henrik_Holst Yeah Jay has already leaned towards something wrong with the card at this point. Steve didn't shut the door in the video either. He left it open for something that wasn't known at the time of making the vid.

[@Inacoma84]

Agree with you Alex so after 20 years we have all forgotten how to connect a GPU Nvidia needs to take responsibility for its own products.

[@ariewijaya1679]

Classic move to always blame to the customers. In indonesia is something burn they will blame the user psu 😀

[@bandestroyer]

We have never seen as many melted connectors as we have on this nvidia 4080 - 90 series. It is very rare to see any melted 8-pin connector of the millions of video cards that exist in the world. If we only take this percentage of failure that we saw in the last 4 months in this generation 40... I believe that would be enough to carry out a recall and review this type of connector. For me Alex your point of view is the best!

[@aktchungrabanio6467]

This!

[@majorlook]

Alex you are absolutely right about this problem. It can not possibly be a user error. I love your work. Keep it up Thanks

[@Saurion1]

If user error is THIS prone to happening, it's a bad design, period.

[@yandraalays9242]

or the design is just at the limit. so theres a chances many defect in one batch production.

[@fearone9694]

I.e. Not fit for purpose.

[@DisheveledHuman]

The fact the 3090 had the same connector and we didn't see large amounts of burnt and destroyed connectors means that there is something wrong about the 4090's.

[@mattnsac]

Yeah the difference is that a 3090 doesnt draw 30+ amps bone stock. That connector is not rated for sustained current draw that high.

[@M.R.B.]

+1. Was about to say the same thing.

[@Ryan_DeWitt]

It very well could have had the same issue. It is just that its maximum power draw wasn't enough to exceed the melting point of the connector.

[@ApocDevTeam]

4090's can be pushed to higher power maybe? it's a waste on such an efficient node and architecture, but it's possible nonetheless. There's always that one person that cranks every setting to the absolute limit and then runs some excruciatingly GPU intensive benchmark that maxes out every square mm of the GPU chip.

[@skyhawk21]

3090 cards didn’t use with modded bios up to a thousand watts of power

[@dons8365]

I agree with you totally. I wonk on automotive electronics. GM and their micro connectors for years have been too light to take the amp load within the circuit. The small terminals in the connector will start to heat up due to the fact they are too small. A fuse is installed in a circuit to be the weak link in case of failure on that circuit. If you have a weak terminal at the connector that is too small, you have made the terminals into a fuse. Another weak link. They may not burn as quickly as a fuse but they will sit and simmer causing melting problems in the connector.

[@OleNesie]

This makes so much sense too. They are just pushing too much power in a small area

[@FLCLimaxxx]

The one thing you will learn over the years is that you’re NEVER allowed to blame Nvidia for anything.

[@pana.alexandru]

Alex, I follow Jay and GN also, but if possible, maybe you can continue this topic with them, as I do believe that you 3 will deliver a proper RCA. Again, thank you for all the work you put in!

[@BeatmasterAC]

i would include IgorsLab as well.

[@milanbajic242pcchannel]

I also think that NVIDIA's fault is more precisely the connector on the cards and the high consumption of 400+ W, a simple solution is to return the old connectors that we have used for the last 10+ years and which AMD cards still use. If I said something wrong or wrote I apologize in advance. Thanks for the great videos NorthridgeFix, I follow you regularly, have a great day. 👍❤💯🔔

[@radoslavsk8591]

Its really way too much watts for just one small connector...

[@lamelama22]

AMD was going to use the same connector but then saw all the problems and was like "oh hell no" and immediately redesigned their boards. Intel *designed* the connector (and didn't fully test it or engineer it properly), not the standards board, and even they don't use the connector for their motherboards or GPUs. Nvidia just doesn't want to admit fault because recalls are expensive, and they have a company policy of never admitting fault even when they screw up, and attacking anyone that criticizes them.

[@andresx791]

@@radoslavsk8591 I don't know but the cable on my MSI A1000G PCIe5 power supply says Cleary 600W on it.(meaning it can support 600Ws) I think is a combination of some 4090 models, but also power supply models, maybe people are trying to overclock cards that cannot go pass 400Ws or near 600Ws.

[@BeatmasterAC]

and this is why you Frame limit and / or Undervolt the GPU. It's basically a must, now a days.

[@radoslavsk8591]

@@BeatmasterAC NO! STANDARD USER WILL NOT UNDERVOLT a GPU! Because they not added 2 or 3 normal connectors!

[@VinniStaglianno]

let me get this straight. lets say a car manufacturer has this special lug nuts for securing the tires down, user can install the tires correctly, torque them down correctly but there is still a chance of the tires to wiggle a bit if you turn them too much and some tires end up falling off. would that be user error? NO. i dont know what Steve is smoking. the evidence of that 90 degree adapter melting while fully seated is all the evidence you need. this is on NVIDIA.

[@NVMDSTEvil]

The problem is everyone is right, its a poorly designed system which invites error from the user (partial connection, pressure on cables) and design fault (material ingress, mechanical stress fault).

[@raimundtrierscheid6318]

Hopefully NVIDIA never enters the electric car market ...

[@cloud1930]

Agreed

[@johnd.1618]

Steve is smoking Nvidia's 💵JMO

[@mr.number9279]

Steve is just a shitty shill now. GamersNexus has 0 credibility going forward in literally any matter.

[@Mullspeed]

I’m with you Alex. Looking at the “burn line” as Steve calls it I would imagine that the end of the plug in the cable and where it makes contact with the pin in the socket on the GPU. I wonder if there is an issue with vibration burning these up, I had it at work once where we had to apply a connector lubricant to a molex type plug as the excessive current draw and vibration burnt out the pins

[@ECAstack]

There should be a class action lawsuit against nvidia over this mess.

[@buxtech]

I am ALL FOR a NRF and Jayz2cents collaboration! Bring it on!

[@NaveenJolster]

I like Steve voicing out many manufacturing design errors and fighting for it. But in this one am siding with Alex and Jayz, it's Nvidia's fault to use a fragile connector like that.

[@realtuner3560]

Gamers Nexus knows nothing. They always try to get attention and pretend to be smart.

[@Ryan_DeWitt]

​@@realtuner3560 Great example of you're damned if you do, damned if you don't. Don't try to do advanced testing, "you know nothing, get some good equipment and people who know what they are doing." Get the good equipment and consult with people who know what they are doing "You are just pretending to be smart."

[@redragongaming]

@@realtuner3560 Yeah man i figured out Steve doesn't actually knows so much as he pretends to. I even found a webpage with him talking about a problem with the PCI Express Downstream Switch ports that weren't working properly on a motherboard, after that he posted steps onto fixing the issue but surprise surprise these steps were not relevant, the so called steps seemed to be nothing but click bait, it's how i know he's most likely a sellout.

[@38911bytefree]

@@Ryan_DeWitt Let it to a certified lab and run a test procedures for connectors like the ones used in automotive industry. Period. You dont need to put a show. Get your test done under standards in a certified lab.

[@Ryan_DeWitt]

@@38911bytefree This isn't the auto industry. It is the gaming industry. That is what youtube is. Info with entertainment. Channels that post cold info with zero entertainment do not last long. As Alex likes to say, you get a lot of scientist in the youtube comment sections. Plus they do consult and test beyond their capabilities or equipment that they do want to run are sent off to these places.

[@MoonDoes]

I'm with you, I trust someone who dedicates every day to fixing the poor work of video card manufacturers more than someone who receives gifts from video card manufacturers...

[@pikafunk]

The 12VHPWR connector was always a bad idea. 50A on 6 tiny pins doesnt work. (6 pins because you need +12 and ground @ 12 v = 50 A or 9 A per pin). That is more current than a home water heater/cloths drier, look at the connectors on those.

[@lucas9770]

If it is always the same pin that melts, perhaps it is something related to the power that is used on this specific line. it means that probably one power phase consumes more than the others when feeding the gpu. it would be interesting to test the consumption of this line to find out if this is the problem

[@SivaFolsom]

A recall needs to be issued for the 4090 cards. NVidia has enough resources to do their own analysis. They should hire Alex to test before releasing their product. 4090 is a fire risk waiting to happen.

[@aktchungrabanio6467]

Exactly, and one I'm not willing to take.

[@etherlon2766]

The problem is the 12V power supplied from the PC power supply. Its the current that heats the connector, not the voltage, so by halving the current by doubling the voltage you could solve this issue easily. When PC's first came out they only needed 12 and 5 volt power (with lower current -12 and -5 volt rails and over time +-3V). PC's nowadays need more power (i.e. amps) to work, but at 12 volts and 500 watts (rendering graphics with Blender for example), you will be drawing more than 40 amps!!! The chips on the card don't use 12 volts. They are stepping down the voltage to say 3.3V/1.2V etc. A lot of the graphics card PCB space is just the on-board power supply to make the lower voltages. If the card could take 24V you would need only need approximately half the current (i.e. amps) to run the card as the incoming voltage would still be stepped down to voltages that the chips need anyway. Of course, this would mean another standard of power supplies with specific outputs for GPU's, but it would make the issue of over heating connectors go away.

[@daaraade5092]

This is because moving the cable from right to left to extract it expands the area of ​​its holder, so put a little flex on the cable port to help extract the cable and also helps it to make a good connection between the cable and the card port.Or the possibility that the cable wires that burn the outlet are badly connected and cause melting..

[@gamerking2847]

which is a design d flaw.

[@diablosv36]

The plug is poorly designed, and yes it is a big flaw for it to melt regardless of if its plugged in all the way or not. Basically if there's any chance of melting due to improperly plugged then that should be redesigned in a way to prevent it ever happening as you said.

[@milosstojanovic4623]

dude, saying bullshit like "regardless of if its plugged or not" is idiotic. Because if thats the case who cares if its plugged, or power supply is weak, or motherboard has some serious manufacturing flaw. I mean, people are idiots and even if they do something wrong they will blame it on others. If cable is the issue, i agree that there should be some type of protection, like card not drawing power at all and is always in idle. Some older cards if i remember correctly could work without power cable but at like 50% power or something. Good way for protection.

[@jaycqc8136]

@@milosstojanovic4623 its not a cable issue, in most cases the connector on gpu melts not the cables

[@milosstojanovic4623]

@@jaycqc8136 that does not matter, cable goes into connector, connector goes into the card. Not the point i and he wrote. Maybe end of cables into the connector produce too much heat, maybe users OC the card too much. The point is it should have some kind of "protection" if CONNECTOR is not CONNECTED properly. Next time when you read try to understand the point properly.

[@thevoid7332]

I think a part that Steve missed is also the broken power connectors that seem to be a problem with those cards. There seems to be more going on than just not pushing in the connector all the way. A 250 gpu backlog is pretty insane, good luck!

[@TheRealFrankWizza]

These cards are huge. In my case, the CPU AIO hoses weren't long enough to get around the card, and I couldn't mount the fans. It's possible people are trying to install these into cases that are too narrow and these issues happen when trying to install the side panel.

[@Jeffcrocodile]

Steve really wanted to convince us all it was user error. To an absurd level even. And guess what the cable and the connector are all being replaced, so i guess he was absolutely wrong, or was he wrong? maybe he was just doing someone a favor, no recalls. Thanks Steve.

[@InfiniteImp42]

Glad I watched this video. I under the full impression that this was determined to be user error. As long as you attach the cable correctly, you're good. Seems like that's not the case based on this video, or at least not the case all for all cards. I was going to wait for a price reduction and get a 4090 then, but I've decided the melting risk isn't worth it. I'll wait for either a redesigned 40-series card with a safer connector or just pass on the 40 series completely and see what they do with the 50 series. I'll also give AMD a serious look finally, as this may be the time. Once Nvidia and their partners release a card with a redesigned power connector, that will be the time to buy - until then these cards are just disasters waiting to happen.

[@aktchungrabanio6467]

Exactly!

[@alvydasjokubauskas2587]

I will just buy the old generation 3090, even with heating memory problem compared to melting cables is an ice...

[@space4ace582]

Great video Alex! The 3 of you should get together and talk, and maybe test some of those cards. That would make an incredible video. Steve is more protective, I think, because they have done extensive testing on that problem already. Jay is more on track with what you're thinking; you could also show Jay how to resolder pins on CPUs, the right way. Wonderful work Alex, as always!

[@w4r10rd]

man this gpu series is seriously a joke better to stick to old gen and let nvidia stop being greedy.

[@hgbugalou]

The CPU is a beast, but nvidia is going to let some cheap ass component ruin years of R&D.

[@mr.number9279]

@@hgbugalou It isn't a beast though. The 4000 series is hilariously awful. The 4060 Ti is debuting to be in a power scale of the 3060 Ti/3070? Bitch what? Why is a NEWER card in literally the same power tier as the old generation? The 4090 doesn't do anything the 3090/Ti didn't either other than arbitrary "we locked off DLSS 9001 for ONLY 4000 series, because raisons" nonsense. It's an unsafe and largely unneeded mess the 4000 (de)generation.

[@jasonmccarthy820]

I have the Gigabyte Auros Master 4090. I use the adapter that came with the gpu and I use 4 Individual vga cables from the connector to my EVGA psu. I’ve been gaming for hours on in and every now and again I open the case to “feel” the connector and I feel barely any warmth. I’m assuming it’s just heat from the card itself. Mine is constantly pulling 400+ watts while gaming according to afterburner. Have you gotten any Gigabyte models in for repair?

[@boikboikboik3810]

Thanks for this, Northridge. I was never happy with Steve's soft declaration that it's a user error -- when does it go from being "user error" to "poor manufacturer design" if you have THAT MANY "user errors"? But I agree with Jay that Nvidia will try to ride this out, until the 5090 comes out. We shouldn't let them, but there's too many "user error" parrots are out there.

[@jrumiano]

The problem is too much current passing through too small gauge wires. Additional connectors and cables are needed to distribute the current load. When you pass high current through a small wire, heat is generated thus melting the connector between the board and the cables.

[@bblod4896]

Yeah, I mentioned that on the previous video, but, no one reads the comment.

[@stanimir4197]

@@bblod4896 No one reads - mostly b/c it makes no sense. "Too small gauge wires" -> nonsense. That would heat up the wire not the connectors. The heat is proportional to the resistance - and if the connector melts if would have the higher (by far) resistance. For the connector to melt it needs to have higher resistance on the mating surfaces (NOT the wires).

[@adamdunne6645]

The problem is cables that aren't plugged in fully. We already know that it's user error. The connector needs redesign so it can't pull out as easy once connected.

[@--_DJ_--]

Too small of wires are making things melt that are not touching the wires that are too small? How exactly does that work? The wire has never been shown to melt in any of the connectors. Not one.

[@xingbairong]

@@TheRadioShop You do realize that they mentioned another GPU(3090ti) that with OC can go easily over 500w and doesn't have that issue. So obvious this isn't the issue. What's more this is the basic of basic, so I doubt that no one has thought of this and designed it this way knowing what will happen. The issue is probably somewhere else.

[@leebannister3759]

You probably won't have to wait long. The next time a 4090 comes in with a cablemod melted to it, send it to Steve for x-rays.

[@piedpiper1172]

Get a 3 way Collab with Jay and Steve! All of you bring failed cards, and work together. This cuts out any “maybe this, maybe that” from the analysis process, and each of you can share your personal strengths. Plus, GN has excellent connections to industry diagnostic tools.

[@TheOtherBarber]

I agree 100% with what you said, but I would say that the user not fully engaging/seating card and connector is a factor simply because it either accelerates the failure or creates a different type of failure than what you've been repairing. Still on the manufacturer for essentially causing the issue though, just to be clear.

[@colinreece3452]

So all the other GPU's that user's buy they only do not plug the cable properly on the 4090 but they do on all the others, how strange. I still say it is a problem on the card, it has to be, who not all other crads coming in with burnt connecteors?

[@colinreece3452]

In the past I have joked with Alex saying he is a PC surgeon, the thing is I meant it too, he knows his stuff and for him to make a stance like this I'm with him all the way. To him electronics is second nature, he know a fault when he see it.

[@Ryan_DeWitt]

Oh, I don't know.... Could possibly have something to do with it uses much, more power than any other previous card out there. More power=More heat. Any card could have an issue but you wouldn't know it if the power draw wasn't enough to create enough heat to exceed the melting point of the plastic connector.

[@acp9737]

@NorthridgeFix Hi Alex ! Thank you for your work and your explainations. Isn't it possible to remove the connector and plug wires with sensors (temperature, amp, voltage) between the card and the connector to measure and understand what's happenning here ? I don't understand why nobody tried to measure and find the real problem.

[@patriotdrone9566]

The problem is the amount of current traveling through the wires to the pins. The card draws x amount of AMPs at specific voltage through the wires to the pins. If the gauge of the wire or pin size is slightly too small the resistance and Temps skyrocket. Likely, no adapter or cable will fix this issue as the problem lies directly with the cards receiving pins which in turn connect to the PCB traces. The card was designed to carry the load relatively evenly throughout the entirety of available pins. Unfortunately that only works in theory.

[@sandrobahry2558]

I completely agree with your explanation Alex. In my understanding, it's a real shame how engineers are not able to design this card to manage a electron flow. That is the very first lesson to learn for a proper project. Engineering sucks.

[@BobBob-nr1zt]

Why are you agreeing that the engineering of the cable and/or adapter is not at fault?

[@KenShipman]

At 18:19 you can see that the clip is ON, but there is still a lot of wiggle room there that could allow the connector to disengage. I could see this inadvertently happening in the power cable routing back to the power supply. Maybe that is putting stress on the connector even though it is fully plugged in. Since Alex has seen melted connectors on the card with the Cablemod installed, that's where the plot thickens.

[@dayadam16]

It can only disengage if its physically touched after its installed or its under extreme pressure which the user should obviously know if they installed it.. Through my experience I've installed hundreds of gpus and no matter how tight the wires were once things go on they normally don't move. This is only happening with 4000 series and that should be enough evidence by itself.

[@PeterParker-status]

Jay agreed with you and so do I, if 4090 cards are coming in bulk melted on the pcb nvidia should recall them. Even if it was user error for 2000 the card should have built in protection. I have limited my card to 300w until this is resolved

[@Airbender131090]

Why? If it melts they will give you new card anyways, won’t they? Bth there are cases melting with powerlimiting anyways

[@kamikaze00007]

I'm curious, which models of the RTX 4090 so far have had these melting issues? Maybe these models have something similar specifically. Perhaps a material similarity or a measurement/thickness of parts similarity for the bits that make up these connectors? Would be a good idea to see a list of these models/AIBs so people can avoid them.

[@j.lietka9406]

It's possible in a couple of cases that the customer didn't firmly "click" the cable/connector together, but it seems with a rather high number of duplicated / repeated incidents that the connector on the GPU is at fault. Design flaw or substandard / inadequate connector plastic

[@NeoGhk]

Alex, you should run this card under thermal camera and measure the max temperature under load. This max t is the problem, the plastic used to make the connector cannot take this max t. It simply melts around the pins delivering so much power.

[@ariewijaya1679]

but why the plastic not melting when soldering reflow 280c in factory

[@NeoGhk]

@@ariewijaya1679 soldering reflow in factory is done by machines in seconds. When heat is generated during hours of playing, it causes the plastic to eventually melt and liquify around the scorching pins.

[@Ottomanmint]

The pins heating up means resistance to the current flow, so bad connection! The connector is not suitable for the power being asked to be delivered!

[@ariewijaya1679]

@@NeoGhk but it took minutes to ramp up and ramp down to room temperature

[@bmsprecision]

@@ariewijaya1679 nop. those things are laser soldered, search for videos in YT you'll find it fast... and even if they weren't its easy for a electrical joint to heat way more than that after all thats how we melt steel together...

[@tonikratz4383]

I'm deeply invested in this! Love your videos, Alex! I'm interested to know whether anyone has watched and tested this card with a thermal camera to see where and when the heat starts building up in the connector. I believe that there is a huge current draw on those specific pins when the card is under high processing.

[@akirafan28]

Didn't Gamers Nexus do this in their 12vhpwr deep-dive? I guess the heat camera is not close enough to figure out specific pins, or that they modified their cable too much.

[@tc23emp]

Is the SEASONIC 12VHPWR 90° CABLE for the matching PSU safe enough to kind of work around this issue or do you need something like the CableMod one with shortened sense pins to prevent melting? I need to give advice to a friend. I just don't want him to invest an an overpowered card only for it to burn up.

[@MC-de6tf]

I agree with the guy that is fixing the cards that the problem is or appears to a design issue with the OEM connector on the card. I have experienced issues with connectors of various types in the past and some of those connectors I have fixed by using a zip tie or multiple zip ties to pull the two sides of the connectors together very tightly and lock them together so they do not move. On those video cards something like a zip tie might not be possible, but something like a tie might need to be part of the connector, or added to the connector to lock the socket and the plug together so they do not move apart.

[@SpeedsterIG]

I think you're absolutely right, it's a problem Nvidia has to solve, it cannot be solved by anyone else. I see the problem in an overstress of contact area which is considerable smaller than in the older solutions with up to 3x 8-pin connctors. Even if you would use some clever current balancing circuit to even out the currents every one of the 6 power pins has to carry they are just f*cking small for the job. If you take Tyco MQS contacts as a comparison they are rated for 7,5 Amps per pin @ 80 degs C. Multiply this by 6 and you get a maximum wattage of around 540 W under optimal conditions and ONLY if every contact takes an even amount of the load. I can not get how mad an engineer might be to think that stunt may go OK taking 3 to 4 8-pin power outlets and put them on 12 pins in a smaller form factor connector. This is absolutely bonkers, no need for doing so if your education in physics basic course at the university has left some marks. Even if you put the female connector straight into the card and give it a firm press, there will be a problem coming, maybe from micro vibrations of the contacts, reducing the effective area for the current, perhaps pulling small sparks, getting warmer, thermal changes may lead to changes in the dimensions of the metal pins and contact tongues, perhaps even some micro wearout happens after some time. The video card is not a static thing, there are fans moving, they speed up and down, other moving parts in the computer, even the user loading a CD, pressing a button, plugging in USB devices and so on. If you push the contacts far to its physical limits without any need to do so beside marketing reasons ("it is MY CONNECTOR" - Gollum image suggested while reading this) you will get into trouble. The trouble is there. And the trouble is exactly this connector or better the way it is used: too much amperage for the contacts, way off any reasonable specification limits I as an electronics engineer and a long year developer of automotive electronics would consider to be safe in any way. This connector is not right for up to 600 watts of power. Not if you wanna be on the safe side. I thought a lot lately of replacing my 3090 by a 4090. But hell no, this connector seemed wrong to me the moment I first saw it months ago. And I'm feeling confirmed. I will not buy any graphics card forcing me to use this for sure. There is a need to revert to the old connectors in my opinion. But I do not think Nvidia is ticking this way. Which is a shame.

[@aktchungrabanio6467]

Same. I was about to get myself a new 4090 but as I kept looking for the best brand I came to learn about this SIGNIFICANTLY DANGEROUS issue. People: this could set your god damn house on fire. It's no joke. I am not willing to risk it.

[@meppusgiganticus2663]

I totally agree with you. This connection on a card that also likes to consume 500 W with overclocking is an absolute botch. 500 W at 12V is a good 40 amps. If the plug is not 100% seated, the contacts will inevitably get very hot. The manufacturers have saved there in the wrong place and instead of the usual 6 and 8 pin connections they have developed a new one that simply cannot handle this performance. Greetings from Dresden / Germany

[@Flavius-Tech]

As a electrical specialist you can calculate consumption and size consumption if matching with conductors. If you have 500w consumption of video card and wires and connectors are at limit, every slight variation will cause burning connections. So the issue is in the middle, the connectors have either to big margins of contacts. There is also a fault of video card producers, they should make maybe bigger thicker male pins of connectors and will reduce margins of bad contact. One thing is for sure, that is a issue with bad connection, or terminals doesn't match with power delivery, they should make them thicker to support all that flow of amps.

[@1000mjf]

I agree north ridge on this it's not user fault it's a defect and to be honest I agree there is far too much power going through that 12v connector there should be 3 other connectors to share that 600 watt load as seems to me 12v connector cannot cope with the power consumption

[@scimitar4211]

I just think it’s too much power for 1 connector, I’m with NorthridgeFix and jay on this one

[@boozinncroozin]

Alex I am 100 percent in agreement with you that it is related to Nvidia! Too many issues that it can’t be user related! I have been in IT field since 1991 and built many pc and never have had a melting issue on connectors until 4090! So I am def going to say it is manufactured issue!

[@pgsnider2000]

do you think that keeping the max power setting at 100% that usually means stay at max 450W, instead of put it at 130% ( like many people do ) can help to avoid the melting?

[@themani7843]

Could it be in some times of the melting failure, its a problem with the new power connector, like they are not fitting right together and pushing the pins in the cable back?

[@sankhawkulathantille]

NVIDIA is weighing the possible loss of reputation against the cost of recall to see if they really need to do anything at all. They are still counting on the shiesty sales agents to confuse customers and the fanboys to continue to show motherly love towards NVIDIA and defend them to the death. They are waiting to see if those two factors will be enough to drown out the customer complaints. This is how large scale business with a huge fanbase make business decisions. It's a natural phenomena. ✌🏽

[@DotaRecap]

True

[@mateuszkwietowicz2470]

The connector that falls out of the socket during any kind of movement of the cable itself is a faulty design. Especially since it's a proprietary connector not a legacy one - we don't have the same amount of probblems with motherboard connectors or regular 6 or 8 pin PCIE connectors - especially since many of them are 6+2 PIN design - in which the 2 PIN is a seperate part of the connector, and anyone who used it, can account to how difficult it is to line it correctly before inserting - the push on the cable itself usually makes it stick out 1-2 mm from the rest of the connetor. I myself had to sometimes give it 2 or 3 tries to plug it in correctly. One time I did actually fail to connect the power cables all the way in - before the click (I know, dumb) but the computer just prompted me to connect the connector. It never melted or worked with connector not fully plugged in. If you introduce a new, proprietary connector - it's on you to eliminate the risk of user error, even though it surely looks like it's not a user error to me - since it's not a 30x and 40x problem - it didn't melt on 3090 the same amount of times that it melted on th 4090 - and users who upgraded from a 3090 should be much more familiar with the new connector. If this was only user error, we should've seen more 3090s and less 4090s melting connectors, since many users had this new connector on their previous cards - so they should already know how to plug it in, you can't blame all the 4080/4090 problems on users not knowing how to use the new connector - they didn't learn from the previous card? Finally ... there is no problem with connecting the regular 6/8PIN connectors on other cards... It's easy to find the problem, since other cards use 2 or 3 connectors - which means the power is evenly distributed over as many pins, but here - all the current flows through 1 connector - which makes it much hotter and much more prone to melting. To me it's as simple as that. Steve - why are you so keen to blame it on the user when it's nVidia, but for Asus you were so easily going to blame the company? Maybe all those blown cpus were also user errors? Maybe they installed the cooling incorrectly ?

[@nytrackrider2600]

Just want to say first off that I appreciate all the work you all do. Northridge, Jay, Steve, etc. My opinion. NVIDIA needs to man up and accept that they f**ked up and issue a recall and fix all 4090's released to date and figure out why this is happening. imo, Id 86 that connector. Go back to the 8 pins. Id rather have 3-5 connectors that are PROVEN to be sturdy and reliable no matter the application/situation than use 1 connector that is more a fire hazard than anything else in my house. imo, they are trying to crank too much power into these cards. They rushed the 40 series by overpowering them and it is now showing. Now wonder EVGA left the game. They saw what was coming.

[@smipy]

I totally agree with you because if a product has such high chances to fail in hand of end-user then it's the designer's fault. Its been years since we are using PCI-E power connectors for graphics card but never had so much issues with their connectors, cable mods, cables, etc. I'm not a super computer geek but I am gonna put some points I have in my mind- 1. Low melting point plastic used in connector 2. Female pins are not thick enough to handle that much watts 3. Play between in male and female pins inside connectors even when the plastic body of the connectors feels tight and firm I would like to mention again I'm no computer geek. Just putting what I had in mind.

[@seeibe]

On my 4090 I had to push much harder than I was used to, to properly seat the cable. I can totally see someone not pushing it all the way in. In fact there are documented examples of this happening. Doesn't mean I think all the failures are related to that, just that it's certainly a concern.

[@Dominationis]

Ever since the first round of news about the melting cables, I've set my 4090 on a 350W power limit. Nothing has happened yet _knocks on wood_ but it's crazy to hear it's still happening.

[@ejc636]

Agree it's a power supply to card issue

[@danieloberg1]

Hey Alex. Great show:). 500 watts on 12 volts should be around 40amps. Would that be enough to cause a resistance in the connector with heat enough to melt it? I like the idea with the thermal cam below. What did your costumers do with their card when they noticed the fault? The must have seen some smoke? :)

[@Capt.Marco-Hawk-L.L.A.P]

agree with you, so many cards are having the fault, when designing a product for use, you have to design it so user problems don't happen at all or very unlikely to happen

[@RealNovgorod]

Incompatible pins, obviously. If you run that much current through them, you gotta certify the matching plug's contact resistance to be below some safety limit when it's "plugged all the way in". Neither Nvidia nor Cablemod with their Chinese suppliers bothered to come up with a contact resistance certification, so they both should pay for the RMA.

[@rickdiego5]

Seems to me that the current draw is more than the contacts can handle. It's possible that the contacts design is faulty where there's not enough surface area making contact for the current when the card pulls its maximum. Since there doesn't seem to be a problem with the PC board it would seem sensible to redesign the connector for higher wattage draw.

[@GbpsGbps-vn3jy]

I'm pretty sure it's way more productive for players like NFix, GN and JayZ just to check resistance of each connector's pin rather than overthinking who to blame :D Or even better - desolder a healthy pin from a new card and test it against max amps allowed AND designed by the manufacturer

[@sarahkatherine8458]

Alex: Spent 2 minutes trying to split an atom in half Steve: "Maybe the adapter back itself out"

[@wanderfritzy]

😆😆😆

[@38911bytefree]

Lets conduct an investigation.

[@redragongaming]

Corporate sellout ^^^. You're just like Steve, maybe you can have kids with him or something.

[@tangotango256]

STEVE WAS AGAIN WRONG ...The Adapter was fully seated and melted, Alex showed the replaced connector and melted on adapter

[@kcordiustechnology]

Agreed , if the user plug in the cable used it for a while then purchase 90 degree cable mod , then why did the cable mod melted onto the video card it should have melted on the cable mod only, if its an issue with the connection being loose Alex youre spot on keep up the excellent work

[@RideGasGas]

How friggin much current must they be pulling through those pins that the internal resistance of the conductors and connections are raising the temperature to the point where the connector is melting? Or is it the resistive heat of current flowing through the connecters plus a high thermal load from the circuitry on the card near the connector that is contributing to a further temperature rise at the connector. Would be interesting to watch a card and connector in a typical installation with an IR thermal camera and see where the heat is coming from.

[@boostedmedia]

Mine just went up in smoke today. I was one of the people warning others to be careful with the connector late last year and was super cautious myself. Only ever plugged it in once and made sure it wasn’t bent excessively, etc.

[@Deploracle]

The 4090s need a three cable adapter that DOESN'T plug into the card's native plastic connector, but instead is soldered to the card in place of the original connector. Problem solved.

[@michaelmeux4137]

You nailed it brother. Why it's so hard to see i don't understand.

[@darkspartan566]

Right!

[@gmoto3177]

the higher the resistance (used size materials of the conductor going to the high current load circuit) the heat resistance will be lower. it is the same principle in extension cord when you are inserting more than two appliances in one area.

[@explosivo666]

I have never seen any bad things happening with PCI-E cables, except for the new Nvidia connector.

[@russCoding]

Long time viewer, I appreciate your videos and enjoy learning from you. I am very familiar with the whole 12VHPWR saga affecting users of 4090s. What I would like to point out is that in the case of the 4090 you received Cablemods connector still attached, you are stating for a fact that the cable had been properly seated and that it still melted. However, you don't actually know if the connector suffered prior damage/melting, before the user noticing some instability lets say, and then pushing it in fully. But by then, the damage to the connector was critical and then continued melting. Unless you have emperical evidence otherwise, I think you cannot jump to a conclusion that you know for a fact the connector was properly connected at all times, and that it's purely a connector issue. While it is possible that your assumption is correct, people should remember that correlation does not imply causation.

[@Danidasanic]

yap, cuz that makes sense! A guy that is aware of this problem and even buys an adapter to make sure that he isn't putting too much stress on the connector by bending the cables, most likely did that or maybe burned the connector on purpose and then, while still hot, inserted the adapter just to feed this circlejerk about melting connectors. Im curious about what is realy causing it to fail (most likely a number of factors and one if for sure the heat generated by the current) but the common thing is 4090's and their connectors so it's pretty obvious who should be responsible

[@johnhicks8626]

Keep doing this work NorthridgeFix! Just found your channel (and sent in an initial request to look at a busted 2080 Super as a result.) I thought my next card would be a 4080. Now it looks like it won't.

[@ShaneMcGrath.]

I'm in the same boat, Was looking to upgrade my old 2080Ti to either a 4090 or 4080, Not so sure now.

[@censoredviking]

If the connector is so tight is it possible the plug is pushing the pins inside the connector back? So even when its fully seated its not?

[@The.Toaster]

The simple answer is that the point of failure is where the issue is. The design of the pins. The pins are not suitable. They look like pins you'd see inside low current / signal devices like sensors on ecus etc. For example, traditional molex pins are expanding circular pins. A molex can wobble and rattle around so bad the connector housing is actually loose, but the round PINS are positively engaged through 360 degrees. This is absolutely a design issue. They should be replacing connectors under warranty with a revised type. This is scandalous. Absolutely scandalous.

[@notmatt5864]

You videos are awesome.... I appreciate your no BS straight to the point style

[@SignedAdam]

Thank you for standing up for customers of these gpus, even when it comes to you're KZbin contacts

[@adubs.]

Would it not still be possible for the pins to have poor connection even when fully seated? What if the failure mode is the same regardless of both your findings? Having worked in an electronics lab, I have destroyed many connectors just from normal use because they arent really meant to be plugged and unplugged a bunch of times... it doesnt seem impossible to have a poor pin design such that it would cause this issue with little use wearing out the pins.

[@doityourself3293]

The connectors are failing because of a problem called "Current Bunching" on the pins. Some of this has to due with pin plating and what the pins are made of. It also has to due with how the current spikes are preceived by the pins. The only fix is to pull out the connector and solder the wire cable / wires direct to the PCB. Other wise you have to design a special connector and mating connector for a fix. The connector they use is designed very wrong for high power current at low voltage.

[@9999titanium]

Intel had concerns about the connector and recommended a spring design over dimples in a PC world article.

[@davidhamm5626]

It would be interesting to see what happens if you hard wired matching connectors to the cards. Having the larger gauge wires and higher amp rating connectors , may be the key, to success.

[@--_DJ_--]

The wires have never been a problem, why would bigger ones make any difference?

[@38911bytefree]

The mod should consist on replacing the connector to a higher amp ones.

[@davidhamm5626]

@@--_DJ_-- The wires are connected to a very small connector.I think I heard that the board draws 300 watts of power.Those connectors might ,on a good day handle 100 . Also, look at tha 12 volt cables, if wires and connectors of that size were on the board. there would be no issues.

[@peterfloro7713]

If I may make a suggestion, I would like to see if anyone could set up a system with one of these cards and all of the appropriate hardware and software in an open air environment and also set up a thermal camera system to record the temperatures being generated at the source of the plug. Also maybe even a voltage monitor recorder to record under what circumstances the temperatures at the plug get so hot that they melt the plastic. Then send the results to Nvidia so that they can no longer hide behind all of the theories and uncertainty. Great Job Alex and continued success to you and Northridge Fix.

[@tylercoombs1]

I think the issue has to do with the ampacity of the connector and the PWM and its demands. The ampacity can vary wildly depending on the environment the card lives in and because of the 4090's high power demands coupled with all the energy efficiency systems in place, it leads to transient spikes that could potentially lead to the connectors melting. I also think this is why we're getting so many mixed results in testing and it's much harder to see patterns in failing cards. I think it''s an engineering problem for sure but a really tricky one.