The issues brought on by the 12VHPWR connector on GeForce RTX 40 series graphics cards have rightly instilled caution in prospective buyers of the Nvidia Lovelace lineup. However, it appears that the GPU manufacturer may have solved this issue on the sly, and you may already have a pixel pusher equipped with the fix.
As a reminder, less than a year ago, Nvidia opened an official investigation into reports of RTX 4090 graphics cards suffering damage due to problems with the 12VHPWR connector. The fruits of its labor are now available for all to see, just take a peek at any GeForce GPU from the RTX 4070 onwards.
As spotted by Igor’s Lab, the pins inside the RTX 4070 Founders Edition (FE) are “significantly recessed” compared to the RTX 4080 FE. This change should significantly diminish, if not outright eliminate, the chances of melting mayhem resurfacing.
I’m glad that Nvidia has taken steps to better the design of its RTX 40 series cards, but it’s strange that the company opted not to acknowledge this secret improvement. It’s unclear whether newly manufactured RTX 4090 and 4080 pixel pushers will also come equipped with this change, but here’s hoping.
If all this talk of pixel pushers has you hungering for an upgrade, check out our guide to the best graphics cards you can buy today.