The GeForce RTX 4090 is undeniably powerful, but multiple reports of a melting cable issue have somewhat soured the reputation of the RTX 4000 graphics card. Now, Nvidia itself has opened a formal investigation into the problem, reaching out to affected customers directly.
An owner of Nvidia’s best graphics card shared images of their RTX 4090 and power adapter on Reddit, the plastic housing of both appearing to have partially melted. The user, reggie_gakil, says they first became aware of the damage as their GPU “smelled badly and I saw smoke,” and claims that the culprit is likely the adapter as “the card still seems to work.”
This, however, was not an isolated incident, as Reddit user NoDuelsPolicy also shared images of their RTX 4090 suffering similar damage. Following this, Nvidia issued a statement to The Verge:
“We are investigating the reports,” says Nvidia spokesperson Bryan Del Rizzo, “we are in contact with the first owner and will be reaching out to the other for additional information.”
The new 12VHPWR connector used by the RTX 4090 has already caused multiple headaches for reviewers and users, as it comes with strict requirements regarding how it should be bent. Given the large footprint of the RTX 4000 graphics card, even the best PC case can struggle to fulfil these strict specifications.
For now, it might be worth waiting for the CableMod GPU adapter that solves the poor Nvidia RTX 4090 port placement or holding off on buying the pixel pusher until this can be properly resolved. This same connector will be used on upcoming AMD RDNA 3 graphics cards, so team green may not be alone in having to address this issue.