Hardware Unboxed reports melted RTX 5090 connector
Hardware Unboxed has become the latest hardware outlet to report a melted 12V-2×6 power connector while testing a GeForce RTX 5090. The incident involved an ASUS ROG Astral RTX 5090 and a be quiet! Dark Power 13 power supply, with thermal imaging showing the cable reaching temperatures of approximately 175°C under load.
Steve from Hardware Unboxed initially noticed the issue after touching the cable and finding it hot enough to cause a burn. Subsequent thermal imaging revealed temperatures exceeding 150°C, peaking around 175°C during operation. The channel used a Thermal Grizzly WireView Pro adapter to diagnose the fault, which immediately flagged an error. The device detected a significant current imbalance, with some conductors carrying no current while another reached approximately 22A. Hardware Unboxed disclosed that Thermal Grizzly advertises with the channel.
Damage localized to the power supply
While the GPU-side connector initially appeared to be the source of the problem, further inspection revealed more extensive damage at the power supply. The cable had melted into the Dark Power 13 connector and had to be removed with pliers. Hardware Unboxed stated that the cable was fully seated at the PSU and did not attribute the failure to improper installation. The ASUS RTX 5090 connector itself escaped visible damage.
This is not the first instance of connector failure involving hardware reviewers and the RTX 5090. In May, German outlet PCMasters reported a melted 12V-2×6 cable in its RTX 5090 Gaming Trio OC press test system. Earlier cases included Spanish reviewer Toro Tocho, while Daniel Owen later reported a melted connector on an RTX 5090 Founders Edition.
Club386 then reported another failure in June involving an RTX 5090 Founders Edition and a 1,000W be quiet! Dark Power 13. In that case, both the graphics card and PSU connections were damaged. The appearance of the Dark Power 13 in both recent cases is notable, but two reports involving the same PSU family are not sufficient to establish that the power supply itself is responsible for the wider RTX 5090 connector problem.
The newer 12V-2×6 connector replaced the 12VHPWR standard with changes intended to reduce problems caused by incomplete insertion. However, reports of failures have continued with native PSU cables, third-party cables, and multiple graphics card and power supply models. In this specific case, Hardware Unboxed detected the current imbalance before the failure damaged the graphics card, although the power supply itself is already damaged and will require replacement.
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