HardwareLuxx reviewer Andreas Schilling recorded extreme heating of the power connector of the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 graphics card. During testing using an expensive thermal imager, he found that the 12+4-pin connector reached temperatures of over 150 °C. At the same time, the graphics card itself, equipped with liquid cooling, remained relatively cool.
Image source: Andreas Schilling / x.com
Image source: Inno3D
Schilling tested a system with an Inno3D RTX 5090 Frostbite graphics card with liquid cooling and a be quiet! Dark Power 13 power supply, which supports 12V-2×6 cables. During the tests, the graphics card consumed 600 watts, and this is when the critical heating of the connector was recorded. In one of the published images, it is possible to see that the connections of the cooling pipes remain cool, while the power connector is dangerously hot.
Image source: Andreas Schilling / x.com
Despite the extreme temperatures, the cable remained intact. But, according to Schilling, this is all “for the time being.” He also clarified that the power supply connector was used only a few times, while the connector on the graphics card was connected and disconnected hundreds of times. This exceeds the 30-cycle limit Corsair sets for 12V-2×6 connectors.
According to experts, the Nylon 66 and LCP materials used in the connectors have melting points of 255 °C and 335 °C, respectively. Although they did not reach critical values in this test, long-term operation in such conditions can lead to serious problems, and without refining the design, using the RTX 5090 in powerful assemblies can be risky.
VideoCardz, in turn, recommends using “native” Nvidia adapters if there are no PCIe 5.1 12V-2×6 cables. However, the cables supplied with the power supply should be used without any extensions or adapters.