AMD spares RDNA 3 graphics cards from melting GeForce RTX 4090 12VHPWR power connectors

There is a storm brewing for Nvidia, and it seems AMD wants to avoid being caught in the same tempest. Tech news outlets and social media have been discussing melting and burning parts in GeForce RTX 4090-headed systems lately, which appear to be down to how the 12VHPWR power connector is used. According to a guide from CableMod, it is important to make sure this temperamental cable is bent at a right angle at least 35 mm away from the connector. Bending it in another manner can cause “thermal variance”, basically leaving the owner of a brand-new GeForce RTX 4090 with a burned or molten adapter.

At the moment, there appear to only be a few cases of this happening, but it is still a potential hazard that nobody wants to be thinking about while indulging in a long gaming session. Nvidia has scrambled to deal with the issue and has reportedly reached out to those involved in the first incidents of smoking 12VHPWR power connectors, with that particular cable being used for the high-end GeForce RTX 4090 and RTX 4080 GPUs that have high power requirements at 450 W TDP and 320 W TDP, respectively. Fortunately, AMD top brass has already made it clear that future Radeon RX 7000 series (RDNA 3) card owners won’t need to be concerned over this specific problem.

In a response to a comment made on Twitter by Kyle Bennett, who was investigating whether Navi 31 cards and their AIB relatives could also succumb to melting 12VHPWR power connectors, AMD’s SVP and GM of the Graphics Business Unit, Scott Herkelman, offered a calming update. The executive stated: “The Radeon RX 6000 series and upcoming RDNA 3 GPUs will not use this power connector.” RDNA 3-based graphics cards are scheduled to be unveiled on November 3, so this potential debacle for Nvidia couldn’t have come at a better time for AMD, who have been graphics-card underdogs to Team Green for quite some time now.

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