Lately, a rather large number of burnt RTX 5090 connector returns have surfaced on Reddit. In fact, in less than a week, no fewer than four cards have had their power connectors melted. What do they have in common? A more or less equivalent duration of use and the use of a PCIe to 12V-2×6 adapter.
Do 12V-2×6 adapters degrade quickly?
In broad terms, this week four RTX 5090s saw their 12V-2×6 connectors melt. Among them are three MSI models and one PNY. The first, an MSI Ventus, saw its connector melt after six months. The second case also involved an MSI Gaming Trio board, whose connector burned out after six months. The third case concerns a new MSI Ventus, and this time the card gave up the ghost in an even shorter time: just 5 months. Finally, the last card is a PNY model, which also lasted five months. Another example is Sapphire’s RX 9070 XT Nitro, but the card’s lifespan is not mentioned.
In short, the symptoms are well known, and if we look at the photos of the adapters, it appears that some pins are more affected than others. The cause of the problem is always the same: one pin carries all or most of the load, heats up and burns or melts.
What’s worrying here, however, is that all four of these boards saw their connectors melt after six months (or less) of use. What’s more, they were all used with an adapter. In contrast, reports of damaged cards with a power cable (plugged directly into the power supply) seem to be rather rare. This raises a few questions about the robustness of these adapters, even though they are supplied by the GPU manufacturers themselves. Is there a problem with the materials used by the OEM, which degrade too quickly? A mystery. In the meantime, our Spanish colleague remains pessimistic and expects further reports in the near future.
