Nvidia RTX 4090 connector melting issue

[RadiantFlamberge]

A quick heads-up. Nvidia's RTX 4090 ($1600... getting a little ridiculous, this costs even more than some complete PCs!) has had some problems with its 16-pin adapter melting. I've been thinking about the 4080 but may wait a while.

 

https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/nvidia-rtx-4090-melting-may-be-caused-by-user-error/

Monica White shares an explanation from JonnyGuru of Corsair about what could be the issue. JG said that you have to be sure the connectors are fully inserted into your card and PSU, while acknowledging that's very difficult. A fully seated connector would require you to squeeze the retention clip to remove it. Nvidia is investigating, and PCI-SIG is reviewing a revision of the 12VHPWR cable.

 

Hopefully if you're getting a 4090, your case is a fairly decent size so you can avoid bending the cable.

[Z1MZUM]

I've barely even touched and most certainly have come nowhere near maxing out my 3080 TI so I have massive doubts I'll get a 4XXX series. Now my card is massive as it's a TI OC version and what I did was use an extension cable supplied with the card. Surely Nvidia makers would provide this?

 

[RadiantFlamberge]

I'm holding off on the 4080 for now. The 10 GB 3080 is still great, and I don't want to risk a $1200 graphic card melting down and needing RMA'd. I could easily wait two more years and buy a new computer with the 5080.

 

Nvidia has stated that there are 2 different cable manufacturers for that 12VHPWR adapter. For anyone who does get one of the 40 series cards, hopefully your cable is made by NTK, not Astron. NTK's cable has a better latch with a 1-spring contact, unlike Astron's 2-spring. It's said Astron's cables aren't as durable and have higher electric resistance.

[Z1MZUM]

8 minutes ago, RadiantFlamberge said:

I'm holding off on the 4080 for now. The 10 GB 3080 is still great, and I don't want to risk a $1200 graphic card melting down and needing RMA'd. I could easily wait two more years and buy a new computer with the 5080.

 

Nvidia has stated that there are 2 different cable manufacturers for that 12VHPWR adapter. For anyone who does get one of the 40 series cards, hopefully your cable is made by NTK, not Astron. NTK's cable has a better latch with a 1-spring contact, unlike Astron's 2-spring. It's said Astron's cables aren't as durable and have higher electric resistance.

 

Ah ok, I think I got lucky with Gigabyte providing the adapter I might not have needed (Not sure of brand). Congrats on the 3080, I love mine tbh

 

In any case this is an important topic for anyone upgrading as GPU prices drop which will be more valid as it's not like everyone overpaid for the 3XXX series in the last 2 years. Mine cost $1700 so if I didn't buy that then the 4xxx series would be my next.

 

I'm currently in Trista and loving it

[RadiantFlamberge]

I bought my present PC with the 3080 already inbuilt, around January '21. Cyberpunk 2077 works decently with it, just not at 4K Max. Recently I gave Crysis Remastered a try on it, and it seems to run well at 4K with "Can it run Crysis?" textures and a mix of Very High/High settings.

 

My last one had the 1080. The 2080 I skipped. Before even thinking of getting 4080, I'll give it 4 months (maybe longer). There needs to be something to really justify it, also Nvidia and/or PCI-SIG need to get the 12VHPWR adapter issues sorted. One good thing is 4080's TDP being similar to the 3080, 320 watts... so if I get one, I should be fine with the same PSU.

[DEMON]

I've been advising people just skip the 40 series with the issues and the fact that they are trying to pass off a 4070 as a 4080 to get more money for it (lot of youtubers have commented on the difference of performance of both 4080 types, and one definitely seems like it should have been a 4070 instead), if you really have to upgrade, I say try AMD for once maybe. Might move over to them myself, but have a 3070 in my system and likewise, haven't even used the full power of it.

[RadiantFlamberge]

That 12 GB 4080 wasn't really canceled. It just became the 4070 Ti. Renaming it is a good move on Nvidia's part. It is $100 less than it would've been. AMD's RX 7900 XTX is comparable to the RTX 4080 in performance in most ways, but loses out on ray tracing.

 

I bought a new PowerSpec PC recently with a 13900 K CPU and a 4080. I've not had any problems with it. One like this can run Cyberpunk 2077 at 60 in 4K Ultra with Psycho ray tracing, as long as you're using DLSS 3 and frame generation. Crysis Remastered runs very well in 4K with Can it Run Crysis? settings. RTX 4080 can easily catch the 3090 Ti, which was a $2000 card at launch.

 

The $1200 price is a bit steep. I'd like to see it come down over time so Nvidia sells more 4080s. At least the power requirement is 320 watts, same as the 3080. That said, it's not unusual for 4080 to draw fewer watts than the 3080.