The Truth About NVIDIA’s RTX 4090 Adapters: Testing, X-Ray, & 12VHPWR Failures

The RTX 4090 12-pin cables (12VHPWR connectors) have been in the news for burning, melting, and the theories surrounding them for a few weeks now. We ran our first test piece early because we were at a stage where we needed more cables from viewers -- we got some! With the help of our audience sending in a few failed cables, we were able to reach 3 firm conclusions (or, really, 2+1) of causes for failures of these adapter cables (and unadapted ones, too). Of course, there may be even more reasons -- but we believe these 3 to be the primary ones. Between foreign object debris in manufacturing (seems uncommon, but a cause) and user error, we were able to make a few cables melt. On the user error front, remember one key thing: Even if yours doesn't start fully unseated and is only partly unseated, it can work its way loose over time if you move cables around, do some cleanup, move the system, etc.



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TIMESTAMPS

00:00 - Melting the RTX 4090 12VHPWR Cable
02:42 - Background & Frequency of Failure
03:51 - What Cables Can Fail
06:13 - What Makes 12VHPWR Cables Fail
08:04 - Disclosures & Responsible Reporting
09:12 - Debunking the Weak Solder Joints Conclusion
11:44 - Testing Terminal Splits
13:58 - Reasons for Failure: Foreign Object Debris
15:21 - Smoking Gun & Potential for Some Manufacturing Defects
17:50 - Partial Insertion & User Error
22:24 - Conclusions: Some User Error, Some Manufacturer Defects
23:52 - Conclusions: Recapping the Reasons
26:39 - How Small User Error Becomes Big
27:28 - Quick Monologue on Reporting

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Host, Testing, Writing, Video Editing: Steve Burke
Testing, Research, Writing: Patrick Lathan
Video Editing, Camera: Andrew Coleman

[oleost]

I’m no cable expert, but in regards to not properly plugged in this should be easily avoided if a single signal pin was shorter and not allow current to pass through unless it has contact..

[kornydad]

Great job Steve and the GN team. As an engineer myself that has had to do substantial failure analysis like this, people do not realize the amount of time and effort that is spent trying to recreate failure modes. Consulting with experts and the trial and error involved wit reproducing failures all take a ton of time. Most people, even engineers, also struggle with jumping to conclusions and not following the data to consistently reproduce a failure. This often results in fixing nonexistent issues and missing the actual failure mode. Excellent, excellent work.

[ANDTFC]

The fact that y'all guys took so long to release the video just to make sure that there's an actual problem it's something i really appreciate, love you guys

[AvWoN]

I was very surprised that when I just got my 4090 after this video, I plugged it in fairly hard, looked flush, and still managed to pull it out easily with a little wiggle. Glad I was able to catch this and prevent a potential burnt GPU after months/years of use and the occasional cleaning that might have loosened the 12 pin. HUGE!

[RADukura]

GN is literally irreplaceable at this point. Thank you Steve and team for your dedication 👍🏼

[Finalterra]

Really impressed by your dedication to your investigations and finding the true answers rather than theorizing. The pc community owes you guys a big thanks for everything you've done for us over the years and always mantaining your integrity!

[jayhall]

This whole saga is like watching an air crash investigation episode. Good work as always and im glad to know there's someone out there actually looking into things like this

[isoSwfty]

The smell of a burning 4090 smells very similar to the burnt hole in the wallet from purchasing it.

[czcibor]

Thanks Steve. Whole GN team is a pinnacle of quality IT journalism in any cases, like this one. Keep it up

[veltriix]

This is my very first time donating to any YouTuber in my 10 years watching videos, and watching the entire video, being entertained and informed at the same time is an amazing accomplishment. I am well informed about the issue and have been enlightened. You guys deserve any donations for the countless hours you guys did to bring an informative and objective light into this issue. Keep it up and I will continue watching your guys' content!

[rbaile]

Damn, GN going to the level and beyond of professional engineering internal failure analysis. Huge props and the quality of your work is on par with work we do for medical device failures. Also that CT, SEM and EDS testing ain’t cheap. My guess is you spent at least around $10k to have a lab do it.

[krelsen]

it's seriously impressive how high the quality of your investigations are at this point.
we need more of this in the tech space!

[FabianC]

This is why I'll never get tired of supporting GN. Thank you for all the work Steve and crew!

[meghankrajchi]

Steve, you continue to evoke my respect and admiration with the lengths that you will go to in order to protect consumers. I deeply admire your dedication to using scientific methods to do all your testing. However, die a little inside very time you say "theory" instead of "hypothesis" in this video.

[granthampson]

Great thanks to the Failure Analysis LAB. Excellent work and awesome gathering of data and information and reporting from GN!!!

[joaquinlalusin]

This is the first time that I was ever felt compelled to make a donation to a content creator and deservedly so. Truly amazing work from Steve and the GN team! The community is so lucky to have you guys and this video proves that no one even comes close to the dedication that you guys have to straight up factual journalism and responsible reporting.

[circuitguy]

Whoa. It's almost impossible for a company to buy this level of analysis as a service. You're giving it away as "journalism". 😲👏

[ebsupra]

Imagine how much better off the world would be if areas such as politics, corporations, and other shady entities had this level of credible, detailed journalistic investigation.

Unfortunately for my pipe dream you guys have found great success in the PC sector. Feels like one million subs wasn't so long ago, and pieces like this are why you're creeping on two million so quickly. Awesome work. Glad this community has you guys.

[WestonHawk]

That footage of inserting the connector was really insightful. The amount of force it takes to push it in is way more than I expected. It looks so tight only half way down!

[calebwuethrich]

Appreciate your fight for responsible reporting. Beyond admirable!