The notorious16-pin (12VHPWR)power connector continues to be a persistent issue for some unlucky users. While user reports of16-pin meltdownshave diminished recently, they still occur. The most recent case involves an unluckyGeForce RTX 4090owner who shared his experience onRedditand presented a DIY solution to avert future incidents.
Redditor malcanore18 recounted how the 16-pin power connector on his GeForce RTX 4090 had melted. To avoid it happening in the future, the user improved his 16-pin power cable by integrating six miniature fuses. Although the solution might not be visually appealing, the underlying idea sounds plausible. If one of the pins draws too much power, the corresponding fuse will blow, causing a chain reaction for the other fuses. Although this band-aid solution may seem basic, replacing the fuses is less costly than repairing the graphics card. Another Redditor suggested using resettable fuses instead, as they can automatically reset themselves after an incident and do not require replacement like conventional fuses.
A catastrophe often unites strangers. Redditor jlodvo demonstrated that there can be multiple ways to solve a problem. Instead of fiddling with the 16-pin power connector, he addressed the issue directly. The user reportedly asked someone to remove the power connector and solder each wire directly to his graphics card. This shouldn’t pose a problem if the user has a modular power supply that allows him to disconnect the cable from the power supply end whenever he wants to remove his graphics card from the case.
A third Redditor, IMI4tth3w, offered a solution he applied to an L40 with a melted 16-pin power connector, partly due to a faulty third-party cable. He described removing the melted connector and reverse-engineering the cables to utilize two standard 8-pin PCIe power connectors. However, the author cautioned that this method may not apply to all graphics cards. The specific reason it works on the L40 is that this data center graphics card appears to feature a pigtail version of the 16-pin power connector.
It’s intolerable that meltdowns remain a problem, particularly with Nvidia graphics cards that cost a small fortune. Although numerous theories exist regarding the cause of these meltdowns, we have yet to receive a definitive answer from Nvidia. In the meantime, many Nvidia graphics card owners remain anxious, uncertain if the smell of burning plastic could eventually emanate from theirGeForce RTX 5090or GeForce RTX 4090 graphics cards one day.
Graphics card and power supply manufacturers have taken specific steps to counteract the problem, such as implementingcolored connectorsto ensure they’re adequately inserted orspecial sensors insidethe power supply. These DIY workarounds for the 16-pin meltdowns look neat, but we don’t recommend you try them unless you know exactly what you’re doing.
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Zhiye Liu is a news editor and memory reviewer at Tom’s Hardware. Although he loves everything that’s hardware, he has a soft spot for CPUs, GPUs, and RAM.
