Nvidia pointed out the cause of its products having a mass melting error

A few weeks after graphics processor company Nvidia announced that it is investigating reports of power cables for its RTX 4090 graphics cards melting and burning, the latest announcement from the company said they may have found the reason. And the problem seemed to be because they were “not fully plugged in”.

In a post on its customer support forum on November 18, Nvidia said it was still investigating the reports, but the new findings “show” that an insecure connector is a common problem. variable. The company also says that it has received about 50 reports of the problem.

Nvidia’s flagship graphics cards use what’s known as the 12VHPWR power connector, a new standard that’s not supported by most power supplies in users’ PCs. As a result, the company offers an adapter — or “electric lock” — that comes in the box. Initial user reports blamed the problem on the graphics processor itself, but some said that the melted cable also damaged their $1,599 graphics cards.

It is easy to see the company’s findings implying blame on users. Sure, Nvidia won’t say outright that it’s user error, but that’s heavily implied in its post. This also seems to be a very relevant explanation, as most users have speculated for almost a month that the problem is caused by something more complex, such as poor solder or wiring. too small to handle the huge amount of power transmitted through wires.

However, according to GamersNexus , a site that helps build popular computer rigs in the community, basically reached the same conclusions earlier this week. A video posted earlier by the store that examined the damaged graphics processors submitted by viewers also showed that the connectors had a gap, implying that they weren’t fully inserted into the slot. GamersNexus even said that some people seem to have left a gap of up to several millimeters. Recorded video also shows that a loose connection can cause the plug to heat up significantly, if it is poorly inserted and tilted.

Nvidia’s post includes an image of what the connector looks like when it’s not fully plugged in, and it seems this is easy to miss during installation. Users are also advised to check the plug in their graphics card, in case of possible accidents.

It’s worth noting, however, that Nvidia isn’t entirely innocent here. By the pictures show the connector of the plug has a lock key. In theory, it’s a feature that should prevent loose plugging from happening, as long as it gives good feedback when the user plugs it in. However, according to GamersNexus, despite being carefully stolen, this key still doesn’t really fit into place clearly, and this is a problem for the manufacturer.

Check out TheVerge, GamersNexus