The launch of Nvidia’s RTX 5090 has brought incredible performance to gamers and creators, but once again, power connector problems are making headlines. Recent reports from users suggest that the 12V-2×6 connector — designed to replace the older 12VHPWR plug — is still causing issues.
Two New RTX 5090 Failures Linked to Melted Connectors
In the past week, two MSI RTX 5090 Gaming Trio users shared photos and experiences online showing that their GPUs suffered melted power connectors. Both users were using MSI’s yellow-tipped 12V-2×6 cable splitters.
One user described how their PC began crashing under load and showing black screens. After unplugging the GPU, they discovered the connector was visibly burned.
The user said:
My pc started crashing under load the last few days. Troubleshot everything including swapping to a different PSU and still kept happening with black screens on reboot.
Gpu: Msi rtx 5090 gaming trio
Unplugged the connector to see it was visibly burned which explains the crashes.
It’s so frustrating that this much power is being funneled through this tiny connector.
Had to order a new GPU in the mean time as the RMA could take up to 4 weeks.
Hopefully not an issue caused by my rm1000i psu but doesnt seem like it.
This problem looks similar to the RTX 4090 connector issues from 2022, which many PC users also reported. Nvidia and cable makers made the new 12V-2×6 connector to fix those problems, but now it seems the RTX 5090 might still have the same issue in some cases.
It’s still early to know how common this is, but it’s worrying that such a powerful GPU could have problems caused by one small connector. Nvidia and MSI have not shared an official response yet.
