People keep finding melted 12-pin connectors on high-power graphics cards. These problems happen because the connector design has a basic flaw. We see this mostly with the powerful RTX 5090 cards that use almost 600 watts during heavy gaming. The issue might not go away unless someone fixes the actual design problem.
A Reddit user recently shared photos showing both ends of their cable melted—the part connected to the graphics card and the part plugged into the power supply. Both parts suffered permanent damage. The user explained they weren't overclocking the card and used the official 12VHPWR cable that came with their power supply. They had paired a premium Corsair SF1000L power supply with an MSI RTX 5090 Gaming TRIO OC graphics card.
The pictures show that about four pins suffered the worst damage. One pin has a plastic bulge from melting, and pins at the other end look completely destroyed. This happens when the connector isn't pushed in fully, forcing just a few wires to carry all the electricity. The other pins don't make proper contact. When this happens, temperatures can reach past 150 degrees Celsius—hot enough to melt plastic and metal parts.
The affected graphics card costs nearly $2900, making this an expensive problem for anyone experiencing it. The company might replace the damaged parts through warranty, but the same thing could easily happen again with the replacement parts. The newer 12V-2x6 connector helps users make better connections, but it doesn't address the underlying design problem that allows all power to flow through just a few wires.
A Reddit user recently shared photos showing both ends of their cable melted—the part connected to the graphics card and the part plugged into the power supply. Both parts suffered permanent damage. The user explained they weren't overclocking the card and used the official 12VHPWR cable that came with their power supply. They had paired a premium Corsair SF1000L power supply with an MSI RTX 5090 Gaming TRIO OC graphics card.
The pictures show that about four pins suffered the worst damage. One pin has a plastic bulge from melting, and pins at the other end look completely destroyed. This happens when the connector isn't pushed in fully, forcing just a few wires to carry all the electricity. The other pins don't make proper contact. When this happens, temperatures can reach past 150 degrees Celsius—hot enough to melt plastic and metal parts.
The affected graphics card costs nearly $2900, making this an expensive problem for anyone experiencing it. The company might replace the damaged parts through warranty, but the same thing could easily happen again with the replacement parts. The newer 12V-2x6 connector helps users make better connections, but it doesn't address the underlying design problem that allows all power to flow through just a few wires.
