Some thermal images shared on Twitter / X underline how toasty-chauds power connectors. NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Graphics cards can get. Marier Vettan covering Taken thermal photos of its graphics card cooled by water.
While the GPU was barely sweat, power connectors could be seen “cooking over 150 degrees”. It is Celsius, and for those who do not know the metric units, 150 degrees Celsius is equivalent to just over 300 degrees Fahrenheit.
Although criticism at Tom material I did not know the 12V-2X6 cable connectors dangerously hot, the reports indicate that this problem can affect anyone, of the material veterans seasoned to the amateurs of budding. In previous generations and with the previous iterations of the 16 -pin connector, there was often a tenacious doubt about “user error”, but we seem to be completely passed to this notion now. We have to face the problem that RTX 5090 power cables may be condemned to burn.
While doing thermal imagery of a graphics card and examining the images, I noticed that the camera had picked up a hotspot at the PSU. The 12V-2X6 cable cooked at more than 150 degrees. It is not a joke and will forever remain a weak point of this generation (s). pic.twitter.com/qtmfgtwur0March 7, 2025
Schilling has provided general information on the thermal imagery he shared. The graphics card he was testing was an innov-3D RTX 5090 gel cooled by liquid, and one of the images clearly shows the pipe fittings. The power supply of this PC construction was such a calm! Dark Power 13 and Schilling confirmed that the GPU had fired 600W during the tests.
The Luxx Hardware publisher sounds as if he has lacked patience with the connector (s) connector (s) of the nvidia graphics card. “The 12V-2X6 cable cooked at more than 150 degrees,” he observed, supported by thermography. “It is not a joke and will forever remain a weak point of this generation (s).”
This power connection “will forever remain a weak point”
Invited by the interest of social media for visuals, Schilling added some additional details. He said that the wiring still seemed to be for the moment, despite the high temperatures seen. “But you can see that they were subjected to a thermal constraint. I have no confidence in this solution of all kinds,” denounced the critic.
Later, Schilling recalled that the Psu-Cabling mating cycles were still very low, “a handful”. However, the connector may have been connected and disconnected “several hundred” on the GPU side. This second figure seems far beyond the “lifespan of the coupling cycle of the 12V-2X6 connector”, mentioned by Corsair. The images show unexpected temperatures on both sides: the graphics card and PSU connections.
Before leaving, it is important to remember that the thermal cameras measure the surface temperatures so that things can be much warmer inside the plastic connectors. Schilling did not see a real cast iron during his later inspections, but said that there was evidence of thermal stress. We expect the 12V-2X6 connector to use the same 66 and LCP nylon case according to 12VHPWR specifications. The first has a melting point of 255 degrees Celsius (491 degrees fahrenheit), and the second founded above 335 degrees Celsius (635 degrees fahrenheit).
Fortunately, Schilling’s power connectors should not have reached these thresholds inside, but prolonged tests and the use of this construction – without modifications – seem to be dangerous.