According to a recent Reddit post, Nvidia is subtly upgrading its Best GPU the RTX 4090 Founders Edition, with the same modified 16-pin power connector recently found on the RTX 4070. The Redditor, known as u/prackprackprack, uploaded pictures to Reddit showing off the shortened sense pins on his RTX 4090. The changes were confirmed by other Redditors, comparing his images to images of older RTX 4090 FE cards.
The modifications made on the new RTX 4090 FE power connector include changes to the four sense pins that feed data to and from the GPU to the PSU. The pins have been retracted slightly inside the connector. This adjustment was apparently taken from the latest 12V-2x6 power connector specifications to ensure the power connector won't continuously feed power to the GPU if the 16-pin power cable is not inserted all the way. This should keep the graphics card safe from death due to fire or overheating, as we've seen with various RTX 4090 cards since launch.
Brand New 4090 FE Shortened Sense Pins? In response to Igor’s Lab Article “Secret change to the sense pins starting from the GeForce RTX 4070 FE and no one noticed it” from r/nvidia
It's good to see that Nvidia is finally introducing this modified connector to the RTX 4090, which is the most prone to disaster due to its incredibly high power consumption of up to 450W — more on some overclocked models. The modifications made to the RTX 4090 were originally seen in the RTX 4070, which has had them since launch even though Nvidia didn't call out this fact.
For reference, the power connector we're seeing here (for both the 4090 and 4070) appears to be a prototype 12V-2x6 connector that has been built according to PCI-SIG's recommended specifications. The 12V-2x6 connector is still in active development, meaning a finalized version of the connector is not yet available for Nvidia to use. Nonetheless, it seems like the RTX 4090 melting reports were enough for Nvidia to rush a prototype version out to its newer cards, hopefully stopping more GPUs from dying.
The frustrating part of this situation is that we don't know which production versions of the RTX 4090 are receiving this new connector. We also don't know if the prototype connector is making its way to AIB partner models or not. But, if Nvidia follows the same trend as the RTX 4070, the RTX 4090 should be getting this new connector for both Founders Edition and AIB partner models.
We'd also expect all manufacturers of other graphics cards that use a 16-pin connector — including the RTX 4080, RTX 4070 Ti, RTX 4060 Ti, and perhaps even some RTX 4060 models — to eventually shift to the new style connector as well. How long it might take before the older variants clear the market remains to be seen.
