Tech publication outlet PCM from Hong Kong recently reported an incident while testing the RTX 5090D and RTX 5080 (via UNIKO's Hardware), sharing some all-too-familiar images. Two of the publication's 16-pin cables melted and their 1,200W PSU outright failed. While this news could lead to a new generation power connector scare, closer investigation reveals that an RTX 4090 FE was in fact the real culprit with visible burn marks evident ahead of the Blackwell testing. The damage wasn't initially obvious and further instability prompted the reviewer to check the GPU power cable, only to find that both ends had melted.
From our understanding of the source's machine translation, the reviewer likely tested the RTX 4090 FE beforehand. Nvidia silently revised the power connector on the 4090 FE to the updated 12V-2x6 standard after a few months. It is possible that their sample still used the fault-prone 12VHPWR connector. After testing both RTX 50 GPUs under full load, the reviewer noticed signs of instability, which led them to suspect the SSD had failed. Upon inspecting the 16-pin GPU power cable, they found clear signs of melting.
