The 12VHPWR cable, which has been adopted as the industry standard for all NVIDIA GeForce RTX 40 series graphics cards, is a delicate item to handle. Manufacturers of PSUs and bespoke cables, like CableMod, advanced to produce more lasting cables, however it appears that even they can burn up if not connected properly.
The 12VHPWR connector used on all NVIDIA GeForce RTX 40 series graphics cards is prone to burning up if improperly attached. Although it has been determined that this was a user error, it also demonstrates how poorly the cable’s design was chosen. Daily reports of cable melting on various tech forums including Reddit, despite numerous instructions and videos showing how to plug the connector correctly.
When these situations first surfaced, CableMod was one of the first producers to provide its own bespoke cables, which were intended to use its own design to address the clearance and bend difficulties with the 12VHPWR connectors. When the cables were placed for retail and pre-orders, the company already had whole orders reserved, earning plaudits from many for its speedy resolution to the issue.
Even CableMod’s cables, meanwhile, run the risk of burning out if they aren’t connected properly, just like the typical 12VHPWR cables do. While we can’t say for sure, the evidence strongly suggests that this was the case in this instance. The graphics card and the cable have burn marks on both ends of the connector, as seen in the images posted by Redditor u/Humble-Brilliant, but CableMod spoke with the user and learned that the card survived and wasn’t harmed.
The Gigabyte GeForce RTX 4090 is a very costly card that costs about $2000 US, so it would have been terrible if it had been destroyed. Quickly addressing the problem, CableMod advised the client to contact their tech support and promised to make things right with the offended user. In addition, CableMod asserts that they would provide a replacement card if their cables had damaged it, as they did in the past (in very rare cases).
“We sincerely apologise for that; contact our support so we can make things right. Every consumer receives assistance from us, and our items include service.”
“The card is not damaged,” we said after speaking with him, “but in the extremely unlikely event that our cables should damage a card, then we would replace the GPU.
via NVIDIA Reddit, CableMod
Even though we are aware that most 12VHPWR problems are caused by user error, it is encouraging to see CableMod providing excellent customer care and expressing regret to their clients. Although we are also aware that the PCI-SIG 12HPWR connector is less user-friendly than the more traditional 8-pin connectors, we nonetheless urge our readers who are considering purchasing a GeForce RTX 40 series graphics card to stick to the modest instructions we have provided.
Source: Kyle Bennett
