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Nvidia's RTX 5090 power connectors are melting

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Re: Nvidia's RTX 5090 power connectors are melting

#101
post #100

Step the GPU voltage up to 48V. (anyway you make a new connector that's not compatible with existing PSUs. Why not actually fix a problem at the same time, once and for all! [48V should be enough for anybody, right?])

Until the US changes their AC power connectors, we just don’t have a use case for it frankly. When the entire system is going to always top out at 1200W or so (so you have an extra few hundred watts for monitors and such), we’re pretty limited to maximum amperage.

Re: Nvidia's RTX 5090 power connectors are melting

#102
post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is because they are trying to parallel like 50amps (it's 12 volt IIRC) over a few conductors to get to 600watts. If it becomes unbalanced due to any number of reasons, none of those individual cables can come close to handling it - they will all generate enough heat to melt lots of things. Conservatively, they'd have to be 8awg each to be able to handle the full load without melting if they ended up taking the f…

But you would then need to bring it down to the low voltages required by the chips and that would greatly increased cost, volume, weight, electrical noise and heat of the device.

Yes. I'm not suggesting they increase the voltage, as i said, there are lots of tradeoffs.

But i'll also say - outside of heat, all of the things you listed are not safety concerns (obviously, electrical noise can be if it's truly bad enough, but let's put that one mostly aside).

Having a small, cost efficient, low weight device that has no electrical noise is still not safe if it starts fires.

Re: Nvidia's RTX 5090 power connectors are melting

#103
post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is because they are trying to parallel like 50amps (it's 12 volt IIRC) over a few conductors to get to 600watts. If it becomes unbalanced due to any number of reasons, none of those individual cables can come close to handling it - they will all generate enough heat to melt lots of things. Conservatively, they'd have to be 8awg each to be able to handle the full load without melting if they ended up taking the f…

But you would then need to bring it down to the low voltages required by the chips and that would greatly increased cost, volume, weight, electrical noise and heat of the device.

The voltage step-down is already in place, from 12V to whatever 1V or 0.8V is needed. Doing the same thing starting from 48V instead of 12V does not change anything fundamentally, I guess.

Re: Nvidia's RTX 5090 power connectors are melting

#104
post #13

This shit is so fucking dumb. Sorry for the unhinged rant, but it's ridiculous how bad every single connector involved with building a PC is in 2025. I'm just a software guy, so maybe some hardware engineer can chime in (and I'd love to find out exactly what I'm missing and why it might be harder than it seems), but why on earth can everything not just be easily accessible and click nicely into place? I'm paying mult…

I work in power electronics and there are ample connectors that can handle any type of power requirement.

What is happening in the computer space is that everyone is clinging to an old style of doing things, likely because it is free and open, and suggestions to move to new connectors get saddled with proprietary licensing fees.

D-sub power connectors have been around forever (they even look like the '90s still) and would easily be able to power even future monster GPUs. They screw in for a strong connection too, but no reason you couldn't make ones that snap in too.[1]

[1]https://i.ebayimg.com/thumbs/images/g/A0MAAOSwYGFUvkFg/s-l50...

Re: Nvidia's RTX 5090 power connectors are melting

#106
post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One word: cost. Look up how much industrial/automotive connectors cost, and you'll see the huge difference in quality.

I've bought cars that cost me less than a nVidia card (and they were running).

Which new cars cost less than 2000$-1000$?

Re: Nvidia's RTX 5090 power connectors are melting

#107
post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, I expect my next card with be AMD. I'm happy with my 3080 for now, but the cards have nearly double in price in two generations and I'm not going to support that. I can't abide the prices nor the insane power draw. I'm OK with not having DLSS.

It'll probably be fine for years, longer if you can stand looking at AI generated, upscaled frames. Liftup in GPU power is so expensive, we might as well be back to the reign of the 1080. The only thing that'll move the needle will be a new console generation.

And 1080 is totally fine at 1920x1080 60fps even with recent games (I see my son enjoying Elden Ring, Helldivers 2 etc with that setup).

Re: Nvidia's RTX 5090 power connectors are melting

#108
post #100

Step the GPU voltage up to 48V. (anyway you make a new connector that's not compatible with existing PSUs. Why not actually fix a problem at the same time, once and for all! [48V should be enough for anybody, right?])

Until the US changes their AC power connectors, we just don’t have a use case for it frankly. When the entire system is going to always top out at 1200W or so (so you have an extra few hundred watts for monitors and such), we’re pretty limited to maximum amperage.

The USA has 240 volt plugs. They are only used for high power appliances such as AC or ovens. If you want, you could add a plug for your high powered space heater AKA gaming PC.

Re: Nvidia's RTX 5090 power connectors are melting

#109

All these incidents are from aftermarket cables.

The current within a single cable is something like 25 A according to der3uer's measurements. That's crazy for those thin cables. So if current distribution is so uneven then no cables will be completely safe IMHO.
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