Nothing gets by us. Nothing. It’s a hard truth we live by, and after we broke the story about Nvidia quietly improving the power plug on the RTX 4090, we’re here to dive into the gritty details.
The upgrade comes in the form of a modified power connector, and it includes the same shortened sense pins that were recently introduced on the RTX 4070. Nvidia has been responding to reports of melted RTX 4090s by sending out modified power connectors, but the company has been quiet about the changes.
We’re used to digging for the truth, so we’re happy to report that Nvidia has quietly upgraded the power connector on its Best GPU. A Reddit user, u/prackprackprack, shared pictures of their RTX 4090 with the modified power connector. Other Redditors confirmed the changes by comparing the images to older RTX 4090 FE cards.
The modifications involve retracting the four sense pins inside the connector, making them invisible from certain angles. This adjustment prevents continuous power supply to the GPU if the 16-pin power cable is not fully inserted, reducing the risk of fire or overheating.
This design change was originally seen in the RTX 4070, but this is the first time we’re seeing it on an RTX 4090. According to one of our sources, the change was made to address reports of melting. There’s nothing like a little fire to put a damper on your day, and the high power consumption of the RTX 4090 makes it particularly prone to such issues.
Here’s a look at the modified power connector used:
The connector used is a prototype 12V-2x6 connector based on the latest specifications. Our source says that a finalized version of the connector is still in development, but since Nvidia rushed the prototype version to newer cards, it’s clear that it’s trying to prevent more GPUs from failing.
It’s unclear which production versions of the RTX 4090 are receiving the new connector, but if Nvidia follows the same trend as with the RTX 4070, both the Founders Edition and AIB partner models should receive the new connector.
Staying informed about such upgrades is crucial in the ever-changing tech landscape. When the dust settles, it’s the little changes that give us the sense of relief we need to stay on the cutting edge.
