Reports of melting 16-pin power connector (12VHPWR) GeForce RTX 4090 have dried up in recent months. However, they still occur among GeForce RTX 4090, one of the best graphics cards . A new report from user Byogore on the PCMR subreddit has revealed another instance of an RTX 4090 death due to the infamous 12VHPWR power connector melting. However, the user said his RTX 4090 worked for a year before it died.

When the RTX 4090 melting catastrophe reached its height several months ago, the window of RTX 4090 deaths appeared to be under six months, depending on the card and its environment. Byogore's lifespan window is well beyond this estimate and double the lifespan that other dead RTX 4090s have experienced.

The scary part is that Byogore's situation could be repeatable on all of Nvidia's remaining RTX 4090s that still carry the older 12VHPWR power connector. That's not to say that all of Nvidia's more aged RTX 4090s will die, but it could lead to more unpredictable deaths in the future.

If you are unaware, loads of melted and dead Nvidia RTX 4090 reports began circulating online in the beginning/middle of 2023 due to the integration of the bleeding-edge 12VHPWR power connector that delivers up to 600W. These RTX 4090 deaths directly correlated with melted 16-pin power connectors on the GPU, power cable, power adapter, or both. The 12VHPWR, in some form, was at fault.

Nvidia responded to these issues in November of 2022, when the problem first started, affirming that the issues were directly related to user error, with users not pushing the 16-pin power connector into the reciprocating power connector on their RTX 4090s. However, we noted in our coverage that many users reporting RTX 4090 deaths claimed to be experienced system builders, making the likelihood of a failed user insertion a rare occurrence.

Ironically, half a year after Nvidia's comments, PCI-SIG introduced a brand new 16-pin connector, dubbed the 12V-2x6 power connector, that solved the issues plaguing the 12VHPWR power connector. This new connector received several modifications, including a boost in the power delivery from 600W to 660W, and fixed the connector's melting issues with a slight redesign. Recent testing shows the new connector lives up to its improvements and is immune to overheating/melting.

Thankfully, Nvidia has been quietly rolling out this new connector to the RTX 4090 and other cards like the RTX 4070 already. But plenty of RTX 4090s still exist with the older 12VHPWR power connector out in the wild. The good news is that most modern graphics card warranties extend to three to four years, depending on the manufacturer, so should an issue arise in the next few years, RTX 4090 owners should still be covered under warranty.