Nvidia introduced the 12VHPWR socket to get enough juice to the GeForce RTX 4090. It averages a draw of around 380W while gaming, and can peak at over 600W. There were problems from the start, with overheating cables and the occasional fried card. After blaming user error, Nvidia redesigned the connector, dubbed the 12V-2x6. Things quietened down, but not completely. A new failure has emerged in a card that reportedly had been working perfectly for a year. There are still a number of 4090’s in circulation with the original connector that could fail, but at least they’ll be under warranty. CableMod has just released a revised version of its adapter that claims to fix stress and cooling issues, all for $39.90.
–CL