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People are letting their hatred of Nvidia blind them to what happened here, a customer upgraded from a 4090FE to 5090FE, they were using a 3rd party ASUS 12VHPW

People are letting their hatred of Nvidia blind them to what happened here, a customer upgraded from a 4090FE to 5090FE, they were using a 3rd party ASUS 12VHPWR cable and didn't realize the 5090FE actually uses 12V-2x6 not 12VHPWR, while the port is the same the pins are different lengths. End of the day PC power cabling is such a shambles with things that look standard but are not so you should only ever really use the cables that came with the product if you don't want to risk issues, especially with this specific ports poor history with 3rd party cables.

0x073 2y ago
"didn't realize the 5090FE actually uses 12V-2x6 not 12VHPWR, while the port is the same the pins are different lengths" Broken by design. I use always the cables that are shipped with the psu and noth the cables from gpu.
jiwidi 2y ago
NVIDIA made the 12V-2x6 port retro compatible with the previous 4000 series 12VHPWR. If you make your port compatible with past gen and it breaks with it its a design flaw, dont make it retro compatible. This is not a user error, this is NVIDIA design error.
account42 2y ago
Wait so Nvdia made a connector that is physically but not electrically compatible with their previous generation and you think that's an argument for not blaming them?
Deathmax 2y ago
The cables between 12V-2x6 and 12VHPWR are identical, it's the port that has different pin lengths (shorter sensing pin, longer conductor pins) to allow for better detection of poorly seated cables and better conductivity while loose.
- whywhywhywhy 2y ago
  Pedantry between "cable" and "connectors" and claiming one if the same doesn't help people understand the situation.
bee_rider 2y ago
Building PCs has gone pretty mainstream at this point. Cases where it is easy to melt the thing by plugging it in wrong should be pretty rare.
stordoff 2y ago
At least according to Corsair, there are no changes to the cable, only the PSU/GPU-side connectors: > Cable: 12V-2x6 = 12VHPWR No difference! > So what does this mean if you’ve already got hardware for 12VHPWR? Fortunately, existing 12VHPWR cables and adapters will work with the new 12V-2x6 connector as the new changes are only related to the GPU and some PSUs (Our new RMx PSUs for example). The cables you've got already will work fine, so don't worry. https://www.corsair.com/uk/en/explorer/diy-builder/power-supply-units/evolving-standards-12vhpwr-and-12v-2x6/ https://www.corsair.com/uk/en/explorer/diy-builder/power-sup...
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- whywhywhywhy 2y ago
  Connectors are where the issue is and there is a difference even if they fit in the same plugs and power can still go through them. From your link > Compared to the original 12VHPWR connector, the new 12V-2x6 connector has shorter sensing pins (1.5mm) while the conductor terminals are 0.25mm longer
  - erinaceousjones 2y ago
    That's inconsistent messaging from Corsair, then. Parent comment quotes the times they're like "ehh, they're same thing, don't worry about it" and then they go on to say "well TECHNICALLY there's a teeensy difference in conductor sizes"??? Either they are confident that the 0.25mm terminal difference is within tolerance enough that they consider 12VHPWR to be functionally equivalent to 12V-2x6, or they're getting themselves confused let alone the target audience of their article.
  - stordoff 2y ago
    AIUI, the connector _on the GPU/PSU_ is slightly different, but the connector on the cable is the same: > As with any new standard, things are likely to evolve quickly and we’re now seeing the introduction of a new connector on the GPU and the PSU side of things. To be clear, this is not a new cable, it is an updated change to the pins in the socket, which is referred to as 12V-2x6. Corsair's messaging on Reddit[1] emphasises this: > Cable is the same. a 12VHPWR cable is a 12V-2x6 cable. it is ONLY the plugs on the graphics card / power supply that have changed. > The cable is the same. 12VHPWR = 12V-2x6. You will get the exact same cable if you upgrade to a new PSU. > As mentioned in image one, the cable is the same. Only the plug on the graphics card / PSU changed from 12VHPWR to 12V-2x6. [1] https://www.reddit.com/r/Corsair/comments/1ha9no1/ive_made_some_infographics_about_12v2x6_and/ https://www.reddit.com/r/Corsair/comments/1ha9no1/ive_made_s...
CarVac 2y ago
Third party cables were never an issue on sanely designed ports with power balancing.
mastax 2y ago
If the new 12V-2x6 connector was incompatible with the old 12VHPWR connector, they should have (and would have) made it physically incompatible. They didn’t. You cannot blame the user for doing something which is specifically allowed by design.
- whywhywhywhy 2y ago
  > You cannot blame the user for doing something which is specifically allowed by design. We really saying this when swapping a PSU to a different PSU and reusing existing cables that all look and plug in the same fries your build. I think it's utterly absurd that this is the case but that's PC components for you.
  - Dylan16807 2y ago
    Those cables fitting is a mistake, not by design. Even then the users are only a bit to blame, but in the case of deliberate compatibility there's zero blame.
jchw 2y ago
The two standards are compatible, the port end hasn't changed, just the connector. The shorter sense pins are just designed to help detect an improperly connected cable, so that the sense pins only connect when the power pins are definitely connected. Buildzoid and others have covered the design issues of the 12VHPWR cable and especially it's horrific implementation on the 5090FE well enough[1] that I don't think it's worth going into too much detail here. For some god forsaken reason, they decided to just dump all of the voltage lines in parallel and then run a single shunt resistor to it, so if a conductor fails and the load becomes improperly distributed, there's no way for the card or the user to know until it catches fire. It's hard to come up with a reasonable justification for this. But just so we're clear, there are 2 reports of catastrophic failures with the 5090 already, which should be even more alarming considering how few 5090 actually exist right now. The other failure didn't involve third-party cables. Of course, if used improperly, you can burn through basically any cable, and any cable can fail... but when the failure rate of a specific cable is so high above the rest, it raises many questions. If a specific model of aircraft seems to have an oddly bad problem with pilot error, you can't just shrug that off. In my opinion, consumer computer equipment is the same. It shouldn't light on fire unless you've done something horribly wrong. And even if you do something horribly wrong, the hardware should at least be designed in a way that gives it a chance at failing gracefully first. The connectors that 12VHPWR replaced were specced with good safety margins and previous NVIDIA cards were designed to ensure current was balanced across voltage lines. It is unclear why NVIDIA didn't see the issue with the 12VHPWR last generation and put some serious effort into fixing the problem. If they continue recklessly like this, there is a non-zero chance that the 12VHPWR connector is only retired after it finally causes loss of life. [1]: https://youtu.be/kb5YzMoVQyw https://youtu.be/kb5YzMoVQyw
Algent 2y ago
Another video today from Der8auer showed him reproduce the issue on his model. He showed a 22A load and 150°C point on a single wire. The problem seem to be much worse somehow, clearly no balancing between the wire on the founder edition.
ChoGGi 2y ago
I mean unless you use the Nvidia adapter for the old fashioned 8 pins, then technically every cable is a third party cable. Or did Nvidia get into PSU sales? Also 12V-2x6 only changes the female connector on the card, the male end on the cable is unchanged.

0x073 2y ago

"didn't realize the 5090FE actually uses 12V-2x6 not 12VHPWR, while the port is the same the pins are different lengths" Broken by design. I use always the cables that are shipped with the psu and noth the cables from gpu.

jiwidi 2y ago

NVIDIA made the 12V-2x6 port retro compatible with the previous 4000 series 12VHPWR. If you make your port compatible with past gen and it breaks with it its a design flaw, dont make it retro compatible. This is not a user error, this is NVIDIA design error.

account42 2y ago

Wait so Nvdia made a connector that is physically but not electrically compatible with their previous generation and you think that's an argument for not blaming them?

Deathmax 2y ago

The cables between 12V-2x6 and 12VHPWR are identical, it's the port that has different pin lengths (shorter sensing pin, longer conductor pins) to allow for better detection of poorly seated cables and better conductivity while loose.

whywhywhywhy 2y ago
Pedantry between "cable" and "connectors" and claiming one if the same doesn't help people understand the situation.

bee_rider 2y ago

Building PCs has gone pretty mainstream at this point. Cases where it is easy to melt the thing by plugging it in wrong should be pretty rare.

stordoff 2y ago

At least according to Corsair, there are no changes to the cable, only the PSU/GPU-side connectors: > Cable: 12V-2x6 = 12VHPWR No difference! > So what does this mean if you’ve already got hardware for 12VHPWR? Fortunately, existing 12VHPWR cables and adapters will work with the new 12V-2x6 connector as the new changes are only related to the GPU and some PSUs (Our new RMx PSUs for example). The cables you've got already will work fine, so don't worry. https://www.corsair.com/uk/en/explorer/diy-builder/power-supply-units/evolving-standards-12vhpwr-and-12v-2x6/ https://www.corsair.com/uk/en/explorer/diy-builder/power-sup...

deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
whywhywhywhy 2y ago
Connectors are where the issue is and there is a difference even if they fit in the same plugs and power can still go through them. From your link > Compared to the original 12VHPWR connector, the new 12V-2x6 connector has shorter sensing pins (1.5mm) while the conductor terminals are 0.25mm longer
- erinaceousjones 2y ago
  That's inconsistent messaging from Corsair, then. Parent comment quotes the times they're like "ehh, they're same thing, don't worry about it" and then they go on to say "well TECHNICALLY there's a teeensy difference in conductor sizes"??? Either they are confident that the 0.25mm terminal difference is within tolerance enough that they consider 12VHPWR to be functionally equivalent to 12V-2x6, or they're getting themselves confused let alone the target audience of their article.
- stordoff 2y ago
  AIUI, the connector _on the GPU/PSU_ is slightly different, but the connector on the cable is the same: > As with any new standard, things are likely to evolve quickly and we’re now seeing the introduction of a new connector on the GPU and the PSU side of things. To be clear, this is not a new cable, it is an updated change to the pins in the socket, which is referred to as 12V-2x6. Corsair's messaging on Reddit[1] emphasises this: > Cable is the same. a 12VHPWR cable is a 12V-2x6 cable. it is ONLY the plugs on the graphics card / power supply that have changed. > The cable is the same. 12VHPWR = 12V-2x6. You will get the exact same cable if you upgrade to a new PSU. > As mentioned in image one, the cable is the same. Only the plug on the graphics card / PSU changed from 12VHPWR to 12V-2x6. [1] https://www.reddit.com/r/Corsair/comments/1ha9no1/ive_made_some_infographics_about_12v2x6_and/ https://www.reddit.com/r/Corsair/comments/1ha9no1/ive_made_s...

CarVac 2y ago

Third party cables were never an issue on sanely designed ports with power balancing.

mastax 2y ago

If the new 12V-2x6 connector was incompatible with the old 12VHPWR connector, they should have (and would have) made it physically incompatible. They didn’t. You cannot blame the user for doing something which is specifically allowed by design.

whywhywhywhy 2y ago
> You cannot blame the user for doing something which is specifically allowed by design. We really saying this when swapping a PSU to a different PSU and reusing existing cables that all look and plug in the same fries your build. I think it's utterly absurd that this is the case but that's PC components for you.
- Dylan16807 2y ago
  Those cables fitting is a mistake, not by design. Even then the users are only a bit to blame, but in the case of deliberate compatibility there's zero blame.

jchw 2y ago

The two standards are compatible, the port end hasn't changed, just the connector. The shorter sense pins are just designed to help detect an improperly connected cable, so that the sense pins only connect when the power pins are definitely connected. Buildzoid and others have covered the design issues of the 12VHPWR cable and especially it's horrific implementation on the 5090FE well enough[1] that I don't think it's worth going into too much detail here. For some god forsaken reason, they decided to just dump all of the voltage lines in parallel and then run a single shunt resistor to it, so if a conductor fails and the load becomes improperly distributed, there's no way for the card or the user to know until it catches fire. It's hard to come up with a reasonable justification for this. But just so we're clear, there are 2 reports of catastrophic failures with the 5090 already, which should be even more alarming considering how few 5090 actually exist right now. The other failure didn't involve third-party cables. Of course, if used improperly, you can burn through basically any cable, and any cable can fail... but when the failure rate of a specific cable is so high above the rest, it raises many questions. If a specific model of aircraft seems to have an oddly bad problem with pilot error, you can't just shrug that off. In my opinion, consumer computer equipment is the same. It shouldn't light on fire unless you've done something horribly wrong. And even if you do something horribly wrong, the hardware should at least be designed in a way that gives it a chance at failing gracefully first. The connectors that 12VHPWR replaced were specced with good safety margins and previous NVIDIA cards were designed to ensure current was balanced across voltage lines. It is unclear why NVIDIA didn't see the issue with the 12VHPWR last generation and put some serious effort into fixing the problem. If they continue recklessly like this, there is a non-zero chance that the 12VHPWR connector is only retired after it finally causes loss of life. [1]: https://youtu.be/kb5YzMoVQyw https://youtu.be/kb5YzMoVQyw

Algent 2y ago

Another video today from Der8auer showed him reproduce the issue on his model. He showed a 22A load and 150°C point on a single wire. The problem seem to be much worse somehow, clearly no balancing between the wire on the founder edition.

ChoGGi 2y ago

I mean unless you use the Nvidia adapter for the old fashioned 8 pins, then technically every cable is a third party cable. Or did Nvidia get into PSU sales? Also 12V-2x6 only changes the female connector on the card, the male end on the cable is unchanged.