Hardware Unboxed reports melted RTX 5090 power connector

Hardware Unboxed encountered a melted 12V-2×6 power connector while testing an ASUS ROG Astral RTX 5090 with a be quiet! Dark Power 13 PSU. Host Steve reportedly noticed the problem after touching the cable and finding it hot enough to burn his hand. A thermal camera showed temperatures above 150°C, later rising to roughly 175°C under load.

A Thermal Grizzly WireView Pro identified a severe current imbalance across the connector, with some pins carrying almost no load while one wire was drawing around 22A. The damage was worse at the PSU end, where the cable fused inside the Dark Power 13 connector and had to be removed with pliers, while the graphics card connector showed no visible marks. Hardware Unboxed said the cable was fully seated and did not attribute the failure to installation. Similar RTX 5090 connector failures have been reported despite undervolts and power limits, and some modders have bypassed the connector by soldering wires directly to the PCB.