Even the RTX 5070 can melt cables, user reports, as potential root cause spotted
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The 12-volt high-power cables for graphics cards are causing more issues. This time, a user reports a melted cable on an RTX 5070. This is a change from previous incidents, which involved high-end flagship cards.
The 12VHPWR and now 12V-2×6 power cables have been the focus of a number of concerning reports. Reports first began to appear when the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 was launched and continued into the launch of the 40 Super series, and now into the RTX 50 era. Up until now, these issues have mostly involved high-end cards like the RTX 5090 or 5080, but now a mid-tier card is involved.
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RTX 5070 cable melting
A user on Twitter/X called Ere9w posted several videos showing how their Zotac-branded RTX 5070 experienced problems with the power cable that led to a melted cable. Some users noted that one pin in the power connector on the GPU side has a badly bent pin, which may be the root cause of the problem.
Previous cases of melted cables and connectors have been put down to a problem with the mechanical connection between the graphics card and power connector. If this is not pushed in all the way, or the pins are bent out of alignment, it can cause electrical arcing. This, in turn, causes overheating and damaged cables.
The user was utilising a Seasonic Focus GX-750 power supply, which comes with its own native 12V-2×6 power cable, eliminating any sort of adaptor or third-party cable as the responsible party. Based on the pictures, it is difficult to tell if the bent pin occurred when the user initially plugged in the cable or if it was a manufacturing fault. It is also unclear why only a single part of the cable saw significant damage.
Some users have become wary of these 12VHPWR connectors and are seeking different power connector options where possible. For those stuck with this type of cable, it’s wise to double-check that it is plugged in properly. Just in case.
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