Whether it's your RTX 50 series GPU's connector or the USB Type-C cable from your headset, reports of burned and melted cables are piling up. Recently, we've seen Nvidia's RTX 5090 and even 5080 GPUs suffer from melting power connector issues, similar to last gen, while the green team has yet to offer owners any relief. But it seems RTX 50 series owners aren't the only ones dealing with burned cables, as users are now reporting similar problems with Corsair cables.

This comes from Reddit, where a user shared a picture of their burnt Corsair Virtuoso headset cable. According to them, they woke up to the smell of burning plastic and found the Type-C cable for their Corsair headset smoldering on the carpet. The cable was plugged into their motherboard with the PC turned off, yet it still melted all the plastic from the connector and even turned parts of the metal blue.

The issue seems to be affecting Corsair peripherals

Interestingly, this isn’t the only Corsair peripheral that has suffered from this issue. Under the same post, a user with a Corsair Dark Core RGB mouse shared a similar picture of their Type-C cable completely burned and melted. Since both of these peripherals use a USB Type-C cable, it’s likely there is some fault in the cable itself. One user mentioned that this is a “very rare” issue and that the chances of it happening are very low.

However, it seems like this isn’t the first time this has happened. A post from 2021 on the Corsair community forum also reported an identical issue with the Corsair Virtuoso Type-C cable overheating while charging the headset. That user caught it early, as they didn't experience black ooze coming from the cable, only a “nice burn smell.” To add to that, the comment section of that post includes a reply from 2023 where a user also mentioned facing the same issue with their headset.

Thankfully, Corsair offers replacements

Corsair has previously offered replacements for overheating Type-C cables, so if you’re currently facing this issue, you can request a replacement. To get your cable replaced, head over to their support page and create a ticket. Explain the issue, and Corsair will provide a replacement free of charge.

That said, they may also ask you to send over the burned cable to investigate the root cause of the problem. Since this issue has been affecting Corsair cables for a while now, we'd also suggest looking into high-quality alternatives if you have the budget to make sure your components aren't relying on cheap Type-C cables.

About the Author

Hassam Nasir

Hassam boasts over seven years of professional experience as a dedicated PC hardware reviewer and writer.