Nvidia has recently revealed its new RTX 50 series cards, with four new GPUs announced. The flagship model is, as expected, the RTX 5090, which arrives as the most powerful graphics card in the world for gaming. Speaking of power, the RTX 5090 has an incredibly high TDP of 575W, which is 125W more than the previous-gen 4090.
Back when the RTX 4090 was released and brought forth the new 16-pin (12+4 pin) 12VHPWR power connector, some users were reporting melting cable issues. These reports were eventually chalked off as user error, but that didn’t stop RTX 4090 power connector melting issues from happening. However, the Founders Edition 5090 has a couple of ways of combatting that.
RTX 5090 comes with an angled 12V-2×6 power connector
Manufacturers did eventually adopt the newer 12V-2×6 standard for the high-end 40 series cards, which the 5090 will now come with on release. The reports of 12VHPWR cables overheating and melting came as a result of connectors not being properly secured. This was addressed with the newer 12V-2×6 cables thanks to shorter sensing pins to ensure proper connection and therefore secure power delivery.
Another thing that manufacturers tried out was 90-degree (right angle) power adapters, a design that aims to minimize overheating. Well, as showcased in a recent video by Linus Tech Tips, the Founders Edition card features something that looks pretty similar. These angled connectors are also useful for neater cable management and make the RTX 5090 look great inside any build. Plus, the slimmer 2-slot design should make it fit in more PC cases; it is even classified as SFF-ready now.
So, overall, the RTX 5090 is taking two different measures to ensure that the melting problem is very much a thing of the past, plus the bonus of neat cable management. This is especially important given the amount of power this GPU is pushing and you’ll certainly want one of the best power supplies on the market to ensure your system is up to scratch.
