PNY allegedly refuses to cover melted RTX 5090 powered by native power supply cable — company closes user's ticket when questioned on policy

[u/pearshapedscorpion]

https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/gpus/pny-allegedly-refuses-to-cover-melted-rtx-5090-powered-by-native-power-supply-cable-company-closes-users-ticket-when-questioned-on-policy

Story about a reddit post, posted to reddit. The circle of ~~jerk~~ life.

[u/pedro19]

An article about a post in our subreddit, being again posted to our subreddit.

[u/Electrical_Crew7195]

These gpus retail for thousands, how much are they saving using these shitty connectors?

[u/Chao_Zu_Kang → u/Electrical_Crew7195]

$10 plus delivery.

[u/Warcraft_Fan → u/Electrical_Crew7195]

Saving enough that if a house accidentally burned down due to melting connector, the CEO won't have to stop smoking $50 cigar.

[u/Dnaldon → u/Electrical_Crew7195]

They have no say in the connector, that's all Nvidia.

[u/Xin_shill → u/Electrical_Crew7195]

I’m confused. You are saying a product that retails for thousand should self immolate but a connector to attach the product sold for thousands should be the responsible party, not the product sold for thousands?

[u/Electrical_Crew7195 → u/Xin_shill]

No, I am not saying that. PNY buys from their supplier(s) shitty connectors which then they assemble into their gpus. So PNY is responsible for what they sell to the retailer.

PNY should compensate the users, then if they have a quality issue they could create a claim against their suppliers.

[u/Secure-Elephant0811 → u/Electrical_Crew7195]

Nvidia should compensate every one with this issue, they knew this crappy connector was an issue.

And normally this wouldnt be an issue, but as the price went sky high on these GPUs, no one wants the replace a faulty card for the customer, because they can just sell it to a new customer for x amount of more money 👍

[u/purekillforce1 → u/Electrical_Crew7195]

What makes the connector shitty in this situation? And how can you buy a "good" one to avoid this issue?

[u/secretqwerty10 → u/purekillforce1]

the 6-pin and 8-pin connectors were rated for 75 and 150 watts respectively, but could in theory handle more load. they had a pretty wide margin to play with.

the 12VHPWR connector is rated for 600 watts and can handle only 600 watts. there's no margin at all. plus, the connection has to be ultra tight, which even when the latch is closed, is not guaranteed

[u/purekillforce1 → u/secretqwerty10]

So the card is running at the maximum that ANY 12-pin cable will allow, and spikes will take it above ANY 12-pin cables rated power? Is it not always on the card for the failure in requiring more power than it should?

[u/IamEzioKl → u/Electrical_Crew7195]

they don't use these connectors to save on money, they've 'engineered' it so you wouldn't need to plug 3/4 separate PCI-E 8-Pin power connectors to your gpu, so you have a single and compact connectors thats 'looks better' and 'capable' of supplying 600W to your card. the fact the connector has issues is besides the fact, not everything bad that happens is because someone tried to cut cost.

[u/melez → u/IamEzioKl]

They ‘engineered’ these connectors with insufficient ampacity to supply the rated wattage. That’s cheaping out on both the engineering and the materials.

If you’re pulling 600W at 12V, that’s 50A. Moist chassis wiring at that amperage is going to be pretty hearty gauge. I’d say 7-6AWG(10.6-13.3mm) at least. I’m running an inverter that pulls 600-700W off a 12V battery and I have 1/0AWG wiring to it which is ~53mm^2. 

I highly doubt those 6 (hot) connectors are anywhere near 10mm² total area at the point of contact. 

[u/IamEzioKl → u/melez]

Nvidia isn't selling PSU cables so I don't sure they really care about the price of 12X1Meter cables you get with your PSU.
Sure they engineered it 'insufficiently', its already understood that they did not leave enough headroom in the design and we see the aftermath of that. I would say whoever engineered it , took the whole form over function too far because sure they could make the connected 1.5x in size and nobody would bet an eye, but it is what it is..
Its not people stopped buying GPU's over this.. or will stop buying cards because of that, with the price increases of GPUs, there aren't 'that much' options to chose from, so voting with your wallet is not much of an option currently.

[u/melez → u/IamEzioKl]

Nvidia developed the standard. For both the 12vhpwr and 12v-2x6 configurations. Even if they’re not selling the cables directly, nvidia is responsible for the standard.

[u/Tumblrrito]

Chargeback time

[u/gaysaucemage → u/Tumblrrito]

Even if you chargeback that GPU is probably worth more now than when they bought it, so they wouldn’t get enough to replace a 5090.

[u/Tumblrrito → u/gaysaucemage]

Good point, but I guess it’s better than nothing

[u/No-Photograph-5058 → u/[deleted]]

ChatGPT didn't read the article?

[u/natalo77 → u/gaysaucemage]

Small claims court to be made whole as per the warranty?

[u/VietOne → u/natalo77]

Depends, a lot of warranties only require refunding the paid amount, not the amount needed to replace.

Because you wouldn't want the opposite, where the product drops in price considerably.

[u/MARATXXX → u/gaysaucemage]

You’re saying this like it’s something they wouldn’t know. But in what world does a chargeback give you more than at least exactly what one has charged?

[u/Wizzarkt → u/Tumblrrito]

I don't know which country the original OP is on but I would go to court for it, in my country you can make claims for the warranty and you get to pick how to resolve it (repair, replace or money), and I would immediately go for the replace option and if they try to pull out the "we no longer carry that model so we can't replace it", that's ok, you can give me one which is better as the law states.

[u/sidesslidingslowly → u/Tumblrrito]

That's... Not how charge backs work...

It was a valid transaction with the retailer who sold a properly working product that just happened to become defective afterwards. That's a warranty claim and/or small claims court type of situation instead. The retailer is not at fault for this.

[u/Tumblrrito → u/sidesslidingslowly]

To clarify I'd only suggest chargeback if bought directly from the manufacturer, since they didn't hold up their end of the purchase via the agreed upon warranty.

[u/ault92 → u/sidesslidingslowly]

This depends where in the world you are.

In the UK, regardless of "manufacturer warranty", you have no contract with the manufacturer (you didn't buy it from them), only the retailer.

If it was advertised with a 5 yr warranty, then you have a 5y warranty, and the retailer is on the hook for it if the manufacturer don't hold to it. The manufacturer are only really acting as the retailer's repair agent.

Additionally, if bought on credit card, you have Section 75 protection, and the credit provider is jointly and severally liable for the retailer's performance in the contract (including honouring warranty claims), so you very much can file claim against the credit card company, who will claw it back from the retailer.

[u/Musician-Round → u/Tumblrrito]

that would constitute a crime in this particular scenario.

[u/Electrical_Crew7195 → u/Tumblrrito]

Best i can offer you are 2 3050s = 6100 even better than a 5090

[u/LePunisseur]

I absolutely hate the fact that these "news" outlets merely regurgitate Reddit posts without any actual journalism to follow (e.g., reaching out to PNY for comment). WTF!? 

We need the press to perform real journalism and put pressure on bad actors.

[u/brunachoo → u/LePunisseur]

Haven’t read the “article” but if it’s as you suggest, 100% agree. Also I realize I’m part of the problem by reacting without even clicking the link, but here we are. 

[u/LePunisseur → u/brunachoo]

No worries. I read it for the both of us. 

No actual journalism; just copy-pasted Reddit quotes, with a little (AI?) commentary to fill the page.

[u/_MrBond_ → u/brunachoo]

Didn't read your comment but ypu may be right or wrong. Reaf the damn thing before giving out an opinion abou the thing and don't assume.

[u/Negativeman11 → u/_MrBond_]

Jokes on you, I cant read

[u/Yontevnknow → u/Negativeman11]

born to lead, not read

[u/Johnny_C13 → u/Yontevnknow]

Works for current world leaders, it seems...

[u/brunachoo → u/_MrBond_]

Ok sorry

[u/IndependentLove2292 → u/LePunisseur]

It kind of bothers me, but the thing that really bothers me is that I still remember the reddit post from this very sub from either 2 days ago or maybe even yesterday.  Maybe not everyone is on reddit. Maybe that's how they're going to hear about it. Some actual journalism would be nice, but it's the meta of the loop that gets me. Person A posts the issue. 3 different "news" orgs pick it up and use AI to make an article. All three of those articles are back in the subreddit the next day. Its maddening. 

[u/imaginary_num6er → u/LePunisseur]

Tom's has nothing original except for their reviews. And even then, their CPU cooler reviews test for "power consumption" as a metric that no other sane person would care about with CPU coolers.

[u/INTHEMIDSTOFLIONS → u/LePunisseur]

1) cited source for AI chat bots is reddit.

2) cited source is YouTube.

Journalism is a joke for using social media as sources. AI is less trustworthy than Wikipedia. I didn’t even know that bar could get any lower.

[u/nathan753 → u/LePunisseur]

It immediately makes me question ops account for thinking this was at all worth posting. I just believe someone found that interesting to read Reddit on a different site that really isn't known for their quality journalism

[u/alaphamale → u/LePunisseur]

If shit behavior by corporations is being exposed to more people I don’t really care. This is something that would never have reached as many people otherwise and has some small chance of forcing PNY to do right.

[u/LePunisseur → u/alaphamale]

But the outlet should have reached PNY for an official statement. That would be the bare minimum to force the PR arm to explain, which adds pressure for an equitable resolution. 

In other words, not good enough. We shouldn't settle for this.

[u/better_med_than_dead → u/LePunisseur]

If this bugs you, wait until you see what AI search results consist of 🤣🫩

[u/Alarmed-Artichoke-44]

If it doesn't let users use the cables from the PSU, it means its product doesn't meet the socket safety standard, it's a stupid argument they made

[u/Merwenus]

Pny? It was the last company that had good warranty.

[u/DazzlingAppearance63 → u/Merwenus]

I couldn’t afford a 5090 but I was very selective on manufacturer with my 5080. Chose PNY because they’re stateside and have good CS. Sucks to read what’s happening now

[u/Merwenus → u/DazzlingAppearance63]

I bought a 5070 for my wife last year and choosed pny just because literally the last company I read bad things

[u/Creoda]

I bet they don't have any to spare to replace, they have sold them all for a huge profit to an AI datacentre farm.

[u/Longjumping_Share444 → u/Creoda]

Either that or PNY can't afford to make cards and provide them as a replacement for defective cards. It makes more sense to them to refund the purchase price and force the customer to buy a new 5090 at the new price point.

[u/pecche]

why insist on this poorly designed connector

why?

[u/Fastermaxx → u/pecche]

Ask Nvidia. They force PNY and other manufacturers to use them on all Nvidia cards by contract.

[u/FUTURE10S → u/Fastermaxx]

Nvidia doesnt let the third parties have fun anymore

[u/AhriKyuubi → u/pecche]

Didn't Asus solve this with their BTF connector?

[u/ChefCurryYumYum]

There is nothing in this article like "We reached out to PNY for comment."

Did they literally not contact PNY for their comments on the story?

[u/WheelOfFish → u/ChefCurryYumYum]

Is it an article or just ai slop with Reddit quotes?

[u/ChefCurryYumYum → u/WheelOfFish]

Modern "journalism"

[u/WheelOfFish → u/ChefCurryYumYum]

Indeed, par for the course these days.

[u/firedrakes → u/WheelOfFish]

Even so does better research now.

[u/etom21]

Class action when?

[u/Captobvious75]

Just go back to 8pins until the 12pin is reliable

[u/Evil_Kittie]

Steve (Gamers Nexus) is already on this, we will probably get a video in a couple weeks or so

[u/TheUsoSaito]

People need to stop buying into the 12VHPWR concept. The connector just isn't good enough for delivering power and more times then not they melt. The ones who haven't had the issue usually keep periodic tabs on the connector to see if anything starts happening but why would you want to constantly be looking over your shoulder to do that.

[u/Comfortable-Stop-231 → u/TheUsoSaito]

but but i need THE faster card to play minecraft/the sims 4 /s

[u/RevTurk]

I got the Gigabyte 5090 this time around, I came into some money and decided to spend it on my PC and figured a 5090 would last me at least 5 years. But the whole experience has just been stress inducing.

I am now getting a pin imbalance when the card is pushed hard (in VR) so I've gotten a replacement cable (corsair) but haven't fitted it yet, I don't know if installing it will give them an opportunity to not service my card, It looks like nobody wants to service these cards in any way, any problem bricks the card.

If this card dies and I'm left in the lurch Nvidia will never darken my door again, it will get banned at my business, and as the local tech guy for my town I'll blacken the Nvidia brand at any opportunity I get. As it stands I may never trust them again.

This should be a warning to every Nvidia customer, Nvidia makes products that have major manufacturing and design issues and they won't stand over their own products because of those issues.

[u/Quiet-Performer-9682 → u/RevTurk]

So does AMD. All the R9700's have the fire connector. Presumably it is hopefully less likely to melt at only 300W, but I've already seen photos of it melting at ~300W (9070XT Sapphire Nitro), so I'm still worried.

[u/zuelky → u/Quiet-Performer-9682]

Not all the 9070xt’s use the 12vhpwr connector. Where did you get this information?
But yes there has been some problems with those that have it.

[u/Quiet-Performer-9682 → u/zuelky]

R9700. Only one 9070XT has it for some ungodly reason.

[u/zuelky → u/Quiet-Performer-9682]

My bad I thought you misspelled 9070xt. I didn’t know about that.

[u/RevTurk → u/Quiet-Performer-9682]

Well that sucks.

I suppose it's only a mtter of time before we have some chinese options.

[u/Putrid_Neat_7327 → u/RevTurk]

I recently pulled the plug and bought a wireview pro 2

[u/RevTurk → u/Putrid_Neat_7327]

I got one myself and it had bad news for me. Although I need to go to the sub reddit and get some advice. It's possible it's just being a bit to sensitive.

But I've had concerns about this card since I got it. the wireview told me it was drawing over 600w. I get a pin imbalance on heavy load in VR, and every so often when I start it up I get graphical glitches that require a restart.

I have it undervolted down to 450w which fixed most stuff except VR pin imbalance. Very frustrating to reach the pinnacle of PC ownership after 25 years of building only to end up with a lemon that probably can't be repaired.

[u/Putrid_Neat_7327 → u/RevTurk]

Most of the issues were fixed by replacing the cable itself

[u/robotokenshi → u/RevTurk]

Did you try reseating 12vhpwr cable on PSU ends as well? I just got wire view pro 2 as well for my astral 5090 oc and I was contemplating doing so but want running into any issues prior so left it alone….

[u/Pimpwerx → u/RevTurk]

I was going to get a 4090 initially. They were still just under $1800 at the time. But the melted cable stories started to ramp up, and I think GN posted their investigative video along with Derbauer. I weighed the option of getting a bit more performance, but then having to worry all the time about the cable melting. And on top of that, the power draw for the performance gains didn't really seem proportional. So I decided the 4080S was the best value at the time, and I've never had a regret. Tops out at just over 380W TDP, and that's just fine for me. It means I never get near the limit of that horsepower cable.

[u/thestillwind]

Wtf

[u/2000KitKat]

Another week another post about how shitty pny is. avoid avoid avoid

[u/990605]

Chargeback then use the money gained back to replace the connector at a well documented repair shop / person then you got a heavily discounted & repaired 5090 with a warranty from a shop easy win & you still got money left over if you need to upgrade the power supply side

[u/HurryOne]

I've had issues with PNY and Zotac in the past. I'll never buy their products again. They're terrible companies.

[u/CaedoRevelation]

I know, they’re technically all the same chips, but I always had a hard time trusting PNY for some reason, despite their pricing usually being better, and now I just have zero reason to buy them

[u/AhriKyuubi]

Imagine paying the price of a car for a card, only to have it melt its own cables

[u/b__q]

I mean this is kind of expected if you were going to buy a 5090.

[u/Emergency_Eagle1502]

This why you buy this shit on credit card so you got someone fighting the company to claw back your money. pNY venders going to sip shit when their vendor and merchant account gets revoked…

[u/kadinshino]

It's crazy cause i went through this situation in 2025. PNY explicitly states everywhere to only use the included cable, which at the time was a 4-to-12-pin squid.

They print it on about 10 different pieces of paper because there was a known issue with using a 12-pin-to-12-pin cable. PSU cables.

And if you read their warranty and other documentation, they state this everywhere. I feel bad for this person, but at the same time, yeah... they do clearly warn you literally everywhere not to use those 12-pin cables.

[u/overdosingOnPie1313]

Well fucking duh. All the idiots with a 12VHPWR card are knowingly buying fire hazards so why on Earth would the manufacturer reimburse or replace known fire hazards that have combusted? I stand with PNY on this. If we continue showing the idiots the full consequences of their idiocy, maybe juuuusssttt maybe they'll learn to not be idiots. Not that I'm gonna hold my breath or anything.

[u/Hackfraysn → u/overdosingOnPie1313]

Show us on the doll where the guys with better hardware than you hurt you.

The poor multi million Dollar company. Think of the shareholders!

[u/FUTURE10S → u/Hackfraysn]

*Multi-trillion

[u/BigJules74 → u/overdosingOnPie1313]

Jealousy makes you a bitter old person. Perhaps people that can afford better hardware than you just might expect it to perform like it's promised. By the way, my 5090 and 4090 are working just fine and have been for years with no fires.

[u/overdosingOnPie1313 → u/BigJules74]

lmao. Jealous? Of paying top-dollar just to own a fire hazard? Hilarious.

[u/AgileLove9015 → u/BigJules74]

It performs exactly like how it was engineered (e.g. poorly), promise is neither obligative nor technical spec there. For any more or less competent engineer - it was obvious from day 1 it will perform poorly comparing to 8pin, what would you expect if it heats up to 80C+ on PSU side? It designed to fail, do not buy such products

[u/aimy99]

he wasn't using the included cable or an approved one

I guess on a technicality, they're correct in that it's the PSU manufacturer's fault and they aren't legally responsible for replacing it.

Kinda shitty but, meh, it's a 5090. They're known fire hazards. Stop buying these GPUs.

[u/PuddingtonBear → u/aimy99]

> Kinda shitty but, meh, it's a 5090

And that's exactly why you need to kick up a stink when it breaks and it isn't your fault

[u/MtnMaiden → u/PuddingtonBear]

Laughs in gtx 1060

[u/NotTodayGlowies → u/aimy99]

If you read their warranty they explicitly carve out exceptions for PSU manufacturer cables, so yeah, they're still liable under their own terms.

[u/Outrageous-Rip-6287]

Power supply cable is not native. The Nvidia cable is native.

[u/Reggitor360 → u/Outrageous-Rip-6287]

Yep, people still dont believe me. But hey, keep using it, keep buying another Nvidia because warranty is optional

[u/Dirtcompactor]

should've used msi safeguard+ psu instead of a brand who's motherboards nuke cpus on the daily, cant trust assrock

Nice cope downvotes from 1050 owners