Your RTX 4090 Could Die if You Plug It In and Out 30 Times

On the 20th of September, NVIDIA announced their Ada Lovelace ‘RTX 4000‘ GPUs. The initial launch lineup consisted of the kingpin RTX 4090 & the RTX 4080 16/12GB. Now today, ZOTAC on their website included a rather specific and surprising detail for the 12VHPWR power conector’s life-span as pointed out by Videocardz. 

This is interesting because heavy travellers are indirectly discouraged from removing the GPU’s power cable frequently. On ZOTAC’s website, the 4×8 pin to the 16 pinned 12VHPWR cable is rated at a max of 30 connects/disconnects. 

The Cause

PCI-SIG, the group that overlooks PCIe specifications had no say regarding these issues. Videocardz mentions that, NVIDIA being a member of PCI-SIG is aware of these issues. The main issue arises when these wires melt/bend after around 40 plug ins and plug outs. This indeed is alarming because no one would want to risk their GPU catching on fire.

ZOTAC’s 30 count is lower than NVIDIA, possibly due to safety reasons. 30 is still a respectable number because except for enthusiasts not many average consumers move their GPU around every now and then. However, ZOTAC mentions ‘up to 30’ which means 30 is the maximum you can go. Do note that before reviewers test these GPUs, we cannot say much.

Ada Lovelace

Connectors may not be a concern for the majority of gamers, so let us give you a rundown of NVIDIA’s new Ada Lovelace GPUs. The RTX 4090 is set to arrive on the 12th of October whereas the RTX 4080 16/12GB variants are planned for November, side by side with AMD’s RDNA3.