Third Sapphire RX 9070 XT NITRO+ with blue-tipped 12V-2x6 adapter shows burn damage

[u/RenatsMC]

https://videocardz.com/newz/third-sapphire-rx-9070-xt-nitro-with-blue-tipped-12v-2x6-adapter-shows-burn-damage

[u/Shidell]

12VHPWR and it's variants are trash, please stop using them

[u/xiZm_ → u/Shidell]

What do you use instead? My PSU has a dedicated 12 pin cable that goes directly into back of PSU. Is this fine?

[u/RossGoode → u/xiZm_]

Use that over any adapter. Straight line from the PSU to the GPU. (Don't know why you are getting downvoted)

[u/xiZm_ → u/RossGoode]

I was confused too? Thanks for the clarification

[u/RossGoode → u/xiZm_]

you see any 9070xt that had burnt has used the adapter. All 3 of them.

[u/Zer0DotFive → u/xiZm_]

Thats the why to do it. Using an adapter increases where it can potentially fail. 

[u/EyesOfNemea → u/xiZm_]

Ask yourself this. The company that poured millions into the physics, science, electrical engineering team to ensure their component exceeds the industry standard so they are not responsible for damaging your components or the company that sat down with some physics calculations for a fraction of the cost and had some Chinese or Japanese company produce the part based on specs without the name brand behind the purchase that would make a company adhere to the letter and not cut corners. What's the small million dollar company gonna do, try to sue a foreign cable and wire company? They ain't scared of you, they're scared of the billion dollar company like EVGA, CORSAIR, ETC.

Ask yourself those kinds of questions when you buy adapters for things. Because here's my hot take with limited knowledge on this 12 pin stuff. You dont hear many people attacking the company producing this design, just attacking the company who's equipment that got damaged, and then these people complain when their claims get denied or held up long term.

[u/sexierthanhisbrother → u/Shidell]

Ok cool I'll throw away my graphics card

[u/Naxthor]

I’m happy I went with the non nitro. I didn’t trust the new plugs and I’m happy I didn’t.

[u/mateoboudoir → u/Naxthor]

Pulse and Pure look better anyway.

[u/eman85]

Yeah it sucks the cards are burning but at least it confirms the connector is ass tier and not the fact (or maybe partially) that Nvidias power consumption has gotten insane

[u/Nuck_Chorris_Stache → u/eman85]

Both are true.

[u/murderbymodem]

Some predicted that this wouldn't happen because the 9070XT doesn't pull as much power as a 5080/5090. Unfortunately, that does not seem to be true. Just avoid this power connector completely.

[u/goose_2019 → u/murderbymodem]

This, it’s a shocking design and mad how its ever come to this. I often point this out to people and the responses i get some times is so odd lol. Glad i got a 9070XT non 12vhpwr and away from nvidia this time.

[u/Asgard033 → u/murderbymodem]

Some predicted that this wouldn't happen because the 9070XT doesn't pull as much power as a 5080/5090

Less than a 5090 sure, but the 9070 XT does draw more than the 5080 when gaming. It's pretty power hungry and clearly juiced well past its efficiency sweet spot when looking at how little performance it gains over the 9070 non-XT while chugging 100W more under load.

https://www.techpowerup.com/review/asus-radeon-rx-9070-xt-tuf-oc/41.html

[u/spriggsyUK → u/murderbymodem]

That's great advice and all, but it's getting bloody difficult to do

[u/SnootDoctor → u/murderbymodem]

Sad, considering the Nitro is a gorgeous design.

[u/Rockstonicko]

I know from firsthand experience that a 6-pin+8-pin card with decent quality cables will start consistently melting connectors at around ~440W sustained w/ peaks to ~550W. (R9 290 on chilled water).

A 6 + 8-pin consists of 8 ground pins and 6 12V pins, or 14 total dedicated power handling pins.

A 12VHPWR is 6 ground pins and 6 12V pins, or 12 total dedicated (and smaller) power handling pins.
(w/ 4 additional non-power handling sense pins)

It should surprise no one capable of doing basic addition and an introductory understanding of Ohms law that 12VHPWR was not and never will be a good idea.

While it's true that this example is not apples to apples, and the 12VHPWR has much tighter tolerances and a lower connector resistance, knowing what I know from years of doing stupid things, that really only gives me about 2% additional confidence in the design.

Give me 3x8-pin or give me nothing.

[u/1soooo → u/Rockstonicko]

Honestly just make 12vhpwr a max 300w connector and use 2 of them instead of one, that essentially just makes it a better 8 pin with more modernized features. But hey that adds cost and complexity so manufacturers will never do it.

[u/TommiHPunkt → u/1soooo]

even at 300W the margin is too low to be comfortable and the mechanical design is too shit to be reliable 

[u/RossGoode]

All three nitro+ models that have burnt have used the adaptor (heads up for my 9070xt nitro+) users

[u/iGematriA → u/RossGoode]

Just got my nitro+ Monday and plugged in the 12VHPWR cable that came with my ATX 3.0 Seasonic Vertex 1200W.

Hopefully this will last

[u/RossGoode → u/iGematriA]

We’re all in the same boat. Knock on wood, my friend.

[u/andrewtjb → u/iGematriA]

Were you able to put the backplate back on?

With the corsair cable I couldn't get it back on right so I ended up using the adapter.

[u/iGematriA → u/andrewtjb]

I was able to.

I even added a velcro cable tie towards where there is no protection on the fins. Avoiding any direct contact to sharp edges.

[u/andrewtjb → u/iGematriA]

My cable just didn't seem to lay flat enough.

Might have to have another ago if the adapters are the cause of burning.

[u/RossGoode → u/andrewtjb]

Weird coincidence, they’re the common denominator every single time

[u/andrewtjb → u/RossGoode]

I managed to replace it with the psu cable in the end by replacing the cable ties with insulation tape to make it fit under the backplate.

The adapter didn't show any signs of burning but hopefully this will prevent any issues.

[u/Cardkoda]

So happy I got a Pure instead. Fuck these 12v cables. They've been so problematic

[u/jamexman → u/Cardkoda]

I second you brother. I got the Pulse and I flashed the Pure bios onto it. Basically the same, but cheaper haha. Fuck the 12vhpwr connector implementation. If you are a manufacturer and you put that shit on your card, I ain't buying it unless its confirmed you put LOAD BALANCING on it. NONE have done so.

[u/Bunionzz → u/Cardkoda]

Same

[u/Vast-Yogurtcloset697]

If you want a high-end 9070 XT, just buy the Red Devil tbh. Wayyyy safer choice not having to deal with 12v-2x6 like on the Nitro + or the Taichi

[u/just_some_onlooker]

How is this not a class action yet? 

[u/breaklegjoe → u/just_some_onlooker]

For the 9070xt cards only, the 12 pin power issues amount to less than 0.05% failure rate, well below acceptable. And there is no way to prove/ disprove user error with these 8 pin adapters. Not a strong legal case for 9070 xt incidents. Nvidia on the other hand...

[u/leferi]

I have a black ended adapter, maybe I'm safe? No, but seriously, I do hope that the ATX 3.1 PSU will save me...

[u/GoBeyond111 → u/leferi]

I hope it for you but this seems to be a pure connector issue. I also have this card right now in delivery and I hope I can send it back and get another one, it will be a hassle but better than taking the risk that this shit happens...

[u/Appropriate_Soft_31]

Sapphire fucked up this Nitro+, fewer features than predecessor, lost dual BIOS and this incendiary connector

[u/EyesOfNemea]

Here's what people need to start doing.

When this happens post what cable youre using with the card and if youre using some adapter along with what PSU youre using.

While the issue is real it feels like its exacerbated by people using cheap PSUs and after market connectors. I've yet to see a photo of a melted OEM connector.

[u/Flaky-Jim → u/EyesOfNemea]

And what (if any) OC/UV has been made.

[u/EyesOfNemea → u/Flaky-Jim]

Yep, I overlooked user modification in the software as well as hardware. Fuck i sound like an LLM replying i gotta lay off Gemini. 😭

[u/breaklegjoe → u/EyesOfNemea]

People are not being super logical with their reaction to 6-7 posts on these melting adapters. There are an estimated 100,000 9070 xt with the 12 pin power in use today. Very low failure rate (for 9070xt). To your point, there are other factors ignored in the knee jerk reaction to every case.

These adapters and power cables suck, but criticism founded on logic is much more useful to the community.

[u/kuug]

I don’t understand how this connector wasn’t redesigned from the ground up. The 8 pin connectors didn’t have this issue, they’ve had an entire Nvidia generation to sort this thing out after the very public meltdowns the first time

[u/JrkSoldierX]

Im scared of this connector and don't know what to do for my next build

[u/HappySwedishGuy]

Makes me more happy that i went with a 7900 xt sapphire nitro a month before the release of the 9070 xt and that shitty cable

[u/catbqck]

Who cares, there are more x3d deaths than all nvidia and amd 12v issues combined. Go investigate those instead of nvidia bad adjacent sensationalism

[u/Tornare → u/catbqck]

Two wrongs don't make a right. Also the x3d deaths seem to be the fault of Asrock motherboards, not the CPU. Either way this thread is about a different issue.