der8auer uncovers “concerning” RTX 5090 FE power distribution issue

Pro overclocker uncovers “concerning” issue with Nvidia’s RTX 5090 Founders Edition GPUs

Yesterday, we reported on an RTX 5090 GPU that was damaged due to a “melted” 12VHPWR connector. The owner of this GPU, so it turns out, lives close to Roman “der8auer” Hartung, the world-class overclocker. This gave der8auer the opportunity to analyse this damaged GPU, and his findings are “concerning.” In fact, der8auer found a similar issue with this RTX 5090 Founders Edition (FE) graphics card, leading to speculation that the GPU may have a power distribution-related design flaw.

In his video below, der8auer found that his RTX 5090 Founders Edition (FE) GPU exhibited similar issues to the user with a melted power connector. GPU power was being drawn primarily through two of the cable’s six 12V wires. This meant that most power was not being split evenly across the cable, causing specific wires to overheat.

Below, we can see der8auer’s power cable through a thermal imaging camera. Note that only two power cables are getting hot. Furthermore, the PSU side of the scale is reaching 153 degrees Celsius.

Der8auer believes that prolonged use of his GPU under this load condition would eventually lead to his power cables melting. Because of this, der8auer ended his testing before those could occur.

Note that this problem only occurs because power is not equally distributed across this GPU’s 6 12V cables. Equal power distribution would prevent individual cables from becoming hotter than the others.

(Thermal Images from der8auer (PSU side Left – GPU side Right)

der8auer has noted that not all RTX 5090 GPUs have this power distribution issue. This issue appears to only impact Nvidia’s Founders Edition design. However, it is possible that other GPUs could have a similar flaw.

You can join the discussion on Nvidia’s RTX 5090 Founders Edition uneven power distribution on the OC3D Forums.