Since the RTX 40s, NVIDIA graphics cards have been suffering from a well-known problem: the 12V-2×6 power connector. This is the Achilles heel of these graphics cards. Many cards have gone up in smoke, and the RTX 50s do nothing to help. Der8auer has revealed some truly worrying design problems(here and here). Finally, it turns out that it’s the power supply manufacturers who are taking matters into their own hands.
FPS offers 12V-2×6 cables with thermal monitoring!
As we have seen, the power connectors on NVIDIA graphics cards suffer from a problem of load distribution on the different strands of the cable. As a result, some wires can carry an impressive amount of energy, and over the long term this can be fatal for both the power supply and the graphics card.
After coloured connectors to reduce the number of incorrect connections, now it’s time for monitored cables. This is the solution found by FSP to limit the damage. The power supply brand offers a thermal monitoring system for the graphics card connector. This monitors the temperature of each wire and if it reaches 100°C, poof, the power supply trips and the PC shuts down!
While this may seem like an interesting solution, in the end it only protects the graphics card. Unfortunately, the power supply itself can still go up in smoke. As we saw in the Der8auer videos, if the connector reaches 80°C on the GPU side, it can reach much higher temperatures on the PSU side. What’s more, if the hot spot is at the pins, after the thermal probes, it’s complicated too.
On the other hand, there’s also the risk of your PC shutting down without warning. Whether it’s during a video game, it can be frustrating, but of no great consequence. However, if it happens while you’re working on something that hasn’t yet been saved, it becomes a much bigger problem.
In any case, we have the impression that we’re dealing with a situation similar to Bethesda’s games. The guys come out with a buggy game (NVIDIA with its RTX 50) and it’s up to the modders (the power supply manufacturers) to fix the problems with mods (cables with monitoring).
