Upgraded Founders Editions – New Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 FE GPUs are shipping with updated power connectors

New Nvidia RTX 4090 Founders Edition graphics cards are shipping with new 12VHPWR connectors with shortened sense pins

It looks like Nvidia have started updating newly manufactured GeForce RTX 40 series Founders Edition graphics cards with an updated version of the PCIe 5.0 12VHPWR connector, making the connector safer by preventing the graphics card from powering on with incorrectly inserted cables.

It has already been discovered that GeForce RTX Founders Edition graphics cards like Nvidia’s RTX 4070 have featured Nvidia’s updated 12VHPWR cable since launch, and it makes a lot of sense for Nvidia to retroactively add this new connector to their other Founders Edition products. Thanks to the shortened sensor connectors on these cables, Nvidia’s new 12VHPWR terminals are safer to use as these connectors do nothing until the graphics card’s power connectors are fully inserted. 

If these new 12VHPWR terminals work as intended, they will prevent the 12VHPWR cable burnout issues that have plagued Nvidia’s higher-end RTX 40 series graphics cards. This issue only arises when power cables are not fully inserted, and this new cable design helps to ensure that GPUs do not power on when cables are not fully seated.   

Since 12VHPWR cable burnout issues primarily affected Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 4090 graphics cards, it makes sense for Nvidia to alter the design of their RTX 4090 Founders Edition graphics card. Moving forward, it is likely that most newly manufactured RTX 4090 graphics cards will move to Nvidia’s updated 12VHPWR connector, as nobody wants their graphics cards to fail in such a spectacular way, and Nvidia doesn’t want this issue to continue tarnishing their reputation.

You can join the discussion on Nvidia’s new RTX 4090 Founders Edition GPU shipping with updated 12VHPWR connectors on the OC3D Forums.