Since the NVIDIA RTX 5090 launched, the endless stream of melted 16-pin power connector reports has long ceased to be an isolated incident for individual gamers, and is now widely recognized as a product design flaw. Since the first wave of melting reports surfaced in February 2025, the Wccftech-maintainedBurn Event TrackerMultiple cases have been documented of connectors melting, and even entire cards catching fire. In February 2026, a Chinese player captured the entire moment when the power cable on a newly installed RTX 5090 caught fire during its first boot; even repair technician Zhang Ge across the strait said this is a common defect of the RTX 5090. Recently, Brazilian overclocking team TecLab came up with an extreme solution: simply soldering the power cables directly onto the PCB.
Brazilian overclocking team TecLab mods the RTX 5090: 16-pin power connector soldered directly to the PCB
Test subject: a top-tier non-reference card with dual 16-pin connectors.
The test model used by TecLab is the GALAX RTX 5090 D HOF OC LAB XOC, a flagship non-reference card positioned for extreme overclocking. Unlike the standard RTX 5090, this card natively features two 16-pin power connectors to support higher transient power and overclocking demands. For TecLab, this also means the greatest modding potential: bypassing both connectors simultaneously addresses two potential melting points.
Modification method: Remove the connector and solder directly to the PCB.
TecLab’s assessment is that the physical contact of pluggable connectors carries inherent risks. Under high current loads, contact resistance generates continuous heat, which can potentially lead to thermal runaway over time. Simply swapping cables or optimizing the connector structure cannot eliminate this problem at its root. The team therefore abandoned traditional adapter plugs in favor of a direct-connection approach: integrating the power cables and soldering them directly to the power input points on the back of the PCB, completely removing the detachable GPU-side connector from the power delivery path. In real-world testing, the modified RTX 5090 powered on and booted into the system successfully, remaining fully stable throughout a 3DMark stress test and extended high-load burn-in, with no frame drops, no stuttering, and no crashes or reboots. During the demonstration, the team also added external cooling and auxiliary fans to keep temperatures at the solder joint area under control.
Why do overclockers do this?
The single 16-pin connector’s official rated power is 600W, and it can actually handle higher loads, but it’s still insufficient for extreme overclocking. With both connectors bypassed, this card effectively has over 1,200W of power delivery capability (dual-path). For XOC-level enthusiasts, this isn’t an outrageous figure: the MSI RTX 5090 Lightning Z’s extreme BIOS offered a 2,500W power limit, and overclockers have pushed core clocks to 3.74GHz with it. TecLab’s soldered solution has a straightforward goal: to remove the weakest link in the power chain for these ultra-high-power scenarios.
However, this is not a modification for the typical RTX 5090 user. Soldering directly onto the PCB of an expensive graphics card not only permanently removes the ability to plug and unplug the power cables normally, but it will almost certainly void the warranty; for a card costing nearly $5,000, losing all after-sales support because of a one-time permanent solder mod carries far more risk than reward.
The root cause of the interface problem has still not been resolved.
TecLab’s solution proves that “bypassing the connector” is technically feasible, but it doesn’t answer a more fundamental question: why does NVIDIA’s chosen 16-pin (12V-2×6) design melt within normal power ranges? Wccftech’s tracker indicates that melting incidents are mostly linked to plugs not being fully inserted, variations in cable quality, and localized overheating at contact surfaces under sustained high load. As long as the connector remains a detachable design, these variables cannot be completely eliminated. TecLab’s soldered experiment is more like a mirror reflecting the structural weaknesses of the current power delivery architecture, rather than a practical guide for the average user.
Source: KOCPC Chinese