RTX 5090 Although the connector has been changed from the old 12VHPWR to 12V-2×6, due to the same high power consumption, sporadic melting incidents have been reported since its launch, but most of them are just pure connecting wires. Recently,ChinaThe situation encountered by users can be said to be the most serious situation I have ever seen.
In a video shared on the Bilibili platform, a Chinese user captured his MSI GeForce RTX 5090 32G Gaming Trio OC graphics card instantly catching fire when it was first turned on. Not only was the fire bright, but there was also a lot of smoke, almost like fireworks.
The newly bought RTX 5090 exploded as soon as I turned it on
According to a report by foreign media Tom’s Hardware, a Chinese user “Sleeping late is equal to dying early” shared his painful experience with RTX 5090 on Bilibili.
Recently, he bought an MSI GeForce RTX 5090 32G Gaming Trio OC graphics card and a new 1,300W power supply. He was supposed to record a happy video after turning it on, but unexpectedly, he accidentally shot an exaggerated explosion scene. When he pressed the power button and tried to turn it on, for unknown reasons, the RTX 5090 instantly short-circuited, causing sparks and smoke to erupt from many places.
Although the video is only 5 seconds long, it can be clearly seen that the fire spread from the PCB, with a high probability that it has affected the GB202 chip and GDDR7 memory. “Sleeping late means dying early.” Seeing this situation, he quickly shut down the computer to prevent the fire from expanding. However, with such a severe explosion, it was obvious that the graphics card had been seriously damaged.
The cause of this situation is still unclear, but preliminary analysis suggests that it may be caused by a short circuit in the VRM (Voltage Regulation Module). VRM is responsible for stably supplying power to the GPU core and memory. If it is designed or manufactured with defects, it can easily fail under high load.
It is worth noting that due to U.S. export controls on China, the RTX 5090 cannot be legally sold in China, so users need to obtain it through smuggling. This also means that there is no official warranty or RMA service, and they can only find third-party repair stores to repair it.
However, the MSI GeForce RTX 5090 32G Gaming Trio OC, which says “Sleeping late means dying early”, is so blown up that it is probably beyond repair. He spent 4,000 to 5,000 US dollars on such an expensive graphics card, and it breaks down before even playing with it. It really makes him cry. Maybe he had planned to play a lot of games during the Lunar New Year, but after this, not only can he not play, but his mood is also broken.
The motherboard was also partially discolored due to the fire:
He also confirmed that it was a problem with the graphics card. The new power supply connection and other accessories were fine, and he could put the RTX 5060 back in and play:
These incidents also exposed a potential issue with the RTX 5090, which was experiencing meltdown conditions despite NVIDIA updating to the 12V-2×6 standard. Secondly, capacitor and VRM failures are also reported frequently. The high power demand of RTX 5090 makes internal components easily overloaded. If the manufacturing quality is not good, bursting may occur.
Therefore, for RTX 5090 users, remember to ensure the following when using:
- Use a high quality ATX 3.1 compliant PSU and make sure the connector is fully inserted
- Avoid overclocking and monitor temperature and power
- Genuine product with warranty at the time of purchase. It is not recommended to buy from the black market.
- Install detectors to avoid accidents
Source: KOCPC Chinese