3D Printed RTX 4090 16-Pin Power Connector Repair
A Redditor who builds PCs posted his design for a 16-pin power connection cabling guide. You can see Mike JC’s 3D printed completed result by following the link above, and you can get the 3D printing source file here to tweak and print to your heart’s delight.
Installing and using Nvidia’s new flagship GeForce RTX 4090 graphics cards is naturally concerning for PC DIYers and enthusiasts. Following reports of quadropus being melted to 16-pin power connectors, our graphics card editor was obligated to ensure that Crimson Dead Redemption 2 wouldn’t turn his RTX 4090 red or dead. Fortunately, he had been savvy enough not to inflict any significant bends on the cable, allowing it to hang there leisurely, making reattaching the PC chassis side panel impossible.
Mike JC’s cable bending guide appears to be based on the CableMod guide, which warns against excessive bends. It also indicates that if a cable must be bent (which is nearly always necessary), it should not begin to curve until it is 35mm away from the connector assembly. The 3D printer source file titled ‘Nvidia RTX 4090 16 pin cable bend protection’ was created with such measurements in mind.
Other solutions to the overheated cable that users have discovered to protect their significant hardware investments include: abandoning the PC side panel until a logical and safe alternative is available (the same notion as our GPU editor) or actively cooling the cable connector with an RGB fan.
There is also dispute over whether Nvidia’s Quadropus solution is fundamentally dangerous. According to Igor’s Lab, this adaptor is prone to problems and is most likely the core cause of many of the troubles we’re encountering. Others believe that durable right-angle power connectors are on the horizon, as are direct 16-pin to 16-pin connector cables (with an appropriate PSU).
Despite its size, weight, power, heat, and pricing issues, the RTX 4090 maintains first place in our top graphics cards 2022 lists owing to its outstanding performance. AMD isn’t going with 16-pin power for its next Radeon RX 7000 series GPUs, which should mean improved efficiency and elegance while still providing enough performance to appeal to gamers on the cutting edge.
