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The first case of a 16-pin connector melting on an AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT GPU has been reported on Reddit. This incident highlights the potential risks associated with the new power input method.
Well, our first report of a melted 16-pin connector for an AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT GPU comes from Redditor Savings_Opportunity3. The user was running an ASRock Radeon RX 9070 XT Taichi OC graphics card, which features a 16-pin power connector. Unlike other Radeon RX 9070 XT GPUs that rely on standard 8-pin connectors, some solutions like those from ASRock and Sapphire use the newer 16-pin 12V-2×6 standard, intended to be safer. However, as with the RTX 5090, which uses the same power connector, no one is safe without proper equipment or installation methods.
The issue arose when the user found that some pins on the adapter for his Radeon RX 9070 XT GPU were darker than others a month ago. During a motherboard swap, he noticed this anomaly. Just a few hours later, the 16-pin connector had melted during the fourth plug/unplug cycle. The Redditor was using a Kolink 700W PSU, which does not meet ATX 3.1 standards.
ASRock recommends at least an 850W PSU for its AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT GPUs. This case shows three potential issues:
– Using a 700W under-wattage PSU with ATX 3.0 certification.
– Relying on a 16-pin adapter cable rather than a direct 16-pin connection.
– Lack of evidence that the connectors were properly plugged in.
While user error is one factor, this incident also emphasizes the increased importance of proper setup when using 16-pin connectors compared to older 8-pin ones. The proper click feedback was noticeably absent.
The good news is that only the power adapter side melted, and the user has since upgraded to a proper ATX 3.1 PSU for his AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT GPU. Our tests show that the Radeon RX 9070 XT does consume more power than the RTX 5080, so a better PSU with higher wattage is essential.
Thanks to Sebastian Castellanos for bringing this to our attention!
