PNY says RTX 5090 connector damage with native PSU cable is not covered
What is the right cable to use with an RTX 5090? NVIDIA has never clearly explained which cables are recommended and which should be avoided. Board partners also appear to give different answers, while most of the reported connector failures continue to involve the ultra-expensive RTX 5090. There are still many questions and few clear answers.
Over at Reddit we have a story about PNY GeForce RTX 5090 card that melted. The owner says the company rejected his warranty claim after the card’s 12V-2×6 power connection melted. The user says both ends of the cable were damaged, including the connector at the graphics card and the PSU side, and the GPU is no longer detected by the system.
The card was connected to an ASRock PG-1600G ATX 3.1 power supply using the native 12V-2×6 cable included with the PSU. According to the owner, no adapter or splitter was used, the VBIOS remained stock and the card was not overclocked. The user also says the power limit had been reduced below stock settings.
PNY rejects the warranty claim
PNY reportedly rejected the claim on the same day it was submitted. In the response shared by the owner, PNY said graphics cards requiring a 16-pin connector include a PNY-approved cable or adapter and that this is the only configuration covered under warranty.
PNY also said that if a third-party cable, adapter or PSU cable is used and damage occurs, including melting, burning, overheating or connector deformation, the product cannot be accepted under warranty. The company said such damage would instead fall under the responsibility of the cable or power supply manufacturer.
As Redditor mentioned, no warranty document says something like this, so this is basically PNY, ine of the largest NVIDIA partners blocking warranty claim out of spite.
Another PNY response gives different guidance
There is also another PNY support response being shared in the same discussion. Another customer reportedly asked whether a native PSU 12V-2×6 cable could be used instead of the adapter supplied with the graphics card, and PNY support said that it could. Keep in mind, though, this answer was given 1 year ago, so perhaps something could’ve changed.
I know PNY is a large company, but the response given to the first user is completely unacceptable. NVIDIA should step in quickly and clarify what cables can be used with the RTX 5090. More importantly, make it a mandatory rule across all board partners.
If native PSU cables are not covered by warranty, then there is either something seriously wrong with the RTX 5090 power design or with PNY’s warranty policy. Either way, based on this case, we strongly do not recommend buying a PNY graphics card at this point.