A user reportedly suffered a melted GeForce RTX 5090 power connector while trying DLSS 5 in NBA 2K27. The incident raises fresh questions about power delivery under heavy load, although the cause of the failure remains unconfirmed.

A new report has brought Nvidia’s flagship graphics card back into the spotlight for an unwelcome reason. According to Tech4Gamers, a user identified as Erek encountered a melted connector while testing DLSS 5 in NBA 2K27, with a reported power reading above 600 watts.

The figure cited is approximately 613.5 watts. Tech4Gamers compares that with an MSI figure of 575 watts, but also acknowledges that the measurement did not cover the graphics card alone. That qualification matters: the numbers cannot establish precisely how much power was passing through the damaged connector.

A demanding workload is only part of the picture

Overheating connectors have been a recurring concern around high-end graphics hardware. The introduction of 12V-2×6 after 12VHPWR did not put an end to every reported failure. In this instance, the timing has attracted particular attention because the card was being used to try Nvidia’s latest DLSS technology.

Tech4Gamers links the incident to the substantial demands of DLSS 5 and recalls that early demonstrations used two RTX 5090 cards. Questions about its performance cost have accompanied the wider debate over how the technology changes a game’s visual presentation.

Still, a user report is not a technical diagnosis. A connector failing while DLSS 5 is active does not, on its own, establish that DLSS 5 caused the failure. Until the hardware and test conditions have been examined, this should be treated as a reported individual incident rather than proof of a general defect.

 
Source: Tech4Gamers