A connector melted at both ends, a card worth several thousand euros that no longer powers on, and a warranty denial issued the same day. That’s what Reddit user Melodic_Initial_1767 posted on r/pcmasterrace, photos included. The 12V-2×6 connector on their RTX 5090 is charred on both the card side and the power supply side. PNY denied the RTX 5090 warranty within hours, pointing to a cable supplied by the power supply maker, not by PNY itself.
The case follows an earlier article on an RTX 5090 cable that melted during a DLSS 5 test. This time the connector didn’t fail under a stress test: the owner says their card was idling.
What Melted, and How It Was Connected
Melodic_Initial_1767’s post, picked up by Tom’s Hardware, The FPS Review and Wccftech, details a specific setup. It’s a PNY GeForce RTX 5090, powered by an ASRock PG-1600G, a 1,600 W power supply certified to ATX 3.1. The cable in question is neither an adapter nor a third-party cable bought separately. It’s the native 12V-2×6 cable that ships with the power supply, the sixteen-pin connector the ATX 3.1 standard introduced specifically to do away with adapters.
The connector melted at both ends, on the card and on the power supply. The system no longer detects the RTX 5090. According to the owner, the card was idling at the time. It ran the stock VBIOS, never overclocked, with its power limit set below the manufacturer’s default.
What PNY’s RTX 5090 Warranty Covers, and Doesn’t
PNY denied the claim the same day. The reason given to the customer: only PNY-branded cables or adapters, the ones shipped with the card, are covered. The company states it does not cover damage (melting, burning, overheating) involving a « third-party cable, adapter or PSU cable ».
The problem, flagged by The FPS Review: PNY’s published warranty text never mentions cables, adapters or power supplies at all. It only requires installation « in accordance with the installation guide provided herewith ». That guide, though, only shows diagrams for six-pin and eight-pin connectors. The sixteen-pin connector isn’t in it. The warranty also includes an exclusive-judgment clause: PNY reserves the right to decide, in its « sole judgment », what counts as misuse.
This RTX 5090 warranty denial rests on a single line in an email, not on a published text a buyer could have checked in advance.
Support Contradicts Itself, the Ticket Gets Closed
When the owner asked which exact warranty clause justified the denial, a PNY « Senior Technician » told the owner the decision was final. The technician then closed the ticket, Tom’s Hardware reports.
A different PNY support reply is circulating in the same Reddit thread, and it’s more permissive. An agent writes that a power supply’s native 12V-2×6 cable can replace the adapter shipped with the card. Two PNY technicians, two opposite answers to the same question.
No other graphics card maker, not ASUS, not MSI, not Gigabyte, has publicly adopted this kind of restriction on an ATX 3.1 power supply’s native cable, The FPS Review notes. PNY has made no public statement on the matter so far. The case rests entirely on the customer’s account and on the exchanges the owner chose to make public.
The case adds to an already long list: dozens of melted RTX 5090 connectors documented since mid-2026, including with cables seated properly and original adapters. In September, several players reported melted connectors after enabling DLSS 5 in NBA 2K27, with the card’s power draw climbing to between 575 and 613 W.
What This Means for a Buyer in France
In France, an RTX 5090 warranty denial from the manufacturer’s customer service isn’t the end of the road for the buyer. According to the Service Public page on the legal conformity guarantee, checked on August 17, 2026, it’s the retailer, not the manufacturer, who must honor it. That responsibility runs for two years from delivery. For a new product, a defect that appears within 24 months is presumed to have existed at the time of purchase.
The buyer can request a repair or a replacement within 30 days. If the retailer can do neither, French law grants a price reduction or a refund. A repair adds twelve extra months to the guarantee. This legal guarantee stays separate from the manufacturer’s commercial warranty: it doesn’t replace it, and a denial from PNY doesn’t cancel it. The claim still has to go through the retailer, not PNY, backed by the invoice and photos of the melted connector.
A Right Aimed at the Retailer, Not the Manufacturer
Sending the customer back to PNY doesn’t let the retailer off the hook. The legal guarantee stays their responsibility for two years, regardless of whatever decision the manufacturer makes internally about its own commercial warranty.
The contrast is hard to swallow. An RTX 5090 can handle 900 W on old eight-pin connectors, while this one saw its sixteen-pin connector melt with the power supply’s original cable, under a reduced power limit.
For now, the case comes down to one burned-out card, one closed ticket, and two PNY technicians who contradict each other on the RTX 5090 warranty. No one at PNY has spoken publicly about it yet.
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