RTX 5090 power connector melts during DLSS 5 testing

Reports indicate that NVIDIA’s new DLSS 5 technology may be driving power consumption in RTX 50-series graphics cards beyond their specified limits, leading to hardware damage. In a documented incident involving an MSI GeForce RTX 5090 Gaming Trio OC, a user reported that the 12V-2x6 power connector and cable melted during testing of NBA 2K27.

While the card typically draws approximately 450W, the activation of DLSS 5 caused power consumption to spike to over 600W, with GPU-Z recording a peak of 613.5W. This significantly exceeds the manufacturer's specified limit of 575W for that model. The user reported a system crash and a burning smell following the surge.

While the damage is attributed to the high power draw rather than the DLSS 5 software itself, the incident has renewed concerns regarding the ability of the 12V-2x6 connector to handle high nominal loads. NVIDIA has not yet commented on the matter.