According to VideoCardz.com, new safety plugs were meant to finally address the heat issues with Nvidia’s RTX 5090 graphics card, but recent user experiences indicate otherwise.

Despite using MSI’s yellow-colored 12V 2×6 connectors, many customers on Reddit are once again complaining of burnt power connections. Actually, the purpose of coloring these is to help guarantee that the plug is inserted all the way.

Nvidia promised everyone in January that its new 50-series cards wouldn’t cause power connectors to melt. When the RTX 5090 power connector of a Reddit user melted in February, YouTuber Roman “der8auer” Hartung looked into it and found obvious signs of overheating on two 12VHPWR pins under a microscope. Despite proper installation, his research showed temperatures as high as 150 degrees Celsius.

There are now two additional cases.

Recent Reddit posts claim that MSI security plugs are impacted. According to one customer, his second RTX 5090′s power connector burned again a few weeks later. He got a replacement card in August after the initial damage in July, but the issue reappeared. According to the user, the GPU was even undervolted.

A similar issue is described by another Reddit user: at first, his system crashed and black displays appeared, but it soon became clear that his MSI RTX 5090 Gaming Trio’s yellow safety plug was burned.

The core design issue is not addressed by color marking.

The purpose of the yellow plug tips, according to MSI, is to make it easy to visually verify that the plug is fully placed. But according to recent reports, the labeling doesn’t really solve the underlying issue, which seems to be the uneven power distribution of the 12V 2×6 connector.

The new 12VHPWR and 12V 2×6 adapters channel the power through a single source, whereas earlier RTX generations, including the RTX 30 series, divided the power supply across several lines. Even if the connector is fitted correctly, this may result in an overload on individual pins, which could cause overheating and melting.

These recent incidents demonstrate that colorful safety markings by themselves are insufficient. Even when everything is done correctly, the underlying problem persists. To date, Nvidia has not disclosed any plans to address this issue. For the time being, users should routinely inspect their connections for indications of discoloration or heat.