RTX 5090s and other high-powered graphics cards may carry risks of cable melting issues — but Asus thinks it has solved this problem | Tech Radar
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RTX 5090s and other high-powered graphics cards may carry risks of cable melting issues — but Asus thinks it has solved this problem
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Asus has announced the ROG Equalizer 12V-2x 6 power cable
The cable aims to solve melting issues with high-powered GPUs like the RTX 5090
It's compatible with all PCIe 5.0 power supplies from other manufacturers
It's no secret that high-powered GPUs, notably Nvidia's RTX 5090, are still suffering from reports of connector melting issues, even with upgraded cables that have improved power connectors — but fortunately, Asus has seemingly introduced a solution.
As reported by Tweak Town, Asus has announced the ROG Equalizer, a 12V-2x 6 power cable for GPUs utilizing up to 600W, one that's designed to further help protect them from melting issues.
Of course, as a rule, RTX 5090s using 12VHPWR and 12V-2x 6 cables aren't experiencing melting issues, but there have been enough cases to cause concern for consumers. Both cables are effectively the same, and the only major difference for the revamped 12V-2x 6 design is that it has shorter sensing pins and longer power pins, which help to ensure the cable is properly seated. It's a poor connection which theoretically causes the melting problem.
Nvidia's latest RTX 5090 GPU card has an audio jack — yes a headphone socket, on a video card, but no wooden trim or SSD like its predecessor
Nvidia RTX 5090 GPU has vanished off retailer shelves in US
No, the Nvidia RTX 5090 Ti GPU isn't coming out this year — here's why
That's why Asus has opted for a 12V-2x 6 power connector, but with a tweaked design that has been specifically refined for a bigger load capacity within each wire, now at 17 amps (it's usually 9.2 amps with regular 12V-2x 6 cables). These are also 'premium etched cables' that are flexible to help with cable management.
Combined with the GPU Tweak III software and its Power Detector+ feature, the ROG Equalizer should effectively keep hardware safe from melting, or that's the theory. In an extreme test case from Asus, the company observed that even if the connector wasn't seated in the GPU correctly, the ROG Equalizer would still maintain a temperature of 73.4C.
Meanwhile, a standard 12V-2x 6 cable would reach 146C in the same scenario, which is a very high temperature that would likely result in the connector melting.
It's a big claim from Asus, and if this can be reproduced in other independent tests once the ROG Equalizer is available, it may just be the perfect tool to eliminate any melting issues with RTX 5090 GPUs.
The ROG Equalizer is compatible with power supplies from "all leading manufacturers", which is a massive bonus for all PC owners who have ATX 3.1 (PCIe 5.0) power supplies. It will also come bundled with ROG Thor III and ROG Strix Platinum series power supplies, but there's currently no release date for those.
Despite the marketing pitch here, Asus has not done enough to convince some gamers, and there are those who suggest that graphics cards linked to connector problems are simply best avoided.
These connector melting issues have been problematic for years, ever since the RTX 4090's launch in 2022. If the ROG Equalizer can finally put an end to all this, it should make high-powered GPUs like the RTX 5090 more approachable — well, aside from the obvious stumbling block of the pricing, anyway.
➡️ Read our full guide to the best graphics card
- Best overall: AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT
- Best budget: Intel Arc B580
- Best Nvidia: Nvidia RTX 5070 Ti
- Best AMD: AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX
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Isaiah is a Staff Writer for the Computing channel at Tech Radar. He's spent over two years writing about all things tech, specifically games on PC, consoles, and handhelds. He started off at Game Rant in 2022 after graduating from Birmingham City University in the same year, before writing at PC Guide which included work on deals articles, reviews, and news on PC products such as GPUs, CPUs, monitors, and more. He spends most of his time finding out about the exciting new features of upcoming GPUs, and is passionate about new game releases on PC, hoping that the ports aren't a complete mess.
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RTX 5090s and other high-powered graphics cards may carry risks of cable melting issues — but Asus thinks it has solved this problem
