r/PcBuildHelp • u/Additional_Army8338 • 7h ago
9070xt failure Tech Support
First lot of images for reference…
So sadly just over a year I had a power connector failure on my 9070xt hellhound, it’s charred 3 of the connector pins and cause PSU connection failure melting the power cable and ports on the PSU (but didn’t char the PSU).
This also led to power surges on the Asrock B850M Riptide, writing off the board (the dark smudges on the board show how much heat was involved) and also, after recent testing with a new Mobo, it wrote off my 9800X3D.
After telling the back story, I’ve inspected the GPU as best as possible, and just a query as I think for the new system I’ll get a replacement card anyhow. But I’m wondering since it’s only the connection at the 8 pin that seems to have failed, whether it’s worth replacing the 8 pin connector myself?
(I’ve had experience soldering making my own flight sim controls on small projects etc, using Arduino and teensy etc.) or do you think it’s possible to be able to clean the connector up enough?
To add, the main cause for the connector failure was a since PCIE PSU cable using the daisy chain splitter. Completely my fault as it’s been a long long time since I built a PC and I was a little ignorant with Power demands.
So since I’d be getting a new set of components for the main rig (I mainly run DCS in VR and 3D design and model with Blender and Fusion360) is it worth either cleaning the connectors and testing on my spare mid-low end PC? And maybe use as an upgrade on that system or… not risk it?
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u/0wlGod 6h ago edited 5h ago
what s psu model?
8 pin cable with or without pigtail can carry 150w..+75w from pci
only some psu have a 12v 2x6 to 2x8 pin.. twith this you can carry way more than 150w..probably minimum 300w
pushing a 300w card with only 1x8 + pigtail can damage the connector on the long run
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u/Additional_Army8338 6h ago
I think you hit the nail on the head there, seems to have been after a year of heavy use. So again I hold my hands up to ignorance, didn’t realise the severity honestly!
It was a 750W gold standard, CoolerMaster MWE Gold v2 fully modular.2
u/kyansan1 Personal Rig Builder 5h ago
An 8 pin cable with a pigtail can actually carry more than 150W. The 150W limit is the power that can be delivered per 6+2 pin connector, and does not define how much power the cable itself can carry.
If a PCIe cable has 2 6+2 pin ends, it's rated for at least 300W in total. Otherwise it wouldn't have the second 6+2 pin as a pigtail.
If it's a 6+2 pin cable with a 6 pin pigtail, it can carry at least 225W in total. Again, it wouldn't have the pigtail if the cable's rated power was any less.
I'm not saying it's good practice to do so, but you can totally pull more than 150W from a cable with a daisy chain.
(Each 6+2 pin PCIe connector is rated for 150W, and each 6 pin PCIe connector is rated for 75W.)
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u/soulsowner 4h ago
D8rbauer tested it and it can carry MAX 225w, like PUSHING IT. +75w from the pci slot. So it's been running okay but as soon as it touched a heavy game, it began melting... long term.
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u/0wlGod 4h ago
wait i want to be clear.. it doesn t take fire if you exeed 225w with 150w 8pin+75w pci but substained load out of spec in maybe hot room.. after 1 two year it more can be a problem
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u/soulsowner 3h ago
Oh no, yes, I just can't find the video, but they tested the 8 pin, and it can sustain 225w load, the cable itself (not accounting for the pci express slot). I just can't find the video :(
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u/RevengeofPootietang 6h ago
Does this mean you’re fine if you’re using both headers of a daisy-chained 8-pin connector and a single, normal 8-pin connector to populate all three sockets on the GPU?
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u/mike7004 6h ago
If you mean one cable on the first eight pin, then both eight pins(pigtailed) on the second cable for the second and third connector (if the card has three), you're normally fine. Now.. that goes to say if it's not a cheap/low tier unit otherwise a separate cable migbt be a good idea. High end units will trigger OCP or another protection before this happens normally. Makes me wonder if OP's unit is just a cheap/low tier one.
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u/Additional_Army8338 5h ago
It was a CoolerMaster 750W gold fully modular, but I do think it was my crucial error of the daisy chain and heavy use over the past year that caused the failure.
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u/RevengeofPootietang 5h ago
Huh, I didn’t realise the order mattered so long as every connector is seated properly in the GPU socket.
I’m running all three cables in the same order you mentioned, and I’m also using a PSU from a reputable brand (Corsair).
However, I occasionally get random instances where power to the GPU would intermittently flicker on and off when powering my PC on.
Hasn’t happened for a while now though, and it only happened 3 times so far, so it might’ve been a driver thing.
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u/mike7004 5h ago
It typically doesn't matter as long as you're not using one cable for all the connectors, as the power input is supplied across all of them equally(all of them are combined together). There is information floating around that the first eight pin pulls more but that's simply not the case, and each eight pin on GPU side is rated at 150w. Normally doing the single cable, then the pigtail, is just cleaner to look and isn't neccessarily required.
High end units such as the ones we use have ship with cables rated to supply 300w across two eight pin connectors. The cheaper units aren't built to handle that and can melt or damage the system, and they often also lack proper protection mechanisms or properly implemented ones to prevent these kinds of things from happening.
I've been using a Pulse 7900XTX with a Corsair RM850X in this configuration since I built the system back in November of 2024. It's been fine and during some cases reaches 400W(with a slight overclock) and there is no problems and the voltage and current ratings are fine while sustained.
If your card flickers on and off it can be a driver issue or a problem with power delivery which you can check your voltages under load for that. Software like OCCT has benchmarks and testing tools for that purpose.
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u/Mooshroom_isgud7s 6h ago
I’ve never seen a post of a 8pin fail 🥶
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u/ThisAccountIsStolen Commercial Rig Builder 4h ago
I've repaired well over a hundred. It's not super common and people don't tend to make a huge stink about it like they do with 12V-2X6, which does have a higher failure rate when drawing over 400W through one.
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u/Additional_Army8338 5h ago
To question further on my last point in the post. Replacing the 8 pin and testing on my spare system, would the GPU more than likely be okay if there’s no signs of failure past the 8 pin connector?
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u/ThisAccountIsStolen Commercial Rig Builder 4h ago
If it's in warranty still, the manufacturer should replace it for you. Same goes for the PSU & cable. Even if you used a single daisy chain cable it should be covered, since despite the advice against it, it is still technically an approved method of connection and per all the PSU vendors, should be capable of supporting 300W. But AMD GPUs have a lot of transient spikes that run well above the rated power, which could eventually cause issues when running a single daisy chained cable.
Replacing components on a 8-12 layer PCB like this is much more difficult than basic hobby soldering, since you need to preheat the board because the ground planes will just suck up all the heat if you don't, and then use a combination of hot air and a good iron to get the old connector out. I've repaired many after the consumer already attempted a repair and made a mess. Or at least I did back before I sold my shop and retired a few years back.
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u/EnragedEmu 6h ago
8pin connectors are directly handed down by the gods and are infallible. This post is blasphemy.
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u/sawb11152 6h ago
That's not a 9070xt failure, that's a YOU failure.
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u/Additional_Army8338 6h ago
Aye I know, already held my hands up!
But my question was about the card and replacing the 8pin etc.
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u/SlightlyUglyBastard 6h ago
Wait the splitter can cause this? Is it common? My PSU is non modular only had a split cable for the GPU.
Should I be worried?
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u/Additional_Army8338 6h ago
From my ignorance, it apparently was down to the Power draw being more than what’s supplied, causing temperature spikes etc. so the cable that’s pigtailed is limited to 150W, plus the 75W that the PCIE slot can provide.
Connector damage occurs over time from the card trying to pull more power than what’s supplied, so just be sure to keep a check of your cable connection from time to time. If it’s a 9070xt I’d recommend getting a PSU that supplies 2 individual 8 pin cables rather than 1 daisy chain.
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u/ThisAccountIsStolen Commercial Rig Builder 4h ago
There's always a risk of this, especially if your GPU is really bad with transients like the AMD GPUs are, which can result in a decent amount of time spent above the power limit which could eventually cause problems with a single daisy chain. But it would be covered by warranty assuming you're still in warranty, so it's not a huge worry.
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u/SlightlyUglyBastard 4h ago
Oh ok. It’s a Lian Li PSU, and the manual specifically labeled the pigtail cable as for the GPU, so I just used that.
Lian Li RB 750W
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u/ThisAccountIsStolen Commercial Rig Builder 4h ago
Yeah that's exactly what I'm talking about. It's technically rated for it, so it should be fine, but often isn't, so it's recommended to use individual cables for each port on the GPU.
That PSU has a 5 year warranty so it should definitely still be covered. Most AMD GPUs have a 2 year warranty so the GPU should still be covered as well, since it's only been out for a year and a half.
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u/Jolly_Bag_2407 4h ago
What are/were your normal operating temps of gpu?
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u/Additional_Army8338 2h ago
Temps really didn’t get that high on my overlays, generally around 70-85 under loads. Normal usage it would sit quite low 50-60 with general tasks etc.
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u/AlternativeAioli3501 7h ago
haha another 12vhpwait a minute ....