A Troublesome Pattern Continues
Another owner of a high-end Sapphire Radeon RX 9070 XT NITRO graphics card has come forward with a now-familiar problem: a burned and damaged power connector. This marks at least the fifth publicly reported case of this specific issue, with three of those reports surfacing in just the last two months.
The latest incident was shared by a Reddit user who experienced persistent, unexplained black-screen crashes. After nearly a year of stable operation, the system began failing randomly. The user undertook exhaustive troubleshooting—reinstalling Windows, updating the BIOS, testing memory profiles, and stripping the system down to bare essentials—but the crashes continued. The culprit was only discovered upon a full teardown: visible burn marks on the GPU’s power cable connector.
The Search for a Cause Amidst a Growing Trend
The affected model, the Sapphire RX 9070 XT NITRO, is one of the few AMD graphics cards to use the newer 12V-2×6 power connector. Notably, only two of AMD’s board partners, ASRock and Sapphire, adopted this design for the RDNA 4 generation. So far, the majority of public burn reports have centered on Sapphire’s NITRO line.
While the total number of incidents remains very small compared to the likely thousands of cards sold, the emergence of a pattern is raising questions. Sapphire has not announced a recall or acknowledged a widespread defect. In previous statements, the company has suggested that such failures may be related to power supply cables, adapters, or improper connections, rather than the GPU itself.
Also, Read
- Radeon RX 9070 XT Nears MSRP with $649 Listing, But $599 Target Remains Elusive
- High-End Sapphire Radeon RX 9070 XT GPU Reports Melted Power Connector, Echoing Past NVIDIA Issues
- Another High-End AMD RX 9070 XT GPU Suffers Melted Power Connector, Marking Third Known Case
A Critical Reminder for High-Performance PC Owners
This latest report serves as a critical reminder for all owners of high-power graphics cards, regardless of brand. The key warning signs—sudden system crashes, black screens under load, or any unusual smell—should prompt an immediate and careful inspection of the power connections.
If any discoloration, melting, or warping is found, users should power down their systems and contact the manufacturer for support. As the industry continues to push power limits, the reliability of power delivery components remains a paramount concern for both safety and system stability.
Source: Reddit