Nvidia sued over allegations its graphics card melts cables

A class action suit has been filed at a federal court in California over claims that hardware maker Nvidia's new RTX 4090 graphics card burnt or melted power cables.

The class action suit filed on November 11 claims that Nvidia marketed and sold its GeForce RTX 4090 graphics card with a defective power cable plug and socket that poses "a serious electrical and fire hazard."

The lawsuit comes amidst user reports that Nvidia's new graphics card burnt or melted the power adapter that came with it. Damaged cables made their cards inoperable, the document says.

"Plaintiff and class members have been hit with a costly double-whammy: a premium purchase price (the MSRP is $1,599) for a dangerous product that should not have been sold in its current state," it reads.

Nvidia's new RTX 4090, released in October, is its most powerful graphics card yet, drawing 450W of power during normal use. Included in the purchase is Nvidia's 12VHPWR connector – a 16-pin adapter made to utilize that power for gamers to enjoy the latest releases in the highest possible resolution.

However, the class action suit claims that "the connector on the cable or the socket on the card began melting after use," arguing it could be a design flaw.

"If there is even a temporary break in the electrical connection for any of the pins, too high a current will flow through the remaining pins, causing a meltdown," it says.

The plaintiff has sued Nvidia for a breach of warranty, unjust enrichment, and violations of New York's General Business Law on behalf of himself, a nationwide class, and a New York subclass of purchasers of the card.

The first pictures showing damaged connectors appeared online on Reddit shortly after the new graphics card was released.

Cybernews has reached out to Nvidia for comment.