RTX 5090s and other high-powered graphics cards may carry risks of cable melting issues — but Asus thinks it has solved this problem

• Asus has announced the ROG Equalizer 12V-2x6 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 TweakTown, Asus has announced the ROG Equalizer, a 12V-2x6 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-2x6 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-2x6 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.

That's why Asus has opted for a 12V-2x6 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-2x6 cables). These are also 'premium etched cables' that are flexible to help with cable management.

Comment from r/pcmasterrace

Comment from r/pcmasterrace

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-2x6 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.

The best graphics cards for all budgets

➡️ Read our full guide to the best graphics card
1. Best overall:
AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT
2. Best budget:
Intel Arc B580
3. Best Nvidia:
Nvidia RTX 5070 Ti
4. Best AMD:
AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX

Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button!

And of course, you can also follow TechRadar on YouTube and TikTok for news, reviews, unboxings in video form, and get regular updates from us on WhatsApp too.