Reddit user "varunbabu008" found that Australian retailer TechFast is delaying shipping their Gainward GeForce RTX 4090 custom graphics cards until the middle of this month. The electronics website is holding off shipments while GAINWARD replaces the current 12VHPWR adaptor with newly designed ones to stop the threat of melting and overheating of the connector and cables.
Gainward replaces 12VHPWR adaptor for its GeForce RTX RTX 4090 graphics card, mentions global changes for the latest NVIDIA cards
The company did not officially announce the halt on shipments from GAINWARD. NVIDIA also did not stop orders, but in the email below, this affects all GeForce RTX 4090 graphics cards on the market.
I have some important information regarding your RTX 4090 order with us.
RTX 4090 cards come with included power supply adapter cables to ensure compatibility with ATX 2.0 standard power supplies. As you may have seen, issues have been reported by customers receiving the first batches of 4090 cards, where these adapters have been exhibiting symptoms of overheating/melting under certain circumstances. While investigations are still continuing and NVIDIA has not yet released a public statement, Gainward has told us that the cables shipped with thier cards will be being replaced. As a result, they are holding shipping of all cards until this has taken place. We also understand this cable replacement will not be limited to Gainward alone.
We have been given an estimate of the middle of November for this to occur, putting our receiving them around 2 weeks from now at this stage. We will endeavour to keep you updated as we are given information.
We will be receiving all ordered cards at the wsame time, so even if you were planning on using an ATX 3.0/PCIe 5.0 capable PSU unit (which is advised), we cannot escalate the shipment of your card separately.
We apologise for the delay here - this is clearly not of our doing as it affects every card in the market, but we do believe that customers of these high-end products would prefer to receive a GPU that is fit for purpose as intended.
— TechFast email to consumer regarding Gainward RTX 4090 GPU order delay.
It is unknown why an official statement by either Gainward or NIVIDA has been made about the new adaptor. It could be speculated that this is an experimental fix to see if it works with the risk that more cases will appear and NVIDIA will have to revise the first solid fix.
Clarification
The cables Gainward currently used on the RTX 40 have been inspected by NVIDIA team and found no issues. All Gainward shipment is being made as usual. Please don’t hesitate to grab the Gainward graphics cards if you plan to buy one!— Gainward on Facebook
Last week, close to twenty reported cards and cables were reported as overheating or melting. While this number seems low, the growing number since the release of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 graphics cards has accelerated, causing NVIDIA and its partners to react and discover a solution quickly. Also, with the high graphics card cost, this issue could persuade consumers to purchase a new GPU from a competitor, such as Intel or AMD.
During the AMD event last Friday, the company took a jokingly but apparent jab at NVIDIA, stating that the new Radeon RX 7000 series cards will not overheat or catch fire. The company also announced that its latest line would be much less than its competitor, with the flagship costing just $999 US versus NVIDIA's $1599 US pricing or even the 4080's price which would cost $1199 US at launch next week.
News Sources: Reddit, VideoCardz
