Brazilian overclocking team TecLab has embarked on a radical experiment, solving the problem of the melted 16-pin power connector (12V-2×6/12VHPWR) in the most uncompromising way possible – by completely eliminating the plug itself. The modder soldered the power wires directly to the contact rails on the flagship graphics card’s PCB.
In the experiment, we used the advanced overclocking model Galax GeForce RTX 5090D HOF OC LAB motherboard, which is equipped with an enhanced power system and supports two connectors. Enthusiasts removed the standard cooling system, soldered thick wire bundles directly to the power paths on the PCB, and connected them to the power supply via adapters.
Cooling of the wafers is provided by a flow-through industrial cooler with ice water and a pair of 120 mm fans fixed directly to the PCB with zip ties. During stress testing, the modified motherboard booted up without issue, successfully passed synthetic benchmarks, and consistently consumed around 600 W of power (about 50 A on a 12-volt line). Such a “collective farm” model has proven its efficiency, but its reuse at home is strictly not recommended due to the huge risk of short circuits and fires.
