A Reddit user who goes by Doomslayer606 reported on r/PcBuild that the braided sleeving on the 12V-2x6 power cable for their RTX PRO 6000 GPUs had frayed, asking whether the damage was normal wear, a manufacturing defect, or the result of overheating. The user said the damaged sleeving felt stiff and came off easily, signs that commenters identified as heat damage. The GPUs themselves were not harmed.

The poster had already reduced both GPUs to a 500W power limit, a detail that came up when another commenter asked whether the stock limit was still in place. A further reply suggested dropping to 300W, but the poster declined, saying that would cut performance by as much as 50 percent and that they needed to meet deadlines.

By the numbers, 500W should not be a problem for the cable. Each positive pin would carry only 6.94 A, not enough current to significantly heat 16 AWG wire, according to the report. Uneven current distribution across the pins is cited as a leading cause of cable overheating, and because only two pins melted on each cable, those pins likely absorbed frequent high-current spikes that built up heat.

Commenters pointed to aftermarket options aimed at the problem. The Corsair ThermalProtect 12V-2x6 cable detects overheating cables, while the Thermal Grizzly WireView Pro II and the Aqua Computing AMPINEL offer active current balancing so no single wire carries too much current. A recent story described someone building a power distributor that splits the 12 pins into two 8-pin cables using a custom-designed PCB, which brought cable temperatures down significantly, while another modder soldered thick cables directly to the power pins of an RTX 5090.

The 12V-2x6 connector has a reputation for melting under high power draw. The report argues that consumers should not have to buy an extra product or modify their GPUs to keep them from destroying themselves. GPUs have grown more powerful, yet the industry has moved to fewer wires of the same thickness rather than more or thicker ones. Multiple 8-pin connectors are messy, the report concedes, but it suggests GPUs may have outgrown the Mini-Fit Jr. connectors and need a dedicated connector with thicker pins and wires.

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