Nvidia’s 16-pin time bomb could be defused by this $95 gadget — Ampinel offers load balancing that Nvidia forgot to include

Many of the best graphics cards currently available utilize the 16-pin (12VHPWR) power connector. Due to several unfortunate incidents involving meltdowns of this connector, numerous manufacturers have introduced products designed to prevent such occurrences. German liquid-cooling specialist Aqua Computer is the most recent brand to enter this market with Ampinel. However, what truly distinguishes Ampinel from other solutions is that it incorporates active current balancing.

The 16-pin power connector meltdowns have been claiming victims since the GeForce RTX 40 series (codenamed Ada Lovelace). A long-standing theory regarding these misfortunes suggests that Nvidia removed load-balancing circuitry from its Ada Lovelace graphics cards, a feature that was present in the previous GeForce RTX 30 series (codenamed Ampere). This omission is one reason why cases of the 16-pin power connector melting have not been reported on GeForce RTX 3090 Ti graphics cards. Many industry observers speculate that the design decision was made to reduce production costs.

To date, most, if not all, devices related to the safety of the 16-pin power connector have adopted a passive approach concerning the meltdown issue. These devices primarily monitor either the current or the temperature of the 16-pin power connector. Conversely, Ampinel adopts a more proactive strategy by implementing a load balancer to evenly distribute loads across the various wires within the 16-pin power cable.

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The Ampinel features a six-channel load balancer that utilizes a microcontroller to continuously monitor the six 12V power lines inside the 16-pin power connector and regulate the current flow in real-time. Upon detecting that the current in any power line exceeds 7.5A, which is the rated current per contact, Ampinel intervenes to redistribute the load to prevent overheating that could potentially provoke a meltdown of the power connector.