Reports of graphics card fires are rare, especially with the RTX 50 series, but one unlucky gamer in Taiwan found himself at the center of a literal hot topic this week. While testing out the Battlefield 6 public beta on August 10, his ZOTAC GeForce RTX 5090 suddenly burst into flames mid-match.

The user described the screen freezing, followed by flames and a burning smell coming from the area where the GPU meets the motherboard. The fire reportedly lasted around 10 seconds, leaving noticeable burn damage to the card, nearby components, and even blackened sections of the water-cooling tubing.

The owner had purchased the system as a complete prebuilt system, which should make the warranty process much easier. The PC has already been returned to the store's repair center, with the manufacturer now inspecting the damage.

Photos shared online clearly show the fire's origin near the PCIe slot, though the exact cause remains unknown. Unlike the GeForce RTX 4090's infamous melting issues tied to the flawed 16-pin power connector design, this incident appears to be unrelated to the connector and instead points toward an isolated hardware fault or short circuit.

"Random combustion" events in modern GPUs remain extremely rare, but it doesn't mean they don't happen. While the RTX 4090 became a frequent headline in 2022 and 2023 for melting connectors, often blamed on improper cable insertion and the overall poor design of the original 16-pin plug, the 5090 has so far avoided widespread reliability concerns. This ZOTAC card fire is currently a one-off case, and no other mass reports have emerged. Still, it is enough to raise questions, especially given the enormous power draw of NVIDIA's new flagship.

Worth noting that ZOTAC RTX 5090 cards are equipped with a 'Safety Light', which is designed to report on any potential connection issues, again pointing towards a component failure rather than problems related to the power cables.

Source - Videocardz 

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