NVIDIA RTX 5090 caught fire while playing Battlefield 6 — it wasn't the power connector

Battlefield 6 lit the NVIDIA RTX 5090 on fire, literally — the Zotac video card burned for 10 seconds. This time, the problem was deeper than the power connectors, also literally.

On the Taiwanese forum Gamer.com.tw, user york4517 told about the case of the Zotac RTX 5090 AMP Extreme video card, which caught fire during a gaming session in open beta version of Battlefield 6. The player noticed a bright flash and a burning smell inside the PC, and the image on the screen froze. The fire lasted for about 10 seconds, causing the video card to blacken and melt locally. The motherboard and SSD were also damaged, and even the liquid cooling tubes were blackened.

On the photo, you can see heavy scorching around the bottom edge of the motherboard. UNIKO’s Hardware, which reported about the incident, attributing the fire to the MSVDD memory subsystem power line and suspecting a MOSFET short or phase failure in this area. The reviewer writes that he has already seen two similar cases, one of them with a Zotac video card. The nature of the damage in the photos indicates a rapid localized power failure that burned through the tracks and components around it.

It’s worth noting that this time it wasn’t power connector, as in many previous cases with RTX 5090. However, there have already been cases not directly related to the connector. One of the video cards suffered a blown capacitor or VRM phase, while the 12-volt connector was also intact. This time, it was not without the user’s actions, as he confirmed that the video card was operating at a reduced voltage. But this is a common setting that usually doesn’t cause a fire.

The owner of the burned-out card immediately became interested in the warranty issues. Since the PC was purchased as a complete unit, the workshop is currently coordinating with the distributor and local Zotac agent to check it, and no decision has been made on replacement or compensation. The SSD, which was also damaged, is being treated separately.

Commenters on the forum note that the default voltage on video cards increases aggressively, reaching 1.1V under heavy load and 1.03V even during moderate use. NVIDIA’s removal of the current load balancing circuitry seems to further destabilize the power distribution, causing uneven current flow and overheating as a result. According to Tom’s Hardware Zotac has not yet commented on the case. VideoCardz notes that Zotac RTX 5090 graphics cards are equipped with a security indicator designed to notify you of any potential connection issues.