ZOTAC RTX 5090 Catches Fire While Playing Battlefield 6, Melts PCB and Damages Motherboard
A shocking incident has emerged from the Gamer TW forums, where a ZOTAC RTX 5090 Amp Extreme Infinity graphics card reportedly burst into flames while playing Battlefield 6. The fire, lasting around 10 seconds, left the GPU’s PCB severely burned near the MSVDD rail, the memory subsystem power section, and inflicted visible scorch damage on the motherboard.
The user, known as “york4517”, described the event as far beyond a typical 16-pin power connector melt or PSU fault, stating that actual flames erupted from the junction where the GPU PCB sits closest to the motherboard. The sequence began with the game freezing, followed by immediate flames a scenario that, under international electrical safety standards, should never occur. Consumer electronics are designed to fail in ways that prevent open flames, typically self-extinguishing to mitigate further risk.
@unikoshardware suggested the cause might be exploding MOSFETs, which generally would not create flames. A deeper concern comes from a teardown by @Madness727, revealing that the ZOTAC RTX 5090’s memory VRM (MSVDD rail) lacks active cooling. This omission could allow excessive heat buildup under heavy loads, potentially contributing to the catastrophic failure.
The absence of dedicated cooling for the memory VRM was previously noted as a major design drawback. If proven to be a contributing factor, this raises serious questions about thermal engineering in ultra-high-end GPUs, particularly as power demands continue to climb.
The damaged unit has been sent to ZOTAC for investigation. At this stage, it remains unclear if the company will acknowledge a defect and process an RMA. If confirmed that the GPU caught fire under normal operating conditions without tampering, the situation could present both a safety and liability challenge for the manufacturer.
Do you think high-end GPUs are pushing thermal limits too far, or is this just an isolated, extreme failure?
