On September 14, 2026, photographs attributed to Reddit user ScientiaEtRatio91 showed visible damage at both ends of a 12V-2x6 cable connected to an NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 and an ASRock Taichi TC-1650T power supply. The RTX PRO 6000 reportedly continued functioning after the incident, but the damaged cable puts a very specific question on the table: what does ASRock TempGuard actually measure at the connector?
What happened at the 12V-2x6 connection
The reported damage affected both ends of the cable: the side connected to the graphics card and the side connected to the power supply. The cable used straight connectors rather than the angled L-Type design ASRock has shown separately.
The GPU involved was an NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Workstation Edition. NVIDIA specifies up to 600 W of total board power and one 16-pin PCIe CEM5 power connector for the card. The user reportedly said that the GPU continued working after the cable damage.
That does not turn the connector into a trivial detail. A 12V-2x6 connection carries substantial power through a compact interface, so damage at either end is a serious maintenance signal. If the cable or connector shows discoloration, deformation or scorching, continuing to use it is a bad gamble—especially in a workstation built around a high-power GPU.
What ASRock TempGuard is designed to do
ASRock describes TempGuard as an NTC-based temperature-protection system. An NTC thermistor, or negative-temperature-coefficient thermistor, changes its electrical resistance as its temperature changes.
In the Taichi TC-1650T, ASRock places the thermistor at the VGA connector end of the native 12V-2x6 cable. The system is designed to monitor connector heat and initiate a shutdown when temperatures become unsafe.
The reported cable damage occurred in a system equipped with that protection feature. That makes TempGuard relevant to the case, but the incident does not identify the specific mechanism behind the damage. The photographs do not provide the cable's temperatures, the order in which the two ends were damaged or the condition of the GPU-side receptacle.
The distinction matters because a temperature sensor measures the area around its own position. It is not automatically a per-contact current monitor, and the temperature of one point in a connector does not describe every contact in the connection. TempGuard's documented function is connector-temperature monitoring and shutdown—not a guarantee that every possible fault in a 12V-2x6 connection will be prevented.
The GPU and power supply do not measure the same thing
The system combines a powerful workstation GPU with a high-capacity power supply, but their headline wattage figures describe different properties:
- NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Workstation Edition: up to 600 W of total board power.
- ASRock Taichi TC-1650T: 1,650 W of overall power-supply capacity.
- ASRock Taichi TC-1650T: ATX 3.1 and PCIe 5.1 support, plus two native 12V-2x6 cables.
- ASRock TempGuard: NTC-based connector-temperature protection intended to trigger a shutdown.
The 1,650 W figure is the power supply's total rated capacity. It is not the amount consumed by the graphics card. The 600 W figure describes the GPU's total board power, not the temperature or electrical load of one individual contact.
A separate earlier case involved the same hardware combination
An earlier, separate case involving an NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 and an ASRock Taichi TC-1650T featured reported damage at the power-supply-side modular socket. The GPU was also reported to have survived that incident.
The two cases should remain separate: one involved a reported PSU-side failure, while the newer photographs showed damage at both ends of the 12V-2x6 cable. Their different damage locations do not establish a shared cause.
What system builders should inspect
For a high-power GPU, the sensible checks are refreshingly unglamorous. That is exactly what you want when melted plastic is part of the alternative:
- Use the power supply manufacturer's compatible native cable. Modular cables are not universal, even when their connectors look identical.
- Seat both ends completely. Check the GPU and PSU connections for visible gaps or incomplete insertion.
- Avoid strain and tight bends near the connectors. Keep enough clearance to prevent the plug or socket from being pushed sideways.
- Stop using damaged hardware. Discoloration, scorching, deformation or damaged plastic warrants powering down and replacing the affected cable before further operation.
The reported RTX PRO 6000 case leaves TempGuard's documented purpose clear: it is intended to monitor connector heat and shut the system down at unsafe temperatures. It also shows why the cable, both connectors and the exact seating of the connection deserve attention in any system carrying this much power.
