Hero cat saves owner as PC starts burning from NVIDIA RTX 4090 meltdown

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A computer owner says their cat alerted them to a fire hazard when their NVIDIA RTX 4090 graphics card started to overheat, melt, and smoke while they weren’t nearby.

The problem began when the user left their computer for a moment and heard their cat meowing very loudly from another room, according to reports.

When they came back, they found their computer smoking and smelled burning, which was caused by a melted power connector for the graphics card.

Noticing his computer wouldn’t turn off correctly, the owner immediately unplugged it to stop any potential damage and prevent a possible fire.

Cat saves NVIDIA RTX 4090 owner’s life

The story first appeared on a popular Taiwanese online forum, much like Reddit, and then tech websites began reporting on it.

I was using the toilet when I suddenly heard the cat screaming. When I opened the door, I saw smoke and smelled burning plastic, the user said.

Although the cat’s quick reaction probably stopped things from being much worse, this situation brings attention to a problem that has existed with NVIDIA’s top-of-the-line graphics card since it first came out.

Some users have reported that the RTX 4090’s 16-pin power connector can overheat or even melt under specific circumstances. Earlier investigations pointed to issues like the cable not being fully plugged in or power not being evenly spread across the connector’s pins as potential causes of this dangerous heating.

Even after updates and improvements to the design and connectors, problems are still sometimes reported after several years.

The owner stated the cable was connected correctly and inspected often, but they weren’t using an adapter with it.

This new information has sparked more discussion among PC hardware enthusiasts, who are wondering if user mistakes are the only cause of these melting problems.

It’s clear that if the cat hadn’t acted so quickly, things could have gotten much worse than just a broken graphics card.

This year has seen multiple instances of cats rescuing their owners from fires. Back in March, a kitten became an online sensation after bravely saving its owner from a house fire, even at its own risk.

It wasn’t just cats receiving recognition this year. A man and his dog are also being hailed as heroes for rescuing an elderly woman and her dog from a house fire.

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2026-04-07 21:19