ASUS BTF Problem: RTX 5090 Astral BTF OC + Crosshair X870E Hero BTF = Unstable 12VHPWR/BTF Mode Fail

[Acidix]

I’m having power delivery issues with my ASUS GeForce RTX 5090 ROG Astral BTF OC when using the BTF connector on my ROG CROSSHAIR X870E HERO BTF motherboard.

With a normal 12VHPWR cable, the GPU works perfectly.
With the BTF connection, one or more power pins sometimes exceed 9.2 A, causing unstable power behavior.

My Hardware

• GPU: ASUS GeForce RTX 5090 ROG Astral BTF OC

• Motherboard: ROG CROSSHAIR X870E HERO BTF

• PSU: ROG Thor 1600T3

What I did

• Followed all ASUS FAQ https://rog.asus.com/support/faq/1055195

• Tested multiple cables

• Reseated all connectors

• Only the BTF connector causes these high current spikes

Issue

• Power pins exceeding 9.2 A on one or more pins via BTF connection

• Stable and normal with standard cable

• Issue seems linked to BTF interface/adapter

Thanks for any help!

[Aureliannn_ROG]

Hi @Acidix ,

thank you very much for sharing your detailed test results.
To help our engineering team more accurately evaluate the situation where one or multiple 12V pins exceed 9.2A on the RTX 5090 Astral BTF OC via the BTF interface, we kindly ask for your assistance with the following information:

1. Motherboard BIOS version
2. GPU VBIOS version
3. Is the current above 9.2A a momentary spike, or is it a sustained overload?
4. Does the over-current only occur under specific scenarios or workloads (for example, particular games or stress tests)?
5. Are the overloaded 12V pins always the same pin numbers (e.g., Pin 5, Pin 8), or do they vary?
6. Please help confirm the physical connection of the BTF interface: Is the BTF connector fully seated in the slot?/ Is there any noticeable vertical gap or looseness at the connector area?
7. You mentioned that the card works normally with a standard 12VHPWR cable. Could you please confirm whether this comparison was done under the same test scenario and load conditions?

In addition, please also provide the following information so we can pass a complete report to our engineering team:

• Operating system version (OS version)
• CPU model
• SSD model
• Motherboard serial number
• Graphics card serial number (RTX 5090 Astral BTF OC)
• Screenshots or monitoring captures showing one or multiple 12V pins exceeding 9.2A

The more complete the information, the better we can assist in identifying the root cause and advising on next steps.
Thank you very much for your patience and cooperation.

[Acidix]

Hello,
thank you for your message. Below is the information you requested regarding the over-current behaviour on the RTX 5090 Astral BTF OC:

• motherboard: ROG Crosshair X870E Hero BTF
• motherboard BIOS version: American Megatrends Inc. 1805 (26/11/2025)
• GPU VBIOS version: 98.02.2E.40.E1
• current above 9.2A: sustained overload. The over-current persists for longer periods, but the affected pins change dynamically — sometimes 3 pins exceed 9.2A at the same time, sometimes 2, and sometimes only 1.
• workload conditions: it occurs just when benchmarking and the power draw goes over 400W.
• affected 12V pins: vary between pins.
• BTF connector seating: fully seated with no gap.
• standard 12VHPWR comparison: tested under the same workload; no over-current occurs when using a standard 12VHPWR cable. Currently, I’m running the system with the standard cable as the BTF connection causes this issue.
• additional observation: when using the BTF system and running benchmarks on the motherboard, the 12V current LED will start to blink or stay on.

additional system information:
• OS version: Microsoft Windows 11 Pro
• CPU model: AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D
• SSD model: 2x Samsung 980 Pro
• motherboard serial number: T8M0KC20163628L
• GPU serial number: T9YVCM00A095G75

I purchased the motherboard and GPU specifically for the BTF connection, so I am keen to find a solution to this issue.

[Aureliannn_ROG]

Hi @Acidix ,

thank you for the information you've provided.
We've passed your details on to our relevant backend team for analysis.
Please be patient and wait for any updates or messages from us.
Thank you.

[jacob650]

I Have similar build, i will be following, as i hope i do not stumble upon this problem like yours. im building a complete no cable/Tubes stealth build, using the Bitspower AMD Revoc CPU bloock.

• GPU: ASUS GeForce RTX 5090 ROG Astral BTF OC

• Motherboard: ROG CROSSHAIR X870E HERO BTF

• PSU: Asus ROG LOKI SFX-L 1200W
• CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D
• Ram: Corsair DDR5 64GB Dominator Titanium 2x32GB (6000Mhz EXPO )
• SSD: Samsung 4TB 9100 Pro

Other user's using the 5090 Astral had this issue and they tend to solve it with a new cable or reseating it, but having the BTF connector do this is not an easy "cable swap" so hope you solve it and share the info here, My case won't be here till next month so i am on hold for the build. 

[Aureliannn_ROG]

Hi @Acidix ,

We have sent you a private message requesting your system configuration details so we can forward them to our engineering team for further investigation.

In the meantime, please help us verify the following items to ensure the installation is fully correct:

1. Is the graphics card fully seated in the motherboard’s PCIe slot?

2. Is the PSU’s 16-pin power cable securely connected to the motherboard?

3. Please check whether the 12-2×6_LED indicator on the motherboard is lit, as this LED helps confirm whether power delivery is functioning properly.

Kindly refer to the illustration below and ensure all cables and connectors are fully inserted with no visible gaps.

If you encounter anything unusual during the checks, please let us know—we’re here to assist.
Thank you.

Thank you.

[Acidix]

Hi,

The issue resolved itself during troubleshooting. When I uninstalled the GPU from the motherboard, the Q-Release lever (black plastic part) unfortunately broke. After that, I reinstalled the GPU using the BTF adapter again.

I then connected the same 16-pin power cable as before (from the GPU to the motherboard, in the normal PCIe slot), powered on the system, and ran benchmarks.

Everything is now working correctly:

The GPU pulls up to 600W without any issues

GPU Tweak III does not report any errors

The current (amps) on all pins is evenly distributed

The 12-2×6 power delivery appears to be functioning normally

At this point, I am no longer experiencing any problems.

Thank you for your support.

[Ranel]

Just changed from regular motherboard to X870E crosshair hero BTF and having the same issue. When cable is connected to the graphics card the amps are pretty much even only with the margin of error .  At idle mostly completely equal or as little as 0,2amps difference and under load the difference between lowest and highest is easily within 1amp. So very equal.  When connected through the motherboard BTF the amps are all over the place - under stress one pin is like at 5 amps and other 9,2. Running Lian Li EDGE 1300W as PSU.

[Aureliannn_ROG]

Hi @Ranel 

We have sent you a private message requesting your system configuration details so we can forward them to our engineering team for further investigation.

In the meantime, please help us verify the following items to ensure the installation is fully correct:

1. Is the graphics card fully seated in the motherboard’s PCIe slot?

2. Is the PSU’s 16-pin power cable securely connected to the motherboard?

3. Please check whether the 12-2×6_LED indicator on the motherboard is lit, as this LED helps confirm whether power delivery is functioning properly.

Kindly refer to the illustration below and ensure all cables and connectors are fully inserted with no visible gaps.

If you encounter anything unusual during the checks, please let us know—we’re here to assist.
Thank you.

[Bluekey]

I’m having the exact same issue as well. I have x870e hero motherboard btf and astral 5090 btf models just to end up using the standard set up. All bios and firmware are up to date. Everything works as it should except for the btf connector and yes gpu was installed correctly no gaps same for the high power cable also plugged in correctly and no gaps. Power supply is a Corsair HX1500i Shift.