ASUS ROG Equalizer: I Forced 17A Through 3 Pins… Did It Melt?

Added: 2026-05-10

[00:00:11]We did a video already about the Asus cable and you had some questions.

[00:00:17]You had some doubts.

[00:00:19]Some of you, not many. Okay.

[00:00:21]The thing that you told me, Aris, you should make the bad connection between the bridge and the GPU connector, right?

[00:00:30]That's why me and Thomas, we worked on something different.

[00:00:34]Now we will actually simulate the bad connection between the bridge and the GPU connector.

[00:00:40]The connector on the GPU side.

[00:00:42]But, guys, I didn't want to make anything that will interfere with the cable, because if I cut the wires here and put some resistors automatically, I intervene with the cable.

[00:00:55]So load distribution can go bad because I actually mess with the circuit.

[00:01:02]Whatever I do, I have to be sure that the cable remains intact and as you can see, the cable is intact.

[00:01:10]I didn't touch the cable.

[00:01:12]I only installed two thermistors here to monitor temperatures.

[00:01:16]So what I did, I took another cable, a female one, 12 gauges (wires), six power, six earth.

[00:01:24]They go to six electronic loads.

[00:01:27]And what I'm going to do now, I will simulate a bad connection.

[00:01:30]That will be easy.

[00:01:31]Yeah. Thomas, let me do that.

[00:01:33]That's the monitor.

[00:01:34]The things that I will do now.

[00:01:37]I will apply unequal loads.

[00:01:40]I will apply 17A on this side which represents the three side connectors and the rest of the connectors.

[00:01:49]I will only apply 1A This will be a highly unbalanced load which will simulate actually a bad connection.

[00:01:57]And that again without messing touching the cable because if you touch the cable, you cut wires, you do whatever to the cable.

[00:02:05]Automatically you lose the whole idea, the whole picture.

[00:02:10]Okay, Asus says that the cable can handle 17 amps.

[00:02:16]I will put 17 amps on the three side loads and the other loads will only remain at one amp.

[00:02:23]So in total 53A (actually 54A).

[00:02:25]I think that's enough.

[00:02:26]And at the same time I will monitor the temperature here.

[00:02:31]I have two thermistors on the sides between the bridge and the GPU side connector, so let's start it.

[00:02:43]Thomas.

[00:02:43]How long to leave it like that.

[00:02:47]So 17A, 17A, 17A, 111.

[00:02:52]Let's see.

[00:02:54]We have action Thomas already.

[00:03:01]This simulates perfectly a bad connection.

[00:03:03]Three of the side pins are partially inserted.

[00:03:08]So they have a resistance of 0.02Ω or 0.025Ω.

[00:03:13]And the other three are perfectly connected.

[00:03:16]What that means that the perfectly connected pins handle most of the current, while the bad pins don't.

[00:03:25]This is a perfect example where you do something right but you are screwed.

[00:03:31]The bad connectors don't don't take any load.

[00:03:35]The good connectors take all the load.

[00:03:37]So 17A, 17A, 17A, do not pay any attention guys to the voltage.

[00:03:42]We only care about amps here because these loads don't have remote sense.

[00:03:47]That's why the voltages are so low.

[00:03:49]111 okay, 62 degrees.

[00:03:53]Stathis, keep a timer, please.

[00:03:56]We started 30 minutes ago.

[00:03:58]eh 30 seconds ago. So.

[00:04:03]How long?

[00:04:03]Five minutes should be fine, let's leave it longer.

[00:04:07]Ten minutes, 15 minutes.

[00:04:08]Okay.

[00:04:12]Ambient is 25°C.

[00:04:13]Because that plays a role also 26C, actually.

[00:04:17]The ambient okay so guys again we simulate a bad connection.

[00:04:25]Three pins handle 17A.

[00:04:27]The three other pins only one Amp in total 54A, 51A here and 3A here.

[00:04:37]So far 70.

[00:04:40]Now what why there is the difference here.

[00:04:43]Because the one is the good side which handles most of the Amps and temperature is increased while the other side, the other three pins only handle 3A.

[00:04:53]That's why they remain at 49°C.

[00:05:03]And that's the best.

[00:05:05]Stathis around ten minutes I think.

[00:05:07]What do you say?

[00:05:08]You think 10m is enough to prove a point.

[00:05:11]Guys, if in ten minutes we don't have dangerous high temperatures, I think these connectors (start to) melt around 120-130C.

[00:05:23]So if after ten minutes we are still close lower than 120, I think it's okay.

[00:05:34]And again this is continuous Full load.

[00:05:38]In your system.

[00:05:40]You won't have a GPU constantly pulling all the time 600W because you would just have spikes most of the time.

[00:05:50]I think it okay.

[00:05:51]It depends on the application on the game, but it's very difficult to find an application again where you will be constantly 600W.

[00:05:58]But now I don't know if you will use some AI shit or that okay, that's up to you.

[00:06:07]So guys, in your expert opinion, I have two guys here.

[00:06:10]Stathis and Thomas status.

[00:06:13]Stathis is the keyboard and mice reviewer.

[00:06:19]And he knows his shit.

[00:06:20]So. Thomas.

[00:06:26]So guys what do you say if it survives ten minutes, 17A (per pin).

[00:06:30]It's okay.

[00:06:31]The cable according to your opinion, because you are also expert in this.

[00:06:35]Yeah it it will survive of course, if it will survive. Yes.

[00:06:38]So it is.

[00:06:38]But definitely the product.

[00:06:40]At $50 I think it's expensive.

[00:06:43]Corsair has its cable at $25.

[00:06:47]I think that they should put it $25.

[00:06:52]Wow. It's a it's a good price, but $50.

[00:06:56]Come on.

[00:06:56]It's it's over priced.

[00:07:02]If it stabilizes at some point and you know at first it rises at a high pace.

[00:07:11]But yeah if in some point it it stabilizes.

[00:07:16]There is no pointsyou know to go on.

[00:07:19]Yeah.

[00:07:22]And as you can see the temperature actually is pretty low enough.

[00:07:35]It's a little bit hard but it makes sense.

[00:07:38]Guys 87C, It's almost 100. Yeah.

[00:07:41]But I still can touch it.

[00:07:44]I don't see any melting.

[00:07:50]And okay this is a highly unbalanced (load) scenario.

[00:07:54]Having 17A on three pins and only one amp on the other side.

[00:08:01]My cable would have shut down the system already.

[00:08:15]Guys, one more thing.

[00:08:16]I see many of you using IR cameras and other shit to measure temps on the cables.

[00:08:21]No, that's not the best.

[00:08:22]The ideal way, the correct way to check temperatures because you have to take into account the emissivity factor.

[00:08:29]And I'm pretty sure that most that use IR cameras don't dial in the proper(correct) emissivity factor.

[00:08:35]The best way to check temperatures is using the old but way more accurate temperature logger or thermometer.

[00:08:46]Anyway, so we are around below 90°C Celsius, Stathis how long now? 5 minutes.

[00:09:02]In the previous video we did.

[00:09:03]I think it reached more than 130C because I barely touch it (and had a hard time).

[00:09:12]But it was 52A on a single wire.

[00:09:16]Okay, touch the.... there, and it will go boom.

[00:09:22]But you see guys.

[00:09:24]What the.

[00:09:30]I think that a standard cable now it would have melted the connector the pin because the pin is very difficult currently.

[00:09:40]Now we are pushing 17A and you can see clearly that it's 17A.

[00:09:47]You know, you don't need current clamps (for A measurements) because you have the loads.

[00:09:51]The source tells you that okay guys I give you 17A.

[00:10:02]I told Thomas to cut the cables (of the female connector) exactly the same length, exactly the same length, because if a cable shorter, the other is longer.

[00:10:10]Always the current uses the less resistance path.

[00:10:14]That's the way how current works.

[00:10:20]8 min now.

[00:10:21]Eight minutes, guys, in ten minutes we will terminate the experiment.

[00:10:26]Because there's no point.

[00:10:27]It's way below 120°C that it's typically the melting point.

[00:10:35]The highest limit of this type of connectors.

[00:10:40]It's ten minutes full load, continuously full load okay.

[00:10:44]It's very unlikely scenario that in a real system you will have the GPU hitting 600 watt continuously all the time (unless AI usage?)

[00:10:52]You will have some very small periods where the load drops okay.

[00:10:56]Because of the application, because of million reasons, even that millisecond that the load drops it gives enough time to cool down a bit.

[00:11:07]Now it's way, way more stressful because we apply continuously 600W.

[00:11:12]That's why I didn't use a real system.

[00:11:14]I didn't want to use a real system.

[00:11:15]I want to use electronic loads because that's the more accurate way to provide to give the best, the worst possible scenario.

[00:11:25]Nine minutes. Now, one minute more.

[00:11:29]Now, if you go and tell me, hey, why you didn't keep it for hours, I can tell you that the guy who made these cables, he told me that he tried them for 24 hours, I think, or more.

[00:11:43]Yeah, guys, I'm sorry.

[00:11:46]I cannot do that.

[00:11:47]Electricity in Cyprus is very expensive.

[00:11:49]Half a Euro per kilowatt hour.

[00:11:51]So, yeah.

[00:11:54]It's stabilized (temperature).

[00:11:55]Yeah, yeah.

[00:11:56]So that's no point, guys.

[00:11:58]From the moment it's stabilized the temperature, it means that this is the point that it won't go any higher.

[00:12:03]Or if it goes any higher it will be a very, very small change.

[00:12:07]So there is no point to continue and apply the load.

[00:12:10]The thing is that I can still touch it.

[00:12:14]Yeah.

[00:12:17]I can still touch the connector.

[00:12:21]If it was close to melting point I couldn’t.

[00:12:26]Stathis try it.

[00:12:36]Ten minutes.

[00:12:37]So that's the Asus cable.

[00:12:39]17A, unbalanced loads, three pins handling 17A.

[00:12:45]This is why I selected 17A, because Asus mentioned 17A in their marketing material.

[00:12:51]They say 17A. That's why I stayed to 17A.

[00:12:54]Now, if you tell me go higher, I will tell you that you are nuts.

[00:12:57]I won't go higher.

[00:13:01]That is all.

[00:13:02]Guys, if you have any questions, leave them.

[00:13:05]Oh, you have to say that.

[00:13:08]Subscribe.

[00:13:12]So guys any questions?

[00:13:14]Just leave them in the comment section.

[00:13:16]Bye bye.