Vince “KINGPIN” Lucido says NVIDIA tried to make EVGA use a single power connector on its RTX 3090 Ti KINGPIN shortly before launch, disrupting the card’s production timeline and leaving output “severely limited.” That is Lucido’s account, reported by VideoCardz; the available sources do not independently establish NVIDIA’s position or quantify the delay or production impact.
What did Lucido say happened?
Lucido’s claim is about EVGA’s GeForce RTX 3090 Ti KINGPIN, an enthusiast card built for extreme overclocking. As quoted by VideoCardz, he said NVIDIA tried to require one power connector shortly before the KINGPIN launched, and that going back and forth over the issue disrupted production. He described the card as “severely limited,” but did not provide a unit count or a number of delayed weeks or months.
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Lucido’s quoted account also expresses his view that a buyer spending more than $5,000 should be able to use the card as they choose. VideoCardz reproduces the remarks from his video; the sources available here do not include an NVIDIA response, internal EVGA records, or an independently documented explanation for the alleged request.
How did the KINGPIN ultimately ship?
Contemporaneous launch coverage from TechSpot reported that the EVGA RTX 3090 Ti KINGPIN shipped with two 16-pin power connectors—not one—and that EVGA developed a PowerLink 52U adapter for the card. The same July 2022 report described a 360mm all-in-one liquid cooler, an additional VRM fan, a 24-phase VRM, voltage monitoring, and a BIOS switch with Normal, OC, and LN2 settings. These are launch-era details for the KINGPIN, not claims about current availability.
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That final dual-connector configuration does not, by itself, prove the details of the reported dispute. It establishes what the launch coverage said the finished KINGPIN had; the allegation that NVIDIA tried to push a different configuration remains Lucido’s account.
Where does the dispute fit in the RTX 3090 Ti timeline?
- March 29, 2022: NVIDIA announced the RTX 3090 Ti family and listed EVGA among its add-in-card providers. NVIDIA’s announcement specified 10,752 CUDA cores and 24GB of 21Gbps GDDR6X memory for the GPU family. These are NVIDIA-published specifications, not independent measurements of the KINGPIN.
- July 3, 2022: TechSpot reported the KINGPIN launch, roughly three months after the family announcement. Its report included the dual 16-pin configuration and other card features. It also reported a $2,499 launch price for the bundle; that is a historical launch figure, not a current price.
- October 2026: VideoCardz reported Lucido’s remarks in connection with his return to hardware overclocking and work with ASUS. The report presents a future ASUS KINGPIN card as a possibility, not an announced or confirmed product.
Does this describe every EVGA RTX 3090 Ti?
No. The connector dispute in Lucido’s account concerns the KINGPIN model; it should not be generalized into a confirmed NVIDIA rule for every board partner or card. EVGA’s March 2022 installation guide for the separate RTX 3090 Ti FTW3 specifies one 16-pin card connector supplied through a 16-pin-to-three-8-pin adapter, three required PCIe 8-pin PSU cables, and an 850W minimum power supply. Those FTW3 instructions do not establish the KINGPIN’s requirements.
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- Item Package Dimension - 15.0L x 12.25W x 4.25H inches
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- Product Type - VIDEO CARD
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What is established—and what remains unverified?
- Established in contemporaneous launch coverage: The EVGA RTX 3090 Ti KINGPIN was reported with two 16-pin connectors and a PowerLink 52U adapter.
- Attributed claim: Lucido said NVIDIA tried to get EVGA to use one connector shortly before launch and that the dispute disrupted production and limited output.
- Not established by the available sources: NVIDIA’s rationale or response, the length of any delay, and how many cards were produced or affected.
- Speculative: A future ASUS KINGPIN card has not been confirmed in the cited reporting.
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