New 12VHPWR connector replaces 6-pin and 8-pin 2 Min. read
A new form of power supply is pending for graphics cards, because with PCIe 5.0 the 12VHPWR connector is also to come according to the ATX 3.0 standard. Instead of having to connect several 6- or 8-pin cables, in the future only one connector might be sufficient for the required power. But that also means new power supplies are needed if you want to buy the next generation of AMD or Nvidia graphics cards.
We already did in October last year reported on the new 12VHPWR connector, which is to start together with the PCI-Express 5.0 standard in future GPU generations. Although graphics cards are becoming more and more efficient, they are somehow also more power-hungry in terms of power consumption. So that you don’t have to pack four or more 8-pin connectors on a graphics card in the future, the tech industry seems to have a new connection in the starting blocks.
The plug answers to the name „12VHPWR“ (12 Volt High Power) and probably for the first time in Nvidia GeForce RTX 4000 series as well as AMD’s Radeon RX 7000 graphics cards come into use. Since Intel is responsible for defining the ATX standards, among other things, the desktop versions of the Arc GPUs might possibly also have the fresh connection – but that’s currently still a mere guess.
Power: Maximum 600 watts from one plug
As now leaked material from Intel shows which one from Twitter users @momomo_us was shared, the new connection will probably be specified in four performance levels. According to the ATX Version 3.0 Guide, the connector might maximum up to 600 watts deliver, but also only provide 150, 300 or 450 watts.
This is made possible by a binary configuration of the Sense0 and Sense1 sideband signals. If both signals are grounded, the GPU is initially supplied with 375 watts at system start and with a maximum of 600 watts as continuous power according to the software configuration. If both signals are “open”, the graphics card initially receives 100 watts and a maximum of 150 watts (see graphic).
However, the new 12VHPWR connector is not compatible with the previous standard (i.e. 6-pin and 8-pin). The connection has a total of 12 contacts for power transmission with a maximum of 9.2 amps including temperature monitoring and four additional contacts for the “sideband” signals. In addition, the distance between the individual pins is 3 mm, which is a lot smaller than the 4.2 mm of the previous ATX connectors.
New power supplies already in planning
Power supply manufacturers are already preparing and equipping for the new standard first models already with the fresh connection out, like that for example MSI. Other companies are likely to follow within the next few months and therefore probably more details regarding the ATX 3.0 standard. However, despite everything, it might be possible to supply graphics cards with a 12+4-pin connection using an adapter with previous power supplies.
It is currently still unclear which graphics cards, whether from AMD, Nvidia or Intel, will have the new connector. The RTX 3090 Ti, which is still a long time coming, was already considered a contender for the first GPU with a 12VHPWR connection. It remains to be seen whether only the reference cards or also custom models will have the 12-4-pin connector.
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Leonardo Ziaja 