NVIDIA Confirms 12-pin GPU Power Connector
by Dr. Ian Cutress on August 26, 2020 9:00 AM EST
Today as part of a video showcasing NVIDIA’s mechanical and industrial design of its GPUs, and how it gets a large GPU to dissipate heat, the company went into some detail about how it needed to improve the design of all mechanical and electrical aspects of the board to aid cooling. This means implementing leaf springs for a back plate solution, as well as vapor chamber technology and using the right sorts of fans and fan management software.
As part of this video showcase, the company also shows its new 12-pin power connector. It also shows the 12-pin connector running perpendicular to the PCB, which is very interesting indeed.
Users who follow the tech news may have seen a few posts circling the internet regarding this 12-pin power connector, with a Seasonic cable that puts together two of the standard PCIe 8-pin connectors into one of NVIDIA’s new 12-pin designs.
Image from Hardwareluxx
NVIDIA states in the video that this 12-pin design is of its own creation. It isn’t clear if this is set to become a new standard in power cable connectivity for power supplies, however going forward we assume that most graphics cards that have this 12-pin power design will have to come with an additional 2x8-pin to 12-pin power cable included. We wait to see if that's the case, or if it will be up to future power supplies to bundle the appropriate connector.
More details about the connector are expected to appear on September 1st during NVIDIA’s GeForce Special Event.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
79 Comments
View All Comments
euler007 - Wednesday, August 26, 2020 - link
If you're going to go the humanist route you have more important things to worry about than video card connectors. And more important places to be.damianrobertjones - Wednesday, August 26, 2020 - link
Totally true. All for an extra 10/15fps over the previous gen. it's absolute madness. The second thing that's annoying, is that 124fps is pointless when a game dips below 60fps. Make ALL games, where possible, at least a SOLID 60fps.nikaru - Monday, August 31, 2020 - link
Well, not everyone have pro equipment to run games at solid 60fps all the time. The vast majority of gamers run 3-6 years old middle-range hardware. Only a tiny number of enthusiast actually buy RTX Titan level of hardware. If your game cannot run properly on most of the hardware and console you will not make many sells, and therefore, even if the game may be great, nobody will play it.michael2k - Wednesday, August 26, 2020 - link
People playing games aren't going to be fighting, stealing, destroying, or running for office.I think more people should be playing games.
DigitalFreak - Wednesday, August 26, 2020 - link
I know, right? That 12 pin connector is taking food away from starving children in Africa!MrVibrato - Wednesday, August 26, 2020 - link
What about durability problems with positioning the connector that way?Have you ever looked at the connector stacks at the back I/O area of motherboards and thought the same? How many of those connector stacks have you ever screwed due to them being standing tall?
Purpose - Wednesday, August 26, 2020 - link
REALITY CHECK.This connector is going to have a dongle to the back of the GPU. We've already seen pictures of it. So you're plugging into the dongle on the back, which is mechanically supported by the heatsink/shroud. This is also nothing new, NV did it with a bunch of the half length PCB full length cooler cards in the past.
There's literally zero risk of breaking this connector unless you take the card apart to watercool it. And if you're doing that(I sure will be) you should already know what you're getting into.
catavalon21 - Wednesday, August 26, 2020 - link
I too am curious about the durability, or rather the mechanism of support. The diagram doesn't seem to show any support behind the connector. Without something it seems there would be a lot more stress at the PCB interface.EdgeOfDetroit - Wednesday, August 26, 2020 - link
I had an adapter catch fire before. Fortunately I was right there and powered the thing off, but things melted. I don't like this.DigitalFreak - Wednesday, August 26, 2020 - link
If you weren't using some Chinese knockoff, it was most likely a fluke.