Eiswolf 2 AIO—now also available for custom designs of RTX 4080/4090 GPUs! Alphacool presents more innovative solutions for cooling NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 4080 and 4090 graphics cards. The enormous waste heat of the new graphics card generation is excellently dissipated with this cooler. The very good water flow and the large cooling surface are due to the particularly filigree fin structure. The jet plate with revised inflow engine also distributes the water perfectly over the cooling fins.

The complete chrome plating of the copper base not only provides resistant protection against acids, scratches and damage, but also achieves a beautiful homogeneity and special shine. The Aurora design of the cooler is kept visually calm and simple. This is evident not only in the cooler's design, but also in the wonderfully even lighting, which is achieved using digitally addressable RGB LEDs.

As a leading brand in True Gaming hardware, MSI is excited to announce the availability for the RTX 4080 and RTX 4070 Ti based GAMING TRIO WHITE graphics cards. The new WHITE series unite the latest in graphics technology, high-performance circuit board design, and advanced cooling in a fabulous silver & white finish. Besides being perfectly tuned for keeping temperatures low while staying virtually silent, these new cards are the perfect choice for white or silver builds by DIY builders everywhere.

Just like the standard MSI GeForce RTX 4080 16 GB and RTX 4070 Ti GAMING TRIO cards, the WHITE edition features the same great balance between performance, cooling, and low noise that gamers have come to trust. Sporting three white versions of the latest TORX Fan 5.0 design, which uses pairs of three fan blades bound together with an outer link to form a rim that focuses airflow into the upgraded TRI FROZR 3 cooling system. The proven nickel-plated copper baseplate at the heart of the heatsink assists to dissipate the heat effectively. The new GAMING TRIO WHITE series are also fitted with a Dual BIOS, giving easy access to profiles that prioritize low noise or more performance with the flick of a switch. A frosty white & silver version of the metal backplate with a flow-through design reinforces the graphics card, while also providing passive cooling action through the implementation of thermal pads. Mystic Light adorns the exterior of the graphics card, illuminating color in synchrony with the rest of the PC through Mystic Light Sync and Ambient Link. As a finishing touch, these cards even come with a white version of the GAMING TRIO support bracket. Combined with other components from MSI's white product line, an impeccable white build can be achieved.

ASUS UK launched a trade-in program for graphics not unlike the Apple trade-in program for the latest iPhones. The company is offering cash payments ranging between GBP £65 to £300 for trading in your old graphics card. The way this works is, you purchase an ASUS GeForce RTX 40-series "Ada" graphics card from the company's ROG Strix or TUF Gaming series, by paying its full price upfront. You then submit a trade-in claim on the ASUS website within 15 days of delivery of your new graphics card. You then mail in your old graphics card within 30 days of receiving a trade-in approval from ASUS. Within 30 days of ASUS receiving your old graphics card, assuming it's in working condition and matches your trade-in claim, ASUS pays you the trade-in price directly to your bank account. For now the program is limited to the UK, and to participating online retailers, only UK residents can avail it, and the qualifying new graphics cards only cover the RTX 4070 Ti and RTX 4080 (but not the RTX 4090).

This page lists out the participating retailers, qualifying new graphics cards, qualifying old graphics cards, and the money you stand to receive when everything checks out.

CHERRY MX, the market leader and expert for mechanical switches in keyboards, is now also represented in the new high-end laptops MEDION ERAZER Beast X40 and Major X20 with the MX Ultra Low Profile Tactile switches. This allows MEDION to complement the latest high-performance hardware with a durable mechanical keyboard that ensures reliable precision and a high-quality typing experience in all situations.

With the top-of-the-line Beast X40, MEDION ERAZER sets new standards. The combination of the powerful Intel Core i9-13900HX processor, 32 gigabytes of DDR5-4800 memory, and the laptop GPU NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 with an impressive 16 gigabytes of VRAM ensures a smooth display on the 17-inch QHD+ screen with a 16:10 aspect ratio. Thanks to the NVIDIA G-Sync synchronization technology and a fast refresh rate of 240 hertz, a constant fast and stutter-free playback of the content is guaranteed. With the integration of a two-terabyte PCIe-4.0 SSD, there is also enough space for applications and games.

Now even more compatibility for Geforce RTX 40XX GPUs! Alphacool expands the range for active water cooling of Nvidia's Geforce RTX 4080 and 4090 graphics cards with the new and innovative Eisblock Aurora coolers.

Compared to the previous model of the cooler, several optimizations have been made, which perfectly dissipate the enormous waste heat of the new graphics card generation. The modified fin structure enables a very good water flow and increases the cooling surface at the same time. The modification of the jet plate with revised inflow engine furthermore perfects the distribution of the water on the cooling fins. The chrome plating of the copper base over the entire surface not only provides resistant protection against acids, scratches and damage, but also achieves a beautiful homogeneity and special shine.

Even more performance for RTX 4080 Suprim/Strix and RX 7900XT (X) GPUs! Alphacool presents new and innovative solutions for active water cooling of NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 4080 as well as AMD Radeon RX 7900XT (X) graphics cards with the Eisblock Aurora coolers.

In order to dissipate the enormous waste heat of the new graphics card generations in the best possible way, numerous optimizations were implemented on the water cooler compared to the previous models of these coolers. The fin structure has been modified and allows an optimal water flow while increasing the cooling surface. The modified jet plate with improved inflow engine ensures the best possible distribution of water on the cooling fins. The fully chrome-plated copper base is resistant to acids, scratches and damage. In addition, the chrome plating provides homogeneity and shine that cannot be achieved by nickel plating.

NVIDIA has reportedly begun shipping NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 graphics cards with a newer GPU SKU that changes the requirement for PCB design and is set to lower manufacturing costs. Previously, the company shipped its AD103-300-A1 SKU to power the GeForce RTX 4080 graphics cards. However, the new AD103-301 SKU will power the upcoming RTX 4080 cards that the company plans to ship to its AIBs and possibly use in the reference design. With the new 301 version, the GPU performance and power envelope should not change. What does change is the PCB design requirements, as the new SKU revision possesses a different chip pinout that doesn't correspond to the old design.

HKEPC has reported that GPUs with AD103-301 SKU are shipping, while VideoCardz confirms the AIB update with Gainward also offering updated cards. GALAX offers RTX 4080 models with either AD103-300/301 as well. Additionally, the GeForce RTX 4070 Ti will also see an SKU update, with AD104-250 being replaced by AD104-251. With these new silicon revisions, customers will not see any difference. However, the AIBs and NVIDIA could see a cost reduction to improve margins. HKEPC estimates around $1 BOM cost reduction with the new SKU, which will make a difference in thousands of cards shipped.

GIGABYTE displayed their latest motherboards and graphics cards at the 2023 International CES, covering their Socket LGA1700 Intel 700-series chipset; and Socket AM5 AMD 600-series chipset. The Z790 AORUS Tachyon is the company's top-grade LGA1700 motherboard targeting the professional overclocking crowd. The board is designed to chase down CPU and memory overclocking world records, featuring the company's most powerful CPU VRM solution, and a 1 DIMM-per-channel DDR5 memory setup that preferred by overclockers for supporting the highest memory overclocks with the tightest timings. There are several overclocker-friendly features besides the onboard buttons—dual-BIOS ROMs, angled connectors for bench cases, consolidated voltage measurement points, and a feature-packed BIOS setup program.

Over in the AMD side, GIGABYTE's top Socket AM5 motherboard is the X670E AORUS Xtreme, which is a feature-packed motherboard with possibly the strongest CPU VRM solutions in the market for Ryzen 7000 processors, and with the best VRM cooling. In addition to the PCIe Gen 5 M.2 slot wired to the AM5 SoC, you get additional Gen 5 slots that subtract from the x16 PEG slot. The AORUS Xtreme also has the most feature-rich BIOS available among GIGABYTE's AM5 lineup. The B650I AORUS Ultra is a premium Mini-ITX Socket AM5 motherboard based on the AMD B650 chipset. Despite its compact size, it gives you a PCI-Express 4.0 x16 PEG slot, a Gen 5 M.2 slot, and two additional Gen 4 M.2 slots, besides the latest wired- and wireless connectivity. We also snapped the B650 AERO G motherboard targeting creators, and the mainstream B650 AORUS Elite AX.

ASUS today announced the exciting 2023 version of the 16-inch Zenbook Pro 16X OLED (UX7602BZ) creator laptop, featuring a unique Intel processor and a brand-new ASUS Supernova system-on-module (SoM) Design. Developed in partnership with leading technology companies, this new laptop is the most powerful version ever released.

The breakthrough, ultra-compact ASUS Supernova SoM Design enables ultra-powerful performance from the 13th Gen Intel Core i9-13905H processor, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Laptop GPU with NVIDIA Studio drivers, and support for LPDDR5X DRAM that offers 7500 MHz memory frequency speeds, which is much higher than the previous LPDDR5. The new 2023 Zenbook Pro 16X OLED will noticeably improve video-editing performance and 3D rendering capacity—drastically shortening processing times for creative workflows.

To the gaming community, NVIDIA brought a neat pair of high-end graphics cards to go hands-on with. For starters, we got to see almost every brand's custom-design GeForce RTX 4070 Ti desktop graphics card. We reviewed six of these on launch day. Much of the attention was grabbed by the mobile graphics side of the booth, where we could check out gaming notebooks from popular brands such as Razer, ASUS ROG, Acer Predator, Dell Alienware, and MSI Stealth; powered by NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop, RTX 4080 Laptop, and even the RTX 4060 Laptop.

Each of these was set up to show off a different new aspect of the GeForce "Ada Lovelace" architecture, including DLSS 3 frame-generation, RTX real-time ray tracing in games such as Portal RTX, G-SYNC, Reflex, and a single RTX 4090 Laptop-based notebook powering a surround-display setup for racing sims, as well as AAA gaming with maxed out settings and newer ray tracing performance presets. Some of these had real-time FRAPS monitoring of frame-rates, GPU power-draw, and temperatures. A common theme with all the notebooks we've seen is that none of them were bulky moble workstations pretending to be notebooks, including the ones powered by the RTX 4090 Laptop GPU.

MSI has, for the first time, released white variants of its Gaming X Trio line of graphics cards, from the company's most recognizable high-end graphics card sub-brand. This new original design retains the black PCB, but combines it with a variant of the Tri Frozr 3 cooler that replaces matte+gloss black for a 2-tone white+gray scheme, with some matte silver bits. The TorX 5 fan impellers are white, too, but the underlying heatsink remains in its original anodized-aluminium form. There's just enough work put into the design so the card doesn't end up looking like a SUPRIM X product. The factory-overclock on these cards will be similar to their conventional cousins. We got confirmation that MSI is giving the Gaming X White treatment to at least two graphics card SKUs, the GeForce RTX 4080, and the RTX 4070 Ti.

ASUS showed us its GeForce RTX 4080 Noctua Edition graphics card that it formally announced yesterday. To call this card thick would be an understatement, as it's possibly the first graphics card that is 5 slots thick! The card easily overshoots what constitutes 4 slots, and is technically 4.2 to 4.3 slots; but then expansion slot counts are whole numbers rounded to the next digit despite what marketing says.

This card combines an ASUS ROG Strix RTX 4080 PCB with an air-based cooling solution designed by Noctua. The cooler has two large aluminium fin-stacks that have been skewered by eight 6 mm-thick nickel-plated copper heatpipes, and ventilated by a pair of Noctua's top-of-the-line NF-A12x25 120 mm fans that feature fluid-dynamic bearings. The fan-tuning for this card is a Noctua-ASUS collaboration, and promises to make this the quietest air-cooled RTX 4080 you can buy.

The newest 2023 Lenovo Legion lineup of battle-ready PCs, monitors, and accessories are unveiled today, setting a new standard in PC gaming for 2023 that gives gamers the edge they need to top the leaderboards. Lenovo is harnessing the pure power of PC gaming with its new lineup for CES 2023, unlocking the freedom to dominate the battlefield with AI-tuned performance that lets gamers crush both framerates and the competition. Brand new for 2023 is the new Lenovo LA AI chip, the world's first dedicated AI chip on a gaming laptop, installed on the new Lenovo Legion Pro 7 and 7i (16", 8) laptops and the Lenovo Legion Pro 5 and 5i (16", 8) laptops.

Lenovo AI Engine+, powered by the Lenovo LA AI chip, deploys a software machine learning algorithm to optimally tune system performance. The chip uses software machine learning, deployed through Lenovo Vantage, to help monitor in-game FPS and dynamically adjust for the highest performance output. Offering up to 15% higher TDP, this chip and machine learning software combo allows Legion Pro Series laptops to deliver higher performance compared to previous generations. Lenovo Legion Pro 7i and Lenovo Legion Pro 5 and 5i laptops also come with Tobii Horizon, providing gearless head tracking that gives players an extra level of immersion when playing their favorite games, as well as Tobii Aware.

ASUS today announced the GeForce RTX 4080 Noctua Edition graphics card, a continuation of its collaboration with the legendary cooling company, building on the previous GeForce RTX 3070 and RTX 3080 Noctua variants. This year ASUS and Noctua have worked together to tame the power of the mighty GeForce RTX 4080 graphics card. Noctua fan-design prowess and an ASUS custom-built vapor chamber combine to create the quietest air-cooled RTX 4080 on the market.

Cool and quiet
The ASUS GeForce RTX 4080 Noctua Edition incorporates a pair of state-of-the-art Noctua NF-A12x25 fans to move air over a massive heatsink, developed in a partnership between the veteran ASUS thermal R&D team and the engineers at Noctua. The engineers successfully refined the fin density and heat pipe arrangement of the heatsink, optimizing it for the airflow characteristics of the NF-A12x25. To prioritize low noise levels, a smooth acoustic signature and high cooling performance while making room for the pair of 120 mm fans, ASUS expanded the card's total volume to occupy 4.3 slots of space. The card features a Dual BIOS switch, and Quiet mode is enabled by default to minimize noise right out of the box.

Besides the show-stopping NV7 full-tower case, Phanteks showed off a wealth of new gear at its private show on the sidelines of the 2023 CES. The D30-120 is a stackable 120 mm fan that can work either individually, or stacked in rows of three sideways, so a single cable can drive all three fans and their lighting. They attach to each other over contact points that are concealed by detachable bits in the fan-frame. The fans feature high static pressure, and FDB bearing, and are ideal for radiator applications.

Colorful Technology Company Limited, a world-renowned manufacturer of desktop components, laptops, desktops, AIO PCs, and storage, proudly announces the highly-anticipated and much requested white version of the Vulcan Series - the new iGame Vulcan White Series. The iGame GeForce RTX 4090 White Edition and RTX 4080 Vulcan White Edition graphics cards are designed to complement white-themed gaming PC builds. Both White Edition graphics cards have identical specifications with the standard Vulcan models, also with the same higher factory overclock compared to other models in the iGame Series.

We did more than just create a white version of the Vulcan Series, we made sure it will fit white themed gaming PC builds. The iGame GeForce RTX 4090/RTX 4080 Vulcan White Edition's die-cast alloy frame, backplate, cooling armor, Hurricane Scythe Blades, and heat sink fin stack are all in white. The Vulcan White Series features the iGame Smart LCD with white frames. The die-cast alloy frame was anodized in white. To complete the all-white look of the Vulcan W, the heat sink's fin stack was given a special white powder coating that will provide a complementing elegant look without compromising its cooling potential.

Acer announced two powerful Predator Helios gaming laptops and a pair of Predator gaming monitors. The laptops feature an all-new design with 16-inch and 18-inch display sizes, the latest 13th Gen Intel Core mobile processors and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 40 Series GPUs, making them Acer's most powerful gaming laptops to date. The Predator X45 showcases a massive 800R curved monitor and has earned a CES Innovation Award in the "Computer Peripherals & Accessories" category. Along with the Predator X27U, both monitors include OLED technology with fast 240 Hz refresh rates.

Predator Helios 16, Predator Helios 18 Laptops
The all-new Predator Helios 16 (PH16-71) and Predator Helios 18 (PH18-71) bring the latest and greatest tech to Acer's most powerful gaming laptop series. Sporting a completely new design and upgraded thermals, they both offer models that include 13th Gen Intel Core i9 or i7 HX processors paired with up to NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Laptop GPU (MGP up to 165 W) and a plethora of must-have top-of-the-line gaming features.

A leaked NVIDIA company slide confirms that the upcoming GeForce RTX 4070 Ti graphics card will launch at a starting price of USD $799. This would put it $100 cheaper than what was going to be the launch price of the RTX 4080 12 GB. NVIDIA cancelled the launch of the RTX 4080 12 GB, and reportedly re-branded it to the RTX 4070 Ti. The RTX 4080 12 GB was supposed to launch alongside the RTX 4080 16 GB in mid-November 2022, but the company decided to "unlaunch" it, in the wake of bad press on the confusing and deceptive naming of the SKU, and its ambitious MSRP that would have put custom-design cards well above the $1,000-mark.

The NVIDIA slide goes on to claim that the RTX 4070 Ti will be faster than the previous-generation flagship, the RTX 3090 Ti. This is thanks to its 40 shader TFLOP/s, 93 RT TFLOP/s, and 642 Tensor TFLOP/s. The RTX 4070 Ti is expected to debut the new 4 nm "AD104" silicon, featuring 7,680 CUDA cores, 60 RT cores, 240 Tensor cores, 240 TMUs, and 80 ROPs. The card features 12 GB of 21 Gbps GDDR6X memory across a rather narrow 192-bit memory bus. The slide confirms that January 5, 2023 will be the market availability date for the RTX 4070 Ti. NVIDIA's decision to price the RTX 4070 Ti at $799 may have been influenced by the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT priced at $899.

With less than a week to go until the official launch of the GeForce RTX 4070 Ti, NVIDIA France has gone and spoiled things by revealing the official specs of the upcoming GPU. The French division of NVIDIA appears to have posted the full product page, but it has since then been pulled. That didn't prevent Twitter leaker @momomo_us from snapping a couple of screenshots, including that of the official performance numbers from NVIDIA.

There aren't any real surprises here though, as we already knew the CUDA core count and the memory size, courtesy of the RTX 4070 Ti having been the RTX 4080 12 GB, until NVIDIA changed its mind. It's interesting to see that NVIDIA compares the RTX 4070 Ti to the RTX 3080 12 GB in the three official benchmarks, as it makes the RTX 4070 Ti look a lot better than it is in reality, at least based on the rumoured MSRP of US$800-900. One of the three benchmarks is Cyberpunk 2077 using Raytracingl, where NVIDIA suggests the RTX 4070 Ti is around 3.5 times faster than the RTX 3080, but it's worth reading the fine print. We'll know next week how the RTX 4070 Ti actually performs, as well as where the official pricing and actual retail pricing ends up.

At its 2023 International CES event, NVIDIA is expected to launch not just its desktop GeForce RTX 4070 and RTX 4070 Ti graphics cards, but more importantly, also its GeForce RTX 40-series Laptop GPU series powering next-generation gaming notebooks based on the upcoming 13th Gen Core "Raptor Lake" processors. NVIDIA seems to be making a very tight rope-walk between power-management and generational performance increase in this power- and thermal-constrained form-factor. Wccftech scored a major scoop on the specs of various RTX 40-series Laptop GPUs.

The GeForce RTX 40-series "Ada" Laptop GPU lineup will be led by the RTX 4090 Laptop GPU, based on the 4 nm "AD103" silicon (same one that powers the desktop RTX 4080). It will be equipped with 16 GB of memory, a yet-unknown core-configuration, GPU Boost frequencies of up to 2.04 GHz, and typical power draw ranging between 150 W to 175 W, which can peak up to 200 W thanks to the 25 W dynamic boost range (power permissible by the platform if the other components such as CPU aren't drawing their peak power).

ASUS and Noctua have had great success with their limited edition GeForce RTX 30-series graphics cards in the past. The collaboration saw ASUS-marketed graphics cards that combine an ASUS-designed PCB with a cooling solution designed and supplied by Noctua, combining their best VGA heatsink technology with a pair of their high static-pressure FDB fans. The ASUS x Noctua RTX 3080 (pictured below) remains among the best RTX 3080 cards we ever got a chance to test. It turns out that ASUS and Noctua will continue their collaboration with the new RTX 40-series "Ada" generation. ChipHell reports that ASUS will show off its next ASUS x Noctua graphics card(s) at the 2023 International CES. The report doesn't specify which GPU they will use. CES could see the introduction of at least two more RTX 40-series SKUs, namely the RTX 4070 Ti, and the RTX 4070, so it could be anything. Given that ASUS has given the Noctua treatment to the RTX 3080, it's quite possible that the RTX 4080 could get it too, at some point.

Here are some of the first pictures of a GIGABYTE GeForce RTX 4070 Ti custom-design graphics cards, the RTX 4070 Ti AERO. GIGABYTE targets the AERO brand of graphics cards, motherboards, and notebooks, at creators who like to game, hence the product design that's a lot less flashy than the company's AORUS or Gaming OC brands of graphics cards. An interesting aspect of this card is that it features a 16-pin ATX 12VHPWR connector, and includes an NVIDIA-supplied power adapter that converts two 8-pin PCIe power connectors to one 12VHPWR. We know this adapter is different from the 2x 8-pin to 12-pin adapter NVIDIA included with the RTX 3080 Founders Edition, looking at the four sensor pins.

The connector has keying for 300 W, and so the typical board power of the RTX 4070 Ti will be at or below 300 W. The GeForce RTX 4070 Ti is essentially a re-branding of what would have been the RTX 4080 12 GB, had NVIDIA not decided to "unlaunch" it. The SKU maxes out the 4 nm "AD104" silicon, featuring 7,680 CUDA cores across 60 streaming multiprocessors (SM), 240 Tensor cores, 60 RT cores, 240 TMUs, and 80 ROPs. The chip features a 192-bit GDDR6X memory interface, which was at the heart of the RTX 4080 12 GB naming controversy.

ASUS Republic of Gamers (ROG) today announced the Strix GeForce RTX 4090 and 4080 White Edition graphics cards, available for enthusiast gamers and DIY builders everywhere. The cutting-edge NVIDIA GeForce RTX 40 Series has taken performance to a whole new level while offering heaps of VRAM, more CUDA cores and an overbuilt cooling system that stays nearly silent even at full load. Now, ASUS is pleased to announce four new versions with eye-catching all-white finishes.

DIY PC building is all about personal taste when selecting components, and the new ROG Strix GeForce RTX 4090 White Edition and ROG Strix GeForce RTX 4090 OC White Edition give discerning builders the option to brighten up a build or color-coordinate with other ROG peripherals, such as the ROG Strix Scope NX TKL Moonlight White. Boasting 16,384 CUDA cores and 24 GB of GDDR6X VRAM, these cards are welcome in simulation rigs, high-end streaming PCs and professional production machines alike.

VideoCardz has obtained images and specifications of PNY's two upcoming GeForce RTX 4070 Ti models. According to the latest leak, these GPUs are equipped with 7680 CUDA cores and 12 GB of GDDR6X memory. This configuration resembles the canceled GeForce RTX 4080 12 GB edition card, which confirms that NVIDIA will rebrand it under the RTX 4070 Ti naming scheme. PNY has prepared GeForce RTX 4070 Ti XLR8 VERTO and VERTO GPUs, with the difference in cooler design and applied factory overclocking. The XLR8 version bears the same cooler as the RTX 4080 XRL8 card, adapted for the RTX 4070 Ti GPU SKU. This design should naturally offer greater overclocking performance than the regular VERTO SKU.

The render below looks like the 16-pin 12VHPWR power connector remains on these cards and that PNY has not swapped it for another solution. We expect to hear more about these cards on January 5th, when NVIDIA plans to launch.

While NVIDIA has launched high-end GeForce RTX 4090 and RTX 4080 GPUs from its Ada Lovelace family, middle and lower-end products are brewing to satisfy the entire consumer market. Today, according to the kopite7kimi, a well-known leaker, we have potential information about the configuration of the upcoming GeForce RTX 4060 Ti graphics card. Featuring 4352 FP32 CUDA cores, the GPU is powered by an AD106-350-A1 die. On the die, there is 32 MB of L2 cache. To pair, it has 8 GB of GDDR6 18 Gbps memory, which should be enough to power games at 1440p resolution, which this card is aiming for.

The design of the cards reference PG190 PCB is supposedly very short, making it ideal for ITX-sized designs we could see from NVIDIA's AIB partners. Interestingly, with a TDP of 220 Watts, the reference card is powered by the infamous 16-pin 12VHPWR connector, capable of supplying 600 Watts of power. This choice of connector is unclear; however, it could be NVIDIA's push to standardize its usage across all products in the Ada Lovelace family stack. While the card should not need the full potential of the connector, it signals that the company could only be using this type of connector for all of its future designs.