Monday, October 11th 2021
PCIe Gen5 "12VHPWR" Connector to Deliver Up to 600 Watts of Power for Next-Generation Graphics Cards
The upcoming graphics cards based on PCIe Gen5 standard will utilize the latest PCIe connector with double bandwidth of the previous Gen4 that we use today and bring a new power connector that the next generation of GPUs brings. According to the information exclusive to Igor's Lab, the new connector will be called the 12VHPWR and will carry as many as 16 pins with it. The reason it is called 12VHPWR is that it features 12 pins for power, while the remaining four are signal transmission connectors to coordinate the delivery. This power connector is supposed to carry as much as 600 Watts of power with its 16 pins.
The new 12VHPWR connector should work exclusively with PCIe Gen5 graphics cards and not be backward compatible with anything else. It is said to replace three standard 8-pin power connectors found on some high-end graphics cards and will likely result in power supply manufacturers adopting the new standard. The official PCI-SIG specification defines each pin capable of sustaining up to 9.2 Amps, translating to a total of 55.2 Amps at 12 Volts. Theoretically, this translates to 662 Watts; however, Igor's Lab notes that the connector is limited to 600 Watts. Additionally, the 12VHPWR connector power pins have a 3.00 mm pitch, while the contacts in a legacy 2×3 (6-pin) and 2×4 (8-pin) connector lie on a larger 4.20 mm pitch.
There are already implementations of this connector, and one comes from Amphenol ICC. The company has designed a 12VHPWR connector and listed it ready for sale. You can check that out on the company website.
Source:
Igor's Lab
The new 12VHPWR connector should work exclusively with PCIe Gen5 graphics cards and not be backward compatible with anything else. It is said to replace three standard 8-pin power connectors found on some high-end graphics cards and will likely result in power supply manufacturers adopting the new standard. The official PCI-SIG specification defines each pin capable of sustaining up to 9.2 Amps, translating to a total of 55.2 Amps at 12 Volts. Theoretically, this translates to 662 Watts; however, Igor's Lab notes that the connector is limited to 600 Watts. Additionally, the 12VHPWR connector power pins have a 3.00 mm pitch, while the contacts in a legacy 2×3 (6-pin) and 2×4 (8-pin) connector lie on a larger 4.20 mm pitch.
97 Comments on PCIe Gen5 "12VHPWR" Connector to Deliver Up to 600 Watts of Power for Next-Generation Graphics Cards
and also....great....lets just embrace gpu's using more and more power....
I cannot watch YouTube videos at work, what's the exact pinouts? The First datasheet is for the PCIE 2x not the hybrid PEG12.
I am in favor of some law that puts a limit on the power consumption of such a product, let the manufactuers find other ways to squeeze out more performance.
My 3060Ti is almost 4x as powerful as the 970, and STILL only consumes 200 watts maximum.
WHY THE HELL do we need individual 600W PCIe power connectors??!! For 1200W graphics cards? Or are there some monster mining chips coming that pack the hash rate of multiple 3090s that I don't know about?How the hell is it good?"New in stock - Power Supply Risers!"Right now I'm feeling like standing in midst of a fire and pouring gasoline on myself.
ick. why not the same gauge? - yeah whatever; this needs to die.
there is time.
Someday we will get free external power brick in the GPU box.I remember Pascal was a leap in terms of power efficiency. GTX 1080 with only one 8-pin was a hot topic back then at launch.
Even 1080 Ti with 8+6 pin was considered very efficient.
What is even going on... we're going backwards again.
Also, I don't see why anyone would care that it is rated for up to 600W of load? The 3090 consumes up to 400W of power under load, realistically its nice to have a delivery system with a decent amount of over capacity so that the wires/connector don't heat up and melt/cause a fire.