Tuesday, September 24th 2024
NVIDIA RTX 5090 "Blackwell" Could Feature Two 16-pin Power Connectors
NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang never misses an opportunity to remind us that Moore's Law is cooked, and that future generations of logic hardware will only get larger and hotter, or hungrier for power. NVIDIA's next generation "Blackwell" graphics architecture promises to bring certain architecture-level performance/Watt improvements, coupled with the node-level performance/Watt improvements from the switch to the TSMC 4NP (4 nm-class) node. Even so, the GeForce RTX 5090, or the part that succeeds the current RTX 4090, will be a power hungry GPU, with rumors suggesting the need for two 16-pin power inputs.
TweakTown reports that the RTX 5090 could come with two 16-pin power connectors, which should give the card the theoretical ability to pull 1200 W (continuous). This doesn't mean that the GPU's total graphics power (TGP) is 1200 W, but a number close to or greater than 600 W, which calls for two of these connectors. Even if the TGP is exactly 600 W, NVIDIA would want to deploy two inputs, to spread the load among two connectors, and improve physical resilience of the connector. It's likely that both connectors will have 600 W input capability, so end-users don't mix up connectors should one of them be 600 W and the other keyed to 150 W or 300 W.
Above is a quick Photoshop job by TweakTown of how such a card could look like. The requirement of two 16-pin connectors should rule out older PSU types, and NVIDIA will likely only include one adapter that converts two or three 8-pin PCIe power connectors to a 16-pin, with the other input expected to be a native 600 W input from an ATX 3.0 or ATX 3.1 PSU. Most of the newer generation ATX 3.0 or ATX 3.1 PSUs in the market only have one native 16-pin connector, and three or four additional 8-pin PCIe power connectors. As for the connector itself, this could very likely be a 12V-2x6 with compatibility for 12VHPWR.
Some PSU manufacturers are beginning to release high-Wattage models with two native 12V-2x6 connectors. These would typically have a Wattage of over 1300 W. The Seasonic Prime PX-2200 W, released earlier this week, is an extreme example of this trend. Besides its high Wattage, this PSU puts out as many as four 12V-2x6 connectors. Another recent example would be the MSI MEG AI1600T PCIE5 (1600 W), with two native 600 W 12V-2x6.
Source:
TweakTown
TweakTown reports that the RTX 5090 could come with two 16-pin power connectors, which should give the card the theoretical ability to pull 1200 W (continuous). This doesn't mean that the GPU's total graphics power (TGP) is 1200 W, but a number close to or greater than 600 W, which calls for two of these connectors. Even if the TGP is exactly 600 W, NVIDIA would want to deploy two inputs, to spread the load among two connectors, and improve physical resilience of the connector. It's likely that both connectors will have 600 W input capability, so end-users don't mix up connectors should one of them be 600 W and the other keyed to 150 W or 300 W.
Some PSU manufacturers are beginning to release high-Wattage models with two native 12V-2x6 connectors. These would typically have a Wattage of over 1300 W. The Seasonic Prime PX-2200 W, released earlier this week, is an extreme example of this trend. Besides its high Wattage, this PSU puts out as many as four 12V-2x6 connectors. Another recent example would be the MSI MEG AI1600T PCIE5 (1600 W), with two native 600 W 12V-2x6.
110 Comments on NVIDIA RTX 5090 "Blackwell" Could Feature Two 16-pin Power Connectors
and i dont and never will never play online (stream/cloud), short of 2 or 3 games where its about the fun (squad made up from friends not sitting next to each other), unless its a game requires to be online (but still runs on my pc/console).
and i didnt even do consoles anymore myself, as crossplay doesnt require it anymore, and i rather invest same amount in upgrades, vs replacing the whole console every couple years, ignoring it wont (easily) run my older games like fleet command or pinball machines.
The “burning” problem with 4090 connectors is current (A), forget watt. Current flow “creates” heat through wires and connectors without perfect touch of pins because of resistance.
In future going from 12V to 24V will cut current in half = less resistance and heat. It’s simple math to get the same wattage with higher voltage.
This is the reason why many high performance EVs are switching from 400V to 800V. To cut current (A) in half. Wiring was getting thicker and thicker as power was increasing and the risk of fire was getting higher on wire connections in the car.
Of course this is done a lot easier on EVs than PCs. On PCs too many thing have to change for that kind of transition. Won’t be easy but if power keeps growing it will be inevitable.
GG WP
2x 16-pin seems the right thing to do to avoid some melting issues like with the 4090. Also AIBs will definitely release some variants with 600W+ BIOS so they will definitely need 2x 16-pin connectors.
But to be real... Whoever buys a GPU for 2000€+ is probably also okay with 600W powerdraw. This is - in gaming realms - pure enthusiast, and if you use it for work, you buy what you need anyway.
Otherwise, one has to be really thorough in looking at a card disassembled to check if it transfers weight to the case through the I/O bracket.
If Nvidia use the sense pins to block GPU powering up with only one cable, then people will be having to buy 1300watt PSUs to use a card that might consume less than half that.