8-pin PCIe to ATX 12VHPWR Adapter Included with RTX 40-series Graphics Cards Has a Limited Service-Life of 30 Connect-Disconnect Cycles

[zlobby]

Most small plugs like that including usb etc etc typically have a low in/out cycle life.

Eh, USB has a small plug cycle?

 

[konga]

This is an irresponsible article. 30 connection cycles is an industry standard and this rating does not make this any less safe than the PCIe connectors you've already been using. Proof: https://www.molex.com/webdocs/datasheets/pdf/en-us/0455860005_PCB_HEADERS.pdf

Ctrl+F for "mating cycles" in that document.

 

[trsttte]

This is an irresponsible article. 30 connection cycles is an industry standard and this rating does not make this any less safe than the PCIe connectors you've already been using. Proof: https://www.molex.com/webdocs/datasheets/pdf/en-us/0455860005_PCB_HEADERS.pdf

Ctrl+F for "mating cycles" in that document.

It's the typical industrial ass covering, but I think Zotac is more irresponsible by bringing that to a consumer product. USB-C has a service life of 10000 cycles for example

 

[Arkz]

Completely normal phenomenon.

 

[konga]

It's the typical industrial ass covering, but I think Zotac is more irresponsible by bringing that to a consumer product. USB-C has a service life of 10000 cycles for example

My point is that these 30-cycle connectors are already in all of the consumer graphics cards you've been buying for the last 15 years. This is nothing new. These are power connectors designed to be used a fairly limited number of times, not USB cables.

 

[cvaldes]

It's the typical industrial ass covering, but I think Zotac is more irresponsible by bringing that to a consumer product. USB-C has a service life of 10000 cycles for example

Phew.

I'm glad to hear USB-C is more than 30 duty cycles seeing as how I plug in/disconnect my iPad three times a day on average. Very thoughtful of Apple to consider "extreme" users like me.

 

[zlobby]

Completely normal phenomenon.

30 cycles? Not great, not terrible. I've seen worse.

 

[meatwar]

Cheers to EVGA... more and more we see their arguments...and they were right.
The world is ours, we have a brief passage on it...but we cannot give it to them and help on what they are trying to achieve...this company and many others around the world.

 

[jonnyGURU]

Don't use a PSU with a 12VHPWR connector on the PSU and disconnect the power from the mini-fit HCS connector (which is rated at 100 cycles). Problem solved.

 

[natr0n]

You can leave the adapter on the card always/forever and you should have no issues. Also dont be a savage.

 

[Blue4130]

GPU you should be replacing paste once per year.

This is ridiculous. What is your logic/reasoning /proof of this?

 

[A Computer Guy]

GPU you should be replacing paste once per year.

Thermal Grizzly has entered the chat and raises eyebrows...

 

[mechtech]

Eh, USB has a small plug cycle?

Compared to spec grade and hospital grade 120vac plugs which are in the 1000's maybe 10,000+

Yes.

I've seen crappy $ store usb cords wear in probably less than 100 i/o's Now USB A no problem, just squish the connector a bit for a good tight fit

 

[jonnyGURU]

You can leave the adapter on the card always/forever and you should have no issues. Also dont be a savage.

Yeah... if you use the adapter.

Compared to spec grade and hospital grade 120vac plugs which are in the 1000's maybe 10,000+

Yes.

I've seen crappy $ store usb cords wear in probably less than 100 i/o's Now USB A no problem, just squish the connector a bit for a good tight fit

Yeah. My kid doesn't get many "duty cycles" out of USB 3.0. They're usually broken in about three months time. Even with strain relief.

 

[AsRock]

Limited service life with up to 30 connect / disconnects.

NVIDIA isn't taking any chances with safety.

HAHAHA, as if it does go wrong you have 0 proof it was our fault, you have been warned.

It's about as much power as a travel hairdryer, which comes with a similar-sized 2-pin AC plug. It won't burn houses. Besides 12VHPWR is an ATX standard, NVIDIA only implemented it.

Terrible example, to start with you don't run a air dryer for long period of time. Unless your saying it's ok as long as i don't have my PC on playing a game more than 10-15 minutes.

 

[Deleted member 185088]

One issue I can see is when buying used, you don't know how many times the damn thing has been used.
This is ridiculous, especially given the price of these cards, one expects premium quality.

 

[jonnyGURU]

One issue I can see is when buying used, you don't know how many times the damn thing has been used.
This is ridiculous, especially given the price of these cards, one expects premium quality.

Buy used PSU. Replace all cables. That's also actually good practice when buying all of these used PSUs dumped on the market left over from torn down mining rigs.

 

[chrcoluk]

Does this apply to the adaptors supplied for 3000 series FE cards as well then as those are essentially the same thing?

 

[evernessince]

This is ridiculous. What is your logic/reasoning /proof of this?

Der8auer who owns Thermal Grizzly. It's called the pump out effect. The lower the viscosity of a paste the quicker the process is. Lower viscosity paste tends to perform better than that of high viscosity paste at the cost of increased pump out. Intel stock paste for example of a low performing high viscosity paste but doesn't need to be replaced frequently.

This is particularly important for high wattage components like GPUs as the larger heat load means the impact of pump out is more pronounced.

 

[jonnyGURU]

Der8auer who owns Thermal Grizzly. It's called the pump out effect. The lower the viscosity of a paste the quicker the process is. Lower viscosity paste tends to perform better than that of high viscosity paste at the cost of increased pump out. Intel stock paste for example of a low performing high viscosity paste but doesn't need to be replaced frequently.

This is particularly important for high wattage components like GPUs as the larger heat load means the impact of pump out is more pronounced.

Can confirm. Same thing happens with PSUs. The TIM used between MOSFETs and the heatsinks. Yet, when a PSU dies, it's always "U mSt HaVe BlowN a CAP" when odds are it's a MOSFET or schottky diode suffers thermal runaway.

 

[Bwaze]

WCCFTECH:

"Update: We have confirmed with NVIDIA that the 30-cycle spec for the 16-pin connector is the same as it has been for the past 20+ years. The same 30-cycle spec exists for the standard PCIe/ATX 8-pin connector (aka mini-fit Molex). The same connector is used by AMD and all other GPU vendors too so all of those cards also share a 30-cycle life. So in short, nothing has changed for the RTX 40 GPU series."

 

[konga]

This is what I've been saying. Everyone's freaking out over nothing.

@btarunr Please update the article.

 

[jonnyGURU]

This is what I've been saying. Everyone's freaking out over nothing.

@btarunr Please update the article.

They won't. Drama gets hits.

 

[Deleted member 185088]

Buy used PSU. Replace all cables. That's also actually good practice when buying all of these used PSUs dumped on the market left over from torn down mining rigs.

I would say buy anything miners used, they don't abuse their hardware unlike gamers.
One has to be careful with PSU cables, using the wrong cable could cause some damage.

WCCFTECH:

"Update: We have confirmed with NVIDIA that the 30-cycle spec for the 16-pin connector is the same as it has been for the past 20+ years. The same 30-cycle spec exists for the standard PCIe/ATX 8-pin connector (aka mini-fit Molex). The same connector is used by AMD and all other GPU vendors too so all of those cards also share a 30-cycle life. So in short, nothing has changed for the RTX 40 GPU series."

Wonder why didn't they just mention this, whoever decided to suddenly mention this wanted to create drama.

 

[Dirt Chip]

I'm confused as to why it's a 12+4 connector. Why not just 16 pin? Have we seen any designs that use only the 12 pin? It seems like it would be cheaper and easier to manufacture to use only the 16 pin design... even if the card is only physically wired for 12 pins, just leave the 4 additional pins unpopulated.

The 4 pin doesn't deliver power, it just for feedback and power regulation. Like pwm just for the gpu so you need 4 and not just 1 as in fans.
Depend on the psu and gpu, the 4 pin "decide" to give a maximum of 300-600w