There’s a hot new power connector in the desktop PC world… and by hot, we mean “literally melting.” Issues with the new 12VHPWR power connector design for the latest PCIe 5.0-compliant graphics cards have seen a design flaw that apparently makes it extremely tricky to get electrical contacts properly inserted and aligned, resulting in isolated but extremely troubling examples of expensive failure. Designs for a revised standard are now coming to light, and will hopefully solve the issue.
According to trusted German leaker Igor’s Lab, the PCI-SIG (the industrial group that standardizes PCI data and power connections) has revised the 12VHPWR design into the upcoming 12V-2×6 connector. Physically it looks almost identical, with twelve standard power pins and four extra, smaller pins for sideband data (making it reverse compatible), and it can handle the same maximum 600 watts of power to the connected device.
According to the leaked specs, slight millimeter-sized tweaks to the connector header will make connections safer and easier to accomplish, and cards will refuse to power on if the four smaller pins aren’t properly connected, offering an emergency failsafe that informs the user they need to check the connection. There’s also an instruction to manufacturers to tie off cables further behind the male plug in order to avoid warping issues.
Less drastic revisions to the standard also mean that these cables will support 300-watt and 150-watt cards, so that 12V-2×6 could more effectively replace a wider variety of power cables used with PCIe cards, and the new standard allows for up to 75 watts delivered over the PCIe connection itself. The new header connector will be delineated from the old one with “H++” printed on the plastic, as opposed to H+ on the 12VHPWR.
Unfortunately, we might be in for a bit of wait before we see this new header design show up on a large number of consumer products. According to Igor Wallossek, the new standard will arrive along with the PCIe 6.0 and ATX 3.1, and is not yet finalized. We might see early versions of the 12VHPWR design implement some of these changes (almost impossible to tell by eye, remember)—in fact, Nvidia might be using it on some RTX 40-series cards already. Other manufacturers are going with more straightforward solutions like MSI’s yellow visual indicators.
Author: Michael Crider, Staff Writer, PCWorld
Michael is a 10-year veteran of technology journalism, covering everything from Apple to ZTE. On PCWorld he's the resident keyboard nut, always using a new one for a review and building a new mechanical board or expanding his desktop "battlestation" in his off hours. Michael's previous bylines include Android Police, Digital Trends, Wired, Lifehacker, and How-To Geek, and he's covered events like CES and Mobile World Congress live. Michael lives in Pennsylvania where he's always looking forward to his next kayaking trip.