Just recently, we told you that a new power connector for graphics cards was about to make its appearance… Well, “new”, since it’s more a question of changing the dimensions of the existing model. Indeed, in order to improve the safety of the 12VHPWR (which becomes 12V-2×6), PCI-SIG shortened the signal pins.
However, we’ve learned that NVIDIA didn’t wait for this connector revision to see the light of day before using it. In fact, it’s already at work on the RTX 4070 FE from Green.
RTX 4070 already using the new 12VHPWR?
As we said, the main difference between the two versions of the connector is the lower four pins. These are shorter on the new version. The aim is to prevent them from making contact when the male plug is incorrectly inserted, so that the PC won’t boot.
The RTX 4070 uses this new version, whose final specifications have not yet been finalized, according to Overclock3D. As you can see, the pins are much further into the socket than those of the RTX 4080 connector. The offset is 1.7 mm, compared with just 0.45 mm on the first version.
Whether or not this solution is effective remains to be seen. For the time being, the majority of boards with melted power sockets are RTX 4080s and RTX 4090s using the initial version of the connector. However, let’s not mix things up either, since a 4090 can consume over 400W, compared with ~200W for the 4070… It’s not the same stress that’s applied to the connector.
