The 12V-2x6 power connector, replacement to the highly controversial 12VHPWR connector, has finally been tested, & it's revealed that the standard can deliver an astonishing 660W power, that too without being completely connected or going up in flames.
Initial Testing Indicates That 12V-2x6 Connectors Might Finally Replace The Controversial 12VHPWR, More Durable Minus The Melting
After the 12VHPWR fiasco, GPU manufacturers and the electronics industry which included bodies such as PCI-SIG, started looking for alternatives and ways to resolve the issues encountered with the initial designs.
In the midst of it came the adoption of a unique type of connector labeled as "12V-2x6". While the overall design is pretty much similar to the 12VHPWR, the factor that made the connector "implementable" is that it can deliver additional power through the PCIe GPU slot as well, which extends the possibilities of power draw for future GPUs. It was reported that the standard could potentially deliver 675W adequately and in the review by Hardware Busters, this is indeed true.
Hardware Busters paid a visit to the electronics company Linewell, where they got to test out 12V-2x6 power connectors. In an extensive 50-minute test, it was revealed that the connector delivered up to 600W of power without any trouble. Moreover, the connector was able to maintain the temperatures within the 40°C-50°C range, which is exceptional given that peak power delivery reached 640W as well. This made it evident that "12V-2x6" will potentially eradicate the "melting" trouble that several consumers faced with their Ada GPUs at the start.
Now, at the consumer end, what makes 12V-2x6 beneficial? Without going into technical details, the connector can be said to come with some "checks" starting with adequate connectivity. The "sense pins", which are used to monitor voltage, actually can figure out whether the connector is inserted properly, and if not, it can restrict the PD output as well. This is what makes the implementation of 12V-2x6 connectors an actual possibility, and we might see it being used in next-gen GPUs.
With that said, one thing is evident, we should bid farewell to the rather troublesome 12VHPWR connector type. There are several other potential connectors taking its place, such as the newly introduced "GC-HPWR" connector by ASUS, but this all depends on how GPU manufacturers pan out their future releases and the cost feasibility as well.
This also opens up the room for AMD to reconsider the use of the new connectors as the company already had plans to implement them within the RX 7800 XT & RX 7700 XT but dropped them due to the risks associated with the plug. Now that 12V-2x6 fixes these issues, it is likely that we will see the connectors on newer Radeon GPUs in the future. NVIDIA has also implemented the new power connectors in its latest SKUs with the latest batch of RTX 4090 GPUs (the card that was most prone to melting) now featuring the new standard.
News Sources: Hardware Busters , VideoCardz
About the author: Muhammad Zuhair is a hardware and technology reporter for Wccftech, specializing in the semiconductor industry and the complex interplay between technology, manufacturing, and geopolitics. His coverage focuses on the corporate strategies and technological roadmaps of industry giants like TSMC, NVIDIA, Samsung, and Intel. Zuhair's expertise lies in deconstructing complex topics such as fabrication nodes (e.g., 2nm process), the economic impact of policies like the CHIPS Act, and the strategic development of AI infrastructure from NVIDIA, AMD and Intel.
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