Reply 300 of 319, by Trashbytes
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LSS10999 wrote on 2026-03-30, 11:39:I just checked the list of nVidia video cards and found something... actually, most current workstation video cards top out at 3 […]
Trashbytes wrote on 2026-03-30, 06:35:They all have and the cards work just fine with 3x8 or even 4x8 the issue with the new connectors isn't the size of the connecto […]
LSS10999 wrote on 2026-03-30, 05:15:Personally I don't have any video card of the generations that introduced the 12VHPWR and 12V-2x6 connectors, and I don't think I'll need one. My latest nVidia card is RTX A4000 which still works well with the last few Windows versions (Server 2012 for example), but apparently the latest driver for those OSes, 474.44, is broken, as it would crash when using Vulkan (OpenGL is okay, though). I'm currently using driver 463.15 with which Vulkan is working okay.
From what I saw online those new connectors are a bit smaller than the older 8-pin connector yet rated for much more power... something very unusual considering Joule's law where one would want a larger connector surface (lower resistance) in the face of higher amperes of current to keep heat generation within limits.
I'm afraid that a few years later these generations of video cards will become total e-wastes with little reusable/resellable value as they keep frying and rendered nonfunctional. I wonder if any nVidia card vendor has experimented with designing current video cards around older 8-pin connectors?
They all have and the cards work just fine with 3x8 or even 4x8 the issue with the new connectors isn't the size of the connector its load spreading across the pins, the 5090 typically draws between 500 - 600 watts across one connector but can pull 1000watts if allowed with two HPWR connectors They have found that if even one of the pins has a slightly bad connection the card will draw an unbalanced load and put extra load on the pins with a better connection which as you can imagine causes extra heat on an already stressed pin.
They are now putting active load monitoring and balancing in PSUs for the connector, if the PSU detects even an unbalanced load where one pin is beyond its rating it will force the GPU into a 70watt limp mode and alert the user.
That said ... the 8pin connector was .. perfect and the only reason nVidia went with the new one was forced obsolescence, they knew full well that a connector like that wont last long and that they cant change it at will. This naturally makes their GPUs much harder to use once the connector gets changed for a new format that wont work with the older cards.\
But its not hard to adapt the 8pin connectors to fit the new ones so ...whats the point of having new connectors really.
I just checked the list of nVidia video cards and found something... actually, most current workstation video cards top out at 300W TDP, even the highest end ones. The only one known with above 300W TDP is the RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell (600W), though it also has a Max-Q edition that's clocked much lower and also rated 300W, while otherwise identical.
Perhaps 300W is considered a relatively safe threshold for the new connectors, that nVidia wouldn't dare pushing workstation models beyond it, considering they are extremely expensive. Those cards come with much more RAM than their respective consumer counterparts, and most likely use more reliable components.
So for consumer cards, maybe it's better off designing performance profiles that would keep those high-end cards' power consumption at 300W or less while minimizing performance losses. It's quite possible the connectors were designed to handle 300W rather than 600W, that rating it for 600W is likely to incentivize vendors to clock them much higher for better price and sale than competitors.
here is the thing with the Workstation cards, they are built for reliability not performance so there is no need for them to draw 500 watts. The other thing Workstation cards have is the ability to chain 2 or more of them together in the same machine if they need extra performance or VRAM.
The new connectors are rated for 600 watts max, the cards shouldn't exceed this but . .transient spikes happen and consumers will run their GPU at max for hours on end overheating the socket.
Gaming GPUS on the other hand are like drag cars, they are designed to pull as much wattage as the design will allow (not always safely) in return they sacrifice reliability and gain huge gaming performance. You can lock them to 300 watts if you want but at that point there is little need to buy a 5080/5090 you may as well just buy a 5070Ti.
