Confusion around the 12V HDDP connector
Confusion around the 12V HDDP connector
I'm really puzzled by the new PCIe 5.0 12VHPWR connector...I was planning to purchase one of the latest ATX 3.0 power supplies...I narrowed my options to the Super Flower Leadex VII XG 850 Watt 80 Plus Gold and Corsair RM850x Shift...but while checking reviews for the Shift, I found a comment that said: "Cons: 12VHPWR connector limited to only deliver 300 watts...a close-up of the 300w PCIe 5.0 12VHPWR connector; notice the two eight-pin connections that end up at the 12VHPWR...each PCe eight pin can only supply 150w, so the 300w spec...actually means a 375w GPU could be powered using this setup with the PCIe slots delivering 75w" (see attached pic 1). I did some more research and learned that "there should be up to four different power levels, with the PCIe 5.0 power cable supporting 150W, 300W, 450W, and a massive 600W over a single 16-pin PCIe 5.0 power cable" (see attached pic 2). The upcoming 4080 Super will use either three 8-pin cables (an adapter included) or one 450W or higher PCIe Gen 5 cable. But how do I know which 12VHPWR wattage cable is included with the PSU?...it doesn’t appear anywhere...I discovered the Corsair Shift comes with a 150W version because a review mentioned it, but what about the Super Flower one?...since only one 12VHPWR cable is provided with the PSU, shouldn’t an 850W power supply come with at least a 450W or 600W cable?"
I also found out that a new ATX 3.1 standard is coming soon, which will replace the 16-pin 12VHPWR power connector with a new 12V-2x6 connector...so should I still consider buying an ATX 3.0 PSU now?
From left to right, the 12VHPWR cable with one grounding wire delivers 150W, adding another grounding wire brings it to 300W, the third with its own grounding wire provides 450W, and the final configuration uses all four grounding wires on the small four-pin connector, allowing access to 600W from the power supply to the graphics card.
With the Nvidia adapter each plug delivers 150W. The image might have misled by showing various plug types, making it seem like some could handle higher power. If every plug is indeed 150W, then a 12VHPWR cable from Corsair with two plugs should only provide 300W total. The confusion likely comes from the way the product was presented.