While NVIDIA’s alleged GeForce RTX 3090 Ti isn’t expected to launch until early next year, we’re beginning to get a sense of the GPU maker’s brand of “future-proofing” its Ampere-based GeForce RTX 30 series graphics cards. More specifically, its use of the 12-pin Microfit Molex connector.
You may remember when ASUS announced its new Z690 motherboard lineup, along with several of its PCIe Gen5 ROG Thor II PSUs, last week. Recently, the UK-based tech site, eTeknix, managed to take a couple of photos of GPU power cables purportedly belonging to said ASUS PSUs, the ROG Thor 1000W Platinum II in particular.
The images seem to confirm that the 12-pin cable will not have a separate modular connector and is just powered by two 8-pin connectors that are attached on the other end. Simply put, it’s a reversal of the way current power supplies work, where one connector is used to power two 8-pin PCIe adapters.
Of course, there are some benefits in shifting to the new 12-pin design. According to Igor’sLAB, the PCIe Gen5 connector would have a power delivery rated at up to 9.2A at 12V, which translates to approximately 662W of power through a single port.
ASUS’ ROG Thor PSU are expected to be available starting from the middle of this month, with the 1000W model being the first to hit the market. The other two, the 1200W Platinum II and 1600W Titanium II, will likely only be arriving on the market sometime in early 2022.
That said, it’s clear that PCIe Gen5 PSUs means that we can expect more graphics cards brand to make the switch over to the medium with the next round of GPUs. That, and the fact that NVIDIA was clearly ahead of its time.
(Source: Videocardz, eTeknix, Igor’sLAB)
