AMD and Intel are reportedly testing 16-pin power connectors on their next-gen gaming GPUs, meaning these new graphics cards could finally ditch the good old-fashioned 6-pin and 8-pin PCIe power sockets of yore. Such a move would be a big step for the new AMD Radeon and Intel Arc cards, though. While both companies have lost significant market share to Nvidia recently, they also haven’t had to deal with numerous warranty returns for cards with melted 16-pin connectors, and the same can’t be said for Nvidia.
The original 12VHPWR connector used on the RTX 4090, among other Nvidia GPUs, has been a source of controversy, with wide-ranging reports of smoking graphics cards and melting GPU power connectors. The situation appears to have improved with the introduction of the safer 12V-2×6 connector, though, which is now used on a lot of Nvidia GPUs, and is also expected to be used on the new RTX 5090. It’s this latter socket that Intel and AMD are apparently testing right now.
RELATED LINKS:
AMD Ryzen 9800X3D gaming CPU reportedly coming very soon, but there’s a catch
AMD and Intel are joining forces to develop future x86 gaming CPUs
One of the best AMD gaming CPU upgrades ever could be about to disappear
