Intel’s ATX 3.0 specs for PCIe Gen5 power cable
It appears that official specs of the PCI-Express 5.0 power cable for next-gen graphics cards have been leaked.
Officially going by a name of “12VHPWR” is the upcoming standard for PCIe Gen5 graphics cards. The data provided by Intel, who are responsible for defining the ATX specs, appears to suggest that the cable will support as many as four power settings.
PCIe Gen5 Power Cable Types, Source: @momomo_us/Intel
According to the slides posted by leaker @momom_us, the cable will support up to 600W of power in its full configuration. Furthermore, 450W, 300W and 150W modes will be supported.
The documents define the binary configuration of the Sense0 and Sense1 sideband signals. With both signals grounded, the GPU will power up with 375W of power and maximum sustained power of 600W. If those signals are open, the GPU will receive 100W initially, with a maximum of 150W during load.
PCIe Gen5 Power Specs, Source: @momomo_us/Intel
The ATX 3.0 design confirms that this power connector will not be compatible with existing 6-pin and 8-pin connectors due to different contact spacing and larger pitch.
The 12VHPWR Auxiliary Power connector is designed to deliver up to 600 watts directly to a PCIe* Add-in Cards. This power connector is not compatible with the existing 2×3 or 2×4 auxiliary power connectors. The 12VHPWR connector power pins have a 3.0 mm spacing while the contacts in a 2×3 and 2×1 connector are on a larger 4.2 mm pitch. The 12VHPWR auxiliary power connector includes twelve large contacts to carry the power and four smaller contacts beneath carrying the sideband signals.
The connector performance requirements are as follows:
- Power Pin Current Rating: (Excluding sideband contacts) 9.2 A per pin/position with a limit of a 30 °C T-Rise above ambient temperature conditions at =12 VDC with all twelve contacts energized. The connector body must display a label or embossed H+ character to indicate support of 9.2 A/pin or greater. Refer for the approximate positioning of the marker on the 12VHPWR Right Angle (R/A) PCB Header.
But this of course does not mean graphics cards equipped with 12+4-pin power connector will not work with adapters.
PCIe Gen5 Power Specs, Source: @momomo_us/Intel
Multiple power supply manufacturers have already confirmed their first products equipped with the new standard. When it comes to the graphics cards though, NVIDIA’s flagship RTX 3090 Ti Founders Edition was supposed to be the first graphics card to feature this type of connector. However, since its introduction at CES 2022 in early January, NVIDIA has not provided any updates on a potential launch date for this model.
It is also said that next-gen NVIDIA RTX 40 “Ada” graphics cards will all feature this new 12+4-pin power connector, however it is unclear if this means NVIDIA’s own reference models or custom designs as well.
Source: @momomo_us via Wccftech
