The follow-up to the 12VHPWR connector is on its way as FSP is upgrading its 2023 ATX 3.0 power supplies with the new 12V-2×6 connector. The 12VHPWR connector has continued to receive criticism since its launch with the NVIDIA RTX 30 series GPUs. Since its debut, there have been a dizzying amount of reports regarding melting cables and connectors during which PCI-SIG was already said to be working on an update for it. The 12V-2×6 is the update, and we have more details about it here. Meanwhile, FSP, which has released a number of different ATX 3.0 power supplies featuring the 12VHPWR connector, is moving full steam ahead in updating its lineup with the 12V-2×6 update. Per a press conference covered by QuasarZone the updated lineup will begin launching during the 2nd half of 2023.
Per QuasarZone (machine translated):
“Prior to the introduction of the new product, the important content at this press conference was the news of the application of the new 12VHPWR connector. Last July, PCI-SIG announced that it would change the graphics card auxiliary power terminal, 12VHPWR. It can be said that the purpose is to solve the 12VHPWR melting problem that has persisted since the beginning of its launch. If you look at the PCI-SIG documentation, you will see that it will be replaced by a new design called 12V-2×6 PCIe 6.0, and there is a draft design for the 12V-2×6 connector that will be updated to PCIe Base 6.0 and conform to the new ATX 3.1 standard. The connector is designed to deliver up to 600W of power, with an additional 75W available through the PC Ie slot.”
As described above, and previously revealed by Igor Wallosek, the new 12V-2×6 connector will offer up to 600W of power, but has also been said to feature changes to the pin lengths. Additionally, the new design will cut off power if not all of the connectors are making contact. QuasarZone also goes on to explain that firmware updates to graphics cards will be needed to support this feature. As FSP is upgrading its lineup it is probably only a matter of time until we hear reports of other manufacturers doing the same to their 12VHPWR models. NVIDIA has been quietly updating its RTX 40 series graphics cards with the 12V-6×2 connector for months now already.