Seasonic is following on the heels of CableMod and releasing its own right-angle 16-pin 12VHPWR connector for GeForce RTX 40 Series graphics cards, according to a post that the company shared to its official Bilibili channel yesterday. The cable looks exactly like one would expect but has done its part in prompting discussion surrounding GeForce RTX 4090 GPUs and its new power connector, which is becoming controversial following reports and photos of it burning and/or melting. Some believe that the problem stems from bending stress, something that might be addressed by right-angle connectors such as Seasonic’s.
A machine translation of what Seasonic had to say about it:
For users who use 40-series graphics cards for in-line graphics card chassis, the most ideal solution is to use a 90°L-shaped 12VHPWR interface. The 1.4090 graphics card is too bulky, and the distance between the graphics card and the chassis side panel is too close. Chassis compatibility and optimized cable management. 2. It can solve the bending limitation problem of 16Pin interface and avoid interface burnout. 3. The direction of the 16Pin interface of the 40 series graphics cards of each brand is the same.
Seasonic has also shared tests from PCI-SIG that include possible root causes behind why the power connectors might be melting:
There are at least four reports of melting connectors thus far, including a newer one from NoDuelsPolicy, who shared a photo of their ASUS TUF Gaming GeForce RTX 4090 with damaged connector earlier this week on r/NVIDIA. A Facebook user named Charlie Woods also ran into a similar issue with what is reportedly the same model of graphics card.
Discussion (13 replies)
Join Discussion →How in the hell is an old dude supposed to keep all these social thingies straight anymore?
I have no idea what that means...
So that incomprehensible mix of letters is a social media site, huh?
At some point I'm just going to have to accept that I had signed up for every social media site I was ever going to sign up for by about 2007.
I wonder if I will be able to buy a modular cable like this that will work with my existing Seasonic Prime Platinum 1200W.
probably not, since our existing Prime PSU's are not ATX 3.0
"This article is about a Shanghai-based Chinese video sharing website. For the water dam in Indonesia, see Bili-Bili Dam."
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According to Jayz 2 cents Cablemod has what you are looking for. I haven't checked myself but plan to.
Given the title of the article I would say so, they already made 12 pins for the 3000 series.
While looking for something unrelated, I noticed that Seasonic is offering free 12VHPWR cables to owners of existing power supplies, provided several conditions are met:
"Starting on October 12, 2022, our complimentary cable offer will be valid for customers who purchased a PRIME 1300, PRIME 1000 or FOCUS 1000 W power supply and a newest, high-power VGA card within the past 12 months. Proofs of both purchases are required to apply for the free 12VHPWR cable. The quantity of free cable sets is limited, and this offer is valid only as long as our supplies last."
—https://seasonic.com/cable-request/
I have NO idea whether these cables have any relation to the one mentioned in this article, nor do I know anything at all about them beyond what is written on the request form. I don't qualify, but some of you might. Maybe it's worth checking out.
I actually emailed them and got that response as well. Actually thought about picking up a TX-1600W PSU from them which actually comes with the cables, but talked myself out of it as it seems even their flagship model can only handle 450W instead of 600W on said cables. I'm no expert on this stuff, so it's just what I have read from pretty reliable sources. At $500 I decided to wait until the ATX 3.0 supplies hit the shelves which I hope it fairly soon.
I don't understand the need for special ATX 3.0 PSU's other than a forced upgrade because they want your money.
My Seasonic Prime Platinum 1200 PSU has 5 EPS/PCIe modular power connectors on the PSU. I currently have three connected to 8pin PCIe power connectors on my crazy ass 6900xt and two connected to my Threadripper motherboard. Of the specs those support, as I recall the highest is the EPS connector which supports a theoretical max power draw of 336w per 8pin EPS connector per this good old handy guide.
So, a modular 12pin cable using just two of these connectors on the PSU side ought to be good for 672W...
This just sounds like one big old planned obsolescence scheme to force people to unecessarily give them their hard earned cash. They should be ashamed.
Thanks for the information. I am no expert on this as I mentioned, but just going by what I have read. The problem is finding any aftermarket cables to go with you current PSU. That and the so called connector melting issue is enough to drive people to the new power supplies.
I'm not an expert either, but I remember a few things from Physics in school, and a few other things I've just picked up over the years.
My best guess as to what is going on - provided they haven't picked an inadequate connector, in which case this is a spectacular failure of basic electric engineering - is that we are dealing with poor crimps in the connector, leading to leads with narrower conductors than designed, which the. Heat up through resistive heating causing melts.
This is usually what causes spectacular magic smoke incidents from power adapters and extensions , Like what I had happen a few years back:
That's why the Seasonic adapter only requires 2 connectors on the PSU side, the only reason those cards ship with a 4 slot 8 pin adapter is due to limitations on the 8 pin itself not on the limitations from the PSU.