Just a few days ago I told you that PCI-SIG was working on a new 16-pin connector labeled 12V2x6, and I told you that NVIDIA might use this connector. on your next generation graphics card. I don’t mention AMD because those from Sunnyvale continued to bet on the classic 6 and 8 pin connectors.

The fact is that NVIDIA is not willing to wait for the launch of this new 16-pin connector, and it turns out that since the launch of the GeForce RTX 4070 FE, the green giant already started using a modified version of the 12VHPW connector. This modified version preserves the design and interface, that is, it does not introduce physical changes that could cause incompatibility, which is quite logical, but it brings a very important change that was undoubtedly fundamental.

When cases of burnt 16-pin connectors on NVIDIA GeForce graphics cards began to appear, it was found that in almost all cases the problem arose user negligence, that he inserted the said connector incorrectly. It is a very easy topic to understand when we connect any power cable we have to make sure that this was entered to the end, and that it didn’t stop halfway.

For some reason, some users did not fully insert the connector, causing the contact to be incorrect and a huge amount of heat to build up, which eventually ended up burning the area where contact occurredand spreading to other pins. Just pushing the connector all the way in wouldn’t do it.

Well, the new 16-pin connector that NVIDIA has been using since the launch of the GeForce RTX 4070 FE has approx control pins (lower four) shorter, as you can see in the attached image. This is exactly one of the most important changes that the new 12V2x6 connector will introduce, and it could almost completely put an end to problems with burnt connectors.

I say almost completely because another cause was also identified that was related to the user, excessive stress when bending the connector in its first section, i.e. directly in the area closest to the connection head. This is something that we need to avoid because it also creates a build up of heat that can end up causing serious problems. I know we’re always tempted to force some cables for aesthetics and cable management, but we have to avoid bending them excessively.