Some motherboard manufacturers like MSI and ASUS are going to use it extra 8-pin power connector which will be located just below the PCIe connector slots, which are mainly dedicated to graphics cards and other types of expansion cards, such as sound cards.

This connector raised some doubts and MSI decided to resolve them by explaining more clearly why it will be used and what exactly it will serve. Before you get down to business, it’s important that you know this how to power a graphics card connected to the motherboard as this additional connector will be connected directly to said component.

Gets a graphics card up to 75 watts from the PCIe slot, and the rest of the power needed comes from the other connectors it has. For example, the GeForce RTX 4090, which uses a 16-pin connector you can get up to 600 watts from that jackand another 75 watts from the PCIe slot. These are theoretical maximums, because in reality the mentioned graphics card has an average consumption below 450 watts.

An additional 8-pin power connector will provide boosted power to those graphics cards that have them very high temporary consumption peaks, and prevent stability issues that could lead to critical failures. This is more important than it seems, because there are graphics cards that can almost double their maximum power consumption during temporary spikes of a few milliseconds.

These motherboards will deliver 252 watts of additional power

And they’ll do it through that new 8-pin, 21-amp connector. Thanks to this connector, the motherboard will be able to supply power total power of 420 watts through its various connectors, as MSI has shown in a simple but very illustrative image.

If we do the numbers, the graphics card connected to one of these motherboards It will be able to receive a maximum power of 927 watts, divided into 252 watts from the additional 8-pin connector, 600 watts from the 16-pin power connector and 75 watts from the PCIe slot.

MSI has confirmed that the first motherboards with an additional 8-pin connector under the PCIe slots will arrive on September 26. It’s a curious date, since in theory the X870 and X870E chipset motherboards are scheduled to launch on September 30. This could be a bug, or MSI may have everything set up to get a bit ahead of its rivals.

This connector may be related to NVIDIA’s upcoming graphics architecture which will use GeForce RTX 50, Blackwell. This new generation can have higher maximum temporary consumption peaks, which is why MSI and other manufacturers have decided to include this new connector.