ASUS has further detailed its cableless GPU power connectors for gaming GPUs that can deliver up to 600W of power, replacing the 12VHPWR design.
ASUS's Revolutionary Yet Proprietary "GC-HPWR" Connector Comes With A Cableless Design But Needs Adoption To Really Kick Off
ASUS has released detailed documents of its new cableless power connector, which reveals the working mechanism and some interesting facts. For those who are unaware, back at Computex 2023, we got our first look at the GC-HPWR connector featured on an ASUS RTX 40 GPU & a Z790 motherboard in exclusive coverage.
More recently, at the Bilibili World event, ASUS once again showed its new graphics cards with a more finalized design and confirmed that they will be going into mass production later this year. However, the documentation published reveals that the new connector holds immense potential, capable of even delivering the GeForce RTX 4090 adequate power output.
The GC-HPWR connector features four different groups of pins, responsible for power delivery and communication between the motherboard and the GPU. It will be positioned right beside the PCIe x16 slot, allowing an easier installation process, which is supported by the PCIe slot itself. It is said that the new connectors have their origin in the server industry, & it is modified in a way to support the power delivery required by current-gen GPUs.
Detailing on "power delivery", ASUS's documentation reveals that the connector is capable of delivering up to 600W of power, which is the maximum rated power that the 12VHPWR also offers. We have seen the connector's integration in ASUS's Megladoon GeForce RTX 4070, which is limited to 200W, hence ASUS is playing the safe side here. However, we could expect a potential debut in higher-end "Ada Lovelace" GPUs as well given that the connector is successful in the mainstream markets.
The driving force behind the creation of the GC-HPWR connector is to eradicate the effort of cable management, since it doesn't require any sort of connection. Apart from the aesthetics, the connector also helps prevent problems associated with the traditional 12VHPWR connector, making it the best option for current-gen GPUs.
While the connector hasn't seen widespread adoption by other manufacturers apart from ASUS, we believe that other vendors will eventually utilize it as well, given that it has no tradeoffs as of right now.
The GC-HPWR cableless connector does come with a requirement, which is having a compatible motherboard. This would bind the consumer, leading them to buy high-priced motherboards if more affordable options aren't released. However, the concept behind the connector is interesting and will surely open new possibilities, in terms of power delivery and GPU compatibility. ASUS has so far teased Z790 and B760 chipset-based motherboards featuring this connector and require to be powered by either up to four 8-pin or a single 12VHPWR connector on the back of the board.
While we don't have an idea about the pricing of the new GPUs, it is expected to be slightly higher than the normal variants, given that they adopt an entirely new standard and will involve a more complex manufacturing process as well.
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