Nvidia changed melting GPU power connector & no one noticed

Nvidia’s 12VHWPR connector was infamous for melting on the RTX 4090, and with a new revision revealed, it turns out that the RTX 4070 was using it all this time.

Nvidia’s 12VHWPR connector has been the source of some discussion ever since improper connections began melting graphics cards. The connector would still ask for large amounts of power, and due to slightly offset connections, it could cause the connector to melt, as GamersNexus proved in its investigations.

So, Nividia and PCI-SIG worked together on a new connector, which would be revised to not allow the GPU to pass the full current along, if the sense pins detected any sort of improper connections. We’ve seen the revised connector on MSI’s upcoming power supplies at Computex.

However, according to Igor’s Lab, the revised connector is already out there in the wild, on the RTX 4070 Founders Edition model, and no one noticed.

No one spotted the new 12VHWPR connector, until now

Igor’s Lab published a comparison between the connectors on the RTX 4080 Founders Edition model, and on the RTX 4070 Founders Edition, and found that the revisions to the sense pins have the same recessed pin offsets that align with the new standard.

We rushed to check our own RTX 4080 and RTX 4070 Founders Edition cards, and while the change is indeed subtle, the difference between the pins is visible. The RTX 4080’s power connector pins are ever so slightly longer than the ones found on both the RTX 4070 FE and RTX 4060 Ti FE. This is due to the offset being higher at 1.7mm for the newer GPUs, versus just 0.45mm on the RTX 4080.

Dexerto

Igor’s Lab continues to compare the connectors on AIB GPUs and also noticed differences between the MSI RTX 4080 Gaming X Trio, and the MSI RTX 4070 Gaming X Trio.

Nvidia has seemingly not communicated any changes to the power connector to the press or consumers, but still, this is a good thing, as it should help to protect against any errant connection issues.