If with the jump from the previous generation to the current one we already saw a big change, what will come from the hand of ATX V3 will not be short in comparisonAnd it is that PCIe Gen. 5 graphics cards promise to offer excessive computing capabilities, but in exchange for receiving a considerable electrical signal. We already told you a few months ago that its power will depend on the 12VHPWR connector, a new format that will replace the ones currently used.
And today we confirm, thanks to a message of the popular filter @momom_us which cable and ATX V3 connector, and therefore responsible for powering future PCIe Gen.5 graphics cards, will support up to 600 watts of power in its full configuration. In addition, it will also be able to work in 450, 300 and 150 watt modes, according to the ATX V3 standard definition documentation that momom_us claims would have come from Intel.
As we can see in one of the leaked documents, if the maximum power configuration has been adopted, the GPU will receive an initial signal of 375 wattswhich depending on the needs of the graphics adapter can scale up to 600 watts if necessary With the other three steps, ATX V3 would offer more adjusted consumption options, for those cards that use 12VHPWR to receive their power supply from the power supply .
As we expected, this connector will not be compatible with existing ones today, and not only because of its physical design, but also because it has been designed to withstand greater electrical power, so it must be able to adequately withstand higher temperatures. However, and as we have seen in previous cases, we can expect some manufacturers to offer adapters that allow establishing a bridge between devices adapted to ATX V3 and those that use other previous formats, such as the current eight-pin ones.
As for its design, and as we already told you, 12VHPWR will have twelve pins for electricity, accompanied by another four that will be responsible for the management of said flow.
Everything points, therefore, to ATX V3 will govern the electrical connectivity of the next generation of graphics adapterswhich will arrive ready to take full advantage of the benefits of PCIe Gen. 5, although we are still waiting for news from NVIDIA, since for some time it has been rumored that its top of the range of the current generation, the expected GeForce RTX 3090 Ti Founders Edition, could mark the debut of this new specification within the current generation.
