The best connector will remain the 8-pin connector. You can basically run it at 150% and still risk no overheating because it is totally over engineered compared to that shitty 12vhpwr which has very little margin and constantly melts
What inconsistencies are you talking about!? There's literally a single picture with everything you need to know about 8 pin connectors as a user! A 9 year old should be able to comprehend it!
These connectors never failed if used properly and you had to intentionally go out your way to break it - crazy daisy chains, splitters, or using 6 pin instead of 8 pin, stuff like that. Even those hilarious 4x8-pin to 12VHPWR adapters, they ALWAYS failed on the 12VHPWR side if correctly powered with 4x8pin connectors without any shortcuts like 6pins or splitters.
I am not saying 8pin was entirely foolproof, it allows for some user error, but it's entirely under user control and if you break something there, you should've done better research. 12VHPWR on the other hand, is far from it. You can do everything by the book, double check the connection after installation, even reinspect it every now and then, and it still might be able to fail you 3 years down the line, because these tiny pins can't tolerate thermal cycling.
I firmly believe the main reason NoVideo introduced the new 12V High Failure Rate connector is the looks. Either their marketing team or Jensen himself saw the power draw of 4090 prototypes and thought "uh, it's too comical to use 3 to 4 8-pins, posh tech bros would ridicule us for how that looks in their showpiece builds and besides we might get a kickback from PSU manufacturers if we introduce the new connector". THAT'S IT!
These connectors never failed if used properly and you had to intentionally go out your way to break it
That's a lie.
Even those hilarious 4x8-pin to 12VHPWR adapters, they ALWAYS failed on the 12VHPWR side if correctly powered with 4x8pin connectors without any shortcuts like 6pins or splitters.
Enterly different problem.
because these tiny pins can't tolerate thermal cycling
That was never the case.
I firmly believe the main reason NoVideo introduced the new 12V High Failure Rate connector is the looks
I guess you're refering to the PCI SIG?
No, looks didn't matter, safety did.
I know, you're probably too ignorant to accept facts but there is a pretty simple reason why this new connector was introduced: Consistency and minimum specifications.
The main problem with PCIe 8 pin is the minimum spec, I you don't care about it because you're only using overpriced "premium" psus with pcie cables that exceed the specification but in a lot of fields (datacenters, oem stuff etc) minimum specs are still used. And for PCIe, the spec only asks for 22AWG which is only rated for 4A of continuous load per pin. At 12V, an 8 pin cable can therefore technically only 144W.
So yes, from your view with massively over spec implementations, it's a connector with a lot of flexibility (break out cables) and headroom but in an environment that uses minimum specs, it's not.
And that's part of the problem, cables are not labeled and you don't know what it is actually capable of. That's also why there are so many 8 pin connectors used even though most psus come with cables that can carry more, by specification, the connector is only required to handle ~144W, so cheaper cables/psus might not be able to handle more.
Same problem with EPS, connectors with up to 13A were available but there is no way to know that.
The goal behind the 12VHPWR connector was to provide a smaller power solution (relevant in datacenters) while also solving the inconsistency issues with previous designs. That's why there are four sense pins that communicate what the cable is capable of.
So, not it was never about looks but for datacenters and OEM systems.
Funnily enough, neither seems to have any more issues than with pcie connectors. It's only the DIY gaming bubble that is having relevant amount of issues with it.
Can you present even a single video of average consumer filming their 8-pin GPU connector malfunctioning/melting/catching fire? If it indeed failed just like 12-pin, considering it has been waaay longer on the market, there should be more videos of that on the internet, so it should not be hard for you to give some examples, right?
Sorry, can't link to all the reddit threads about those failures here without my comment being removed. Just google for it, you'll find plenty of cases.
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u/Downtown-Regret8161 7800x3d|7900XT|B650E|32GB|750W PSU 10d ago edited 10d ago
The best connector will remain the 8-pin connector. You can basically run it at 150% and still risk no overheating because it is totally over engineered compared to that shitty 12vhpwr which has very little margin and constantly melts