It is well known that the 12-pin 16VHPWR connector of the most demanding graphics cards has given problems. From NVIDIA blaming users for not applying enough pressure, to Intel's own design... What matters is that it has a noticeable flaw and it seeks to solve this so that the connector does not melt and with it a high-end graphics card does not go to waste.
At the Computex show in Taiwan, Asus showcased its new concept of graphics card that completely dispenses with the 16-pin 12VHPWR power connector. After all, the idea seems quite simple, since its logic is that the power connectors cannot be fused if they do not exist.
Asus removes the problematic connector on a custo model of RTX 4070
Instead of cables that plug into the card, it uses a proprietary connector called the GC_HPWR, which plugs directly into the motherboard. This resembles the PCIe connectors on the best GPUs. The difference is that instead of transferring data, these connectors transfer 600 W of power.
This slot is powered by either a 16-pin 12VHPWR slot or three 8-pin PCIe connectors, all located on the back of the motherboard. So instead of plugging a cable into the graphics card, you have to plug it into the back of the motherboard. This, in theory, could prevent wire bending, one of the reasons speculated to cause the 12VHPWR connectors to melt.
All of this means that a user is going to need a lot of proprietary parts. Not only the special graphics card, but also a custom Asus motherboard, as well as a case compatible with a motherboard that has all its connectors on the back. The motherboard will also work with regular graphics cards that use the 12VHPWR connector. It is to be hoped that this is something exclusive to Asus, both its base plates and its custom cards, which will add having to do research when assembling a PC, and even limiting the components if we want to have this RTX 4070 that does not have a problematic connector.
Source: Digital Trends
