Nvidia's GeForce RTX 40-series (Ada Lovelace) graphics cards were the first mainstream products to adopt the 16-pin (12VHPWR) power connector. However, Nvidia's insistence on the power connector may change with the upcoming GeForce RTX 4070. According to a new report from Igor Wallossek (opens in new tab) , only some GeForce RTX 4070 graphics cards will use the 16-pin power connector.
The GeForce RTX 4070 rumoredly launches in April. Wallossek's sources claim that the GeForce RTX 4070 has two categories. The premium or factory-overclocked models are reportedly in the first category with a 225W TBP. They will likely sport one 16-pin power connector or two standard 8-pin PCIe power connectors. The second category encompasses the standard GeForce RTX 4070 models; those are the MSRP level that adheres to a 200W TBP. Wallossek believes that the graphics cards in the second category will stick to a regular 8-pin PCIe power connector.
The 16-pin power connector has caused its fair share of havoc on the GeForce RTX 4090 , one of the best graphics cards . Due to the more demanding power requirements, the power connector makes sense with GeForce RTX 4070 Ti and higher SKUs. However, there's no need for it with the lower-clocked GeForce RTX 4070 and inferior models.
Wallossek confirmed with his sources that the GeForce RTX 4060 Ti and GeForce RTX 4060 would employ a single 8-pin PCIe power connector. However, according to an early leak, the GeForce RTX 4060 may have a 115W TDP, so it only pulls a little power.
The 16-pin power connector is here to stay. However, if the rumors are accurate, the GeForce RTX 4070 Founders Edition and a few 225W custom models may be the last Ada-based graphics cards to use the 16-pin power connector for a while. So unless Nvidia launches a GeForce RTX 4080 Ti, GeForce RTX 4090 Ti , or the Titan RTX Ada , we likely won't see the 16-pin power connector until the next generation of GeForce gaming graphics cards.
AMD was reluctant to use the 16-pin power connector on the chipmaker's latest Radeon RX 7000-series (RDNA 3) graphics cards. Surprisingly, graphics cards are becoming more power-hungry graphics instead of consuming less power. So it may be a matter of time before we find the 16-pin power connector on a Radeon graphics card.
