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German PC water cooling components manufacturer Aqua Computer announced the Ampinel in October last year , a 12V-2x6 adapter to monitor and protect GPUs from meltdowns. Following a substantial delay in the original launch timeline, the product is finally available for purchase starting today. Unfortunately, it is already out of stock and has also received a noticeable price increase from €79.90 ($95.19) to €99.90 ($119) . Not to mention, the delivery time has been marked with up to 60 days.
According to the manufacturer, the €20 increase in price is due to a “significantly expanded range of functions and the associated additional development effort.” Aqua Computer also says that the added development effort was one of the reasons why the adapter witnessed a delay of a little over three months. There has been no change in the overall design or hardware of the Ampinel adapter. Rather, the extra time went into development of the firmware and user-facing software.
Unlike most 16-pin GPU power connector protection devices on the market that can only monitor either the current or temperature, the Ampinel features a load balancer that can distribute loads evenly across the various wires within the power cable. The six-channel load balancer is controlled by a microcontroller that monitors all six 12V power lines. In case any of the power lines exceed the safe limit of 7.5A per contact, the device automatically redistributes the load in real time, potentially helping prevent overheating and reducing the risk of connector failure.
For monitoring and alerts, the Ampinel features a tiny 128×64 OLED display where you can monitor current draw on each power line, along with a built-in buzzer that can emit a loud warning of up to around 85 dB if it detects any anomalies. There is also some RGB lighting, although its main purpose is to act as a visual warning system. The device supports extensive customization through Aqua Computer’s Aquasuite software, where users can set alarm levels and behaviors. All critical safety features such as emergency shutdowns and visual or audio alerts work independently of software or a USB connection. Additionally, the adapter offers an eight-stage alarm system, which can be customized to trigger different warnings or actions depending on the issue.
The Ampinel might be the most comprehensive product that you can get to protect yourself from the 12V 2×6 power connector issues. It goes well beyond monitoring various parameters, by actually redirecting power to avoid a meltdown in certain scenarios — something that should have probably been included in Nvidia's GPUs from the start.
Kunal Khullar is a contributing writer at Tom’s Hardware. He is a long time technology journalist and reviewer specializing in PC components and peripherals, and welcomes any and every question around building a PC.
