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NVIDIA's new 12-pin connector is SUPER small on GeForce RTX 30 series

The new 12-pin PCIe power connector on NVIDIA's new GeForce RTX 30 series is actually quite small, much smaller than 8-pin.

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Gaming Editor
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16 minutes & 15 seconds read time

We are getting our first photos of NVIDIA's shiny new 12-pin PCIe power connector -- first the official Seasonic 12-pin PCIe molex connector and now a new shot of the smaller cable itself, that will be exclusive to its next-gen GeForce RTX 30 series Founders Edition graphics cards.

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The new photo is thanks to Andreas Schilling, who tweeted it out earlier today with a comparison against 2 x 8-pin PCIe power connectors. You can see that the new 12-pin PCIe power connector isn't just more convenient because it's a single power connector, its actually really freaking small, too.

You can see that it takes up about the same width as the traditional 8-pin PCIe power connector, and it looks thinner too. So we could be in for a thin cable going into the new GeForce RTX 30 series Founders Edition cards, but they'll definitely be consuming more power than the current GeForce RTX 20 series graphics cards.

But also remember: NVIDIA will reportedly only be using this nifty new 12-pin PCIe power connector on its Founders Edition cards, where custom AIB models will be using 2-3 x 8-pin PCIe power connectors. So the new GeForce RTX 30 series Founders Editions will look pretty schmick with their new single, and petite 12-pin PCIe power connector.

We should be expecting the GeForce RTX 3090 to require a huge 850W PSU, also -- but you can read more about that right here.

  • GeForce RTX 3090: $1399
  • GeForce RTX 3080: $799
  • GeForce RTX 3070: $599
  • GeForce RTX 3060: $399
NVIDIA's new 12-pin connector is SUPER small on GeForce RTX 30 series 22

The very latest: RTX 3090 PCB + GDDR6X @ 21Gbps

  • The PCB of the RTX 3090: A juicy leak of the purported PCB of a custom variant of the GeForce RTX 3090 leaked out a few days ago. It is reportedly the COLORFUL iGame GeForce RTX 3090 Vulcan-X. You can see this model has 3 x 8-pin PCIe power connectors, unlike the RTX 3090 Founders Edition that should pack just a single 12-pin PCIe power connector.
  • Micron reveals RTX 3090 name, 24GB GDDR6X memory @ 21Gbps: I'm sure this is part of the marketing or else all of us tech media websites would be receiving calls from lawyers, but Micron revealed its next-gen GDDR6X memory that the GeForce RTX 3090 (it admits the card by name) will be clocked at a bonkers-high 21Gbps.
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Wait, a 12-pin PCIe power connector?

More reading:

NVIDIA's new 12-pin connector is SUPER small on GeForce RTX 30 series 444
  • Traversal coprocessor: We have had more leaks on NVIDIA's next-gen GeForce RTX 3000 series than any family of graphics cards before it, with an interesting "traversal coprocessor" on the new GeForce RTX 3080 and GeForce RTX 3090 graphics cards. You can read more on that here.
  • NVCache: Ampere is meant to have something called NVCache, which would be NVIDIA's own form of AMD's HBCC (High Bandwidth Cache Controller, more on that here). NVCache would use your system RAM and SSD to super-speed game load times, as well as optimizing VRAM usage. You can read more on NVCache here.
  • Tensor Memory Compression: NVCache is interesting, but Tensor Memory Compression will be on Ampere, and will reportedly use Tensor Cores to both compress and decompress items that are stored in VRAM. This could see a 20-40% reduction in VRAM usage, or more VRAM usage with higher textures in next-gen games and Tensor Memory Compression decreasing that VRAM footprint by 20-40%.
  • NVIDIA's new 12-pin connector is SUPER small on GeForce RTX 30 series 17
  • How fast is the GeForce RTX 3090? Freaking fast according to rumors, with 60-90% more performance than the current Turing-based flagship GeForce RTX 2080 Ti. We could see this huge performance leap in ray tracing titles, but we'll have to wait a little while longer to see how much graphical power NVIDIA crams into these new cards. You can read more on those rumors here.
  • Power hungry: As for power consumption, GA102 reportedly uses 230W -- while 24GB of GDDR6X (which we should see on the new Ampere-based TITAN RTX) consumes 60W of power. You can read more on that here.
  • Production begins soon: NVIDIA is reportedly in the DVT (or Design Validation Test) range of its new GeForce RTX 3000 series graphics cards. Mass production reportedly kicks off in August 2020, with a media event, benchmarks, and more in September 2020 as I predicted many months ago. More on that here.
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I've already written about rumors that NVIDIA's next-gen Ampere GPU architecture would be up to 75% faster than current-gen GPUs such as the Turing architecture, right after rumors that Ampere would offer 50% more performance at half the power of Turing. This is pretty crazy stuff right there.

Not only that, but we've got some rumored specs on the purported GeForce RTX 3080 and GeForce RTX 3070 graphics cards, which will both be powered by NVIDIA's new Ampere GPU architecture.

We've already heard that Ampere would offer 50% more performance at half the power of Turing, which sent the hairs on my neck standing up. Better yet, you can read about the leaked specs on the purported Ampere-based GeForce RTX 3080 and GeForce RTX 3070 right here.

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Even more reading:

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Anthony joined the TweakTown team in 2010 and has since reviewed 100s of graphics cards. Anthony is a long time PC enthusiast with a passion of hate for games built around consoles. FPS gaming since the pre-Quake days, where you were insulted if you used a mouse to aim, he has been addicted to gaming and hardware ever since. Working in IT retail for 10 years gave him great experience with custom-built PCs. His addiction to GPU tech is unwavering and has recently taken a keen interest in artificial intelligence (AI) hardware.

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