Asus confirms that PCI-E 5.0 GPUs will use a new power connector

Along with the recent rumors about a supposed Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 Ti, the existence of a new connector for PCI-E 5.0 GPUs was mentioned, anticipating that we could see a new smaller power connector but at the same time with support for much more. Power in the next generation of GPUs. While there was not much more information about it, now Asus confirmed the existence of this connector, mentioning that it will include it alongside its new next-generation ROG Thor sources.

The ROG Thor series is not only designed to provide clean and reliable power in large quantities. It will also prepare your PC for the future. The PCI Express 5.0 standard includes a new high-capacity auxiliary connector that bundles 12 conductors into a single cable. To ensure compatibility with components that use this future connector, we will include one in the box of each ROG Thor source to make life easier for those who intend to use these sources of power in the long term.

Apparently in leaked images, and as indicated by Asus itself in its promotional image, this connector will be practically identical to the 12-pin connector used by the RTX 30 Founders Edition. However, some leaked images indicate that it will also have another 4 extra pins for transmission of information, although it was not specified what information will be transmitted, nor whether it will be transmitted to the motherboard or to the source. It is also not clear whether these four extra pins will be optional or not, since Asus implies that its connector will only have 12 pins and not 16.

This new power connector is expected to support up to 600W, allowing us to power our graphics card with a single cable, instead of having to resort to three cables as is often the case with high-end graphics cards. This will make cable management easier and easier to install the graphics card. We will keep you posted on developments as more information becomes available.

What do you think about this new power connector for PCI-E 5.0 GPUs? Do you think it is a good change to avoid using three connectors?

Source: Videocardz