An image of a new Seasonic 12-pin PCIExpress power cable complete with packaging and labelling has all but confirmed that Nvidia's next-generation Ampere graphihcs cards will need a new type of power cable to run. That not only could create a haves and have nots situation where new power supplies are required not to have heaps of additional cabling in PCs running the new cards, but suggests that they are extremely power hungry, potentially validating a number of rumors surrounding next-gen AMD and Nvidia graphics cards.
Nvidia is expected to use a more refined process node for its next-generation GPUs, but recent rumors pointed to a standoff between team green and TSMC, leading to it needing to use a less efficient Samsung "8nm" node for the cards instead. That, combined with the need to push performance exceedingly high to retain the speed crown ahead of AMD's RDNA 2 cards, suggests that Nvidia's Ampere cards will need heaps of power. According to some, as much as 400W.
That would be more than existing 2x8pin power cables can provide, hence the new 12-pin power cable from Seasonic and others, which it's claimed will allow cards to have as much as 600w, making them quite the space heaters. With a recommendation of a PSU that is at least 850W with such cables too, many hoping to buy a new-gen graphics card from Nvidia will need to upgrade their power supply too.
Nvidia will likely bundle adapters with the new cards to allow for two or three 8-pin adapters to connect to the new 12-pin, but this is not a move that will make gamers happy. Let's see how Jensen tries to spin it as a positive.
Source: VideoCardz
