We recently reported Gigabyte's new PCIe Gen5 compatible power supply and the confusion that has arisen due to the terminology of the latest technology. With several different ways to describe the newest compatibility, some manufacturers have caused more perplexity for consumers to know what they are purchasing or if it will be compatible. Recently, several reports have divulged further information about the requirements to adopt PCIe Gen5 technology to prepare developers and users.
Press release from Gigabyte assures that next-gen graphics cards will demand a new 16-pin power cable or adapter to comply with current PCIe 5.0 specifications
In October, there was a buzz about the new NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 Ti graphics card and the next-gen technology it would sport. One factor that stood out was the latest PCIe 5.0 technology, which produces double the power from the previous PCIe generation.
PCIe Gen5 is the new high-speed serial computer expansion bus standard. The Gen5 power cable utilizing the 12VHPWR and 16-pin power cable technology replaces the current 8-pin power cables producing as high as 150W with an individual 600W power connection. The cable requires 12 wires for the power delivery and 4 data paths for signals. The four data paths guarantee that the connection has been confirmed, and the graphics card will mandate higher than the initial 450W of energy. If the data signals are missing, the power supply unit will only provide 450W of power or less (determined by the system).
Gigabyte officially verifies that PCIe Gen5 compatible graphics cards will utilize a single 16-pin power cable or 3x8-pin to one 16-pin cable adapters for the standard current of power:
The UD1000GM PCIE 5.0 power supply supports the PCIe Gen 5.0 graphics cards and it is capable to deliver the increasing power that the high-end graphics card demand. Traditional power supplies need a three 8-pin to 16-pin adapters to support the latest PCIe Gen 5.0 graphics cards. The new UD1000GM PCIE 5.0 power supply needs only a single 16-pin cable to directly supply power to the PCIe Gen 5.0 graphics cards. Moreover, the PCIe Gen 5.0 16-pin cable provides up to 600 watts of power to the graphics card, but it also simplifies the number of cables, significantly reducing the cable clutter, making the graphics card installation easier and it helps with the airflow in the chassis. In addition, the UD1000GM PCIE 5.0 also provides four PCIe 8-pins for the graphics cards, so it can meet the needs of current or next-generation high-end graphics cards at the same time.
— recent press release from Gigabyte
No one has heard an adapter in creation for the PCIe 5.0 connections. There will be both the 16-pin cable connector and a three 8-pin to 16-pin adapter for full compatibility with PCIe Gen5 standards, which is interesting. Gigabyte does not mention the 12+0-pin cable or the newer 16-pin cable in the statement, which could mean that the adapter allows for the transmission of data signals.
PCI-SIG, the organization that creates and maintains the various PCIe standards, has not divulged information, such as power specifications, leading to further speculation on the differences between the NVIDIA 12-pin and the PCIe Gen5 12+0-pin. While it is known that the two are compatible, the amount of power running through NVIDIA's cable is unclear.
NVIDIA RTX 30 Founders Edition variants supplied with a 12-pin connector utilize a 2×8-pin to a 1x-12-pin power adapter, estimated to only process as much as 300W of power. The ASUS Thor 12-pin connector and cable are officially slating to power 450W from the power supply. Since the two companies' information conflicts with the other, it is under speculation that the two connections vary. What's rather interesting here is that this configuration might be only specific to Gigabyte's PSUs as MSI has their next-gen PCIe Gen 5 compatible PSUs shipping with adapters that feature two 8-pin to one 16-pin connectors as we revealed in our exclusive.
Source: Gigabyte
News Source: Videocardz
