Seasonic 12V-2×6 cables
Seasonic’s new 12V-2×6 cables come with two new features that make them technically superior to their predecessors (with 12VHPWR connectors). There are more of those changes, but the protections against insufficient insertion and increased temperatures are among the most significant things that change across generations of 16-pin connectors. Seasonic’s (12V-2×6) cables are available in three variants.
A quick introduction to the topic: The 12V-2×6 connectors have been used on graphics cards with Nvidia GPUs for quite some time, with relatively “quiet” revisions occurring since the middle of last year. Now, unless they are older units, graphics cards already have 12V-2×6 connectors for external power instead of 12VHPWR connectors. You can recognize these visually, by the shorter sense pins. They are shorter so that contact is only made after the connector on the cable from the PSU has been inserted deeper overall. This serves to prevent only partial insertions, where with 12VHPWR connectors the graphics cards do work, but due to the worse contact on a smaller area within the power section there is a higher temperature due to the higher transient resistance. This is undesirable and the new 12V-2×6 connectors are designed to prevent this behavior.
Tip: 12VHPWR cable thermal imaging: Different PSU, different temps
One thing is the connector on the graphics card and the other is the connector on the cable that powers it. Backwards compatibility with 12VHPWR is indeed there, but for optimal benefit from this new solution (with 12V-2×6 connectors) a suitable support on both sides. This means that the 12V-2×6 connector on the graphic should be paired with the 12V-2×6 connector on the power supply. There are relatively few of these cables that are directly included with power supplies, but they are there with models labeled “ATX 3.1”. However, this is only a very small minority of power supplies on the market. For all others (including ATX 3.0 and older – ATX 2.x models), new cables such as those from Seasonic may be the solution.
Seasonic has upgraded its cable offering, adding three new models with 12V-2×6 connectors. All have the same length of 700 mm, but each comes in a different connector configuration.
The first type of cable has straight 16-pin 12V-2×6 connectors on both sides. The second type also has 12V-2×6 connectors on both sides, but one of them, connecting to the graphics card, has a 90-degree bend. This can be an advantage for graphics cards installed vertically, in a traditional horizontal installation the direction of the cable for most graphics cards is the opposite (upwards) of what you might want (downwards). But there are a few exceptions where the connector will go under the graphics card. A 180-degree rotated 12V-2×6 connector, with sense pins closer to the cooler, is available from Asus, for example. However, Seasonic doesn’t consider it an advantage in this context of bent cables, on the contrary – due to possible collision and blocking of the connector latch, it’s an inappropriate combination that is not recommended.
The housing of the straight 12V-2×6 connectors is blue around the hollows. Its contrast indicates whether the connector is sufficiently inserted. If it is, it’s black everywhere (and you can’t see the blue from the outside). Such protection has already been put into practice by MSI as well.
And then there’s the third type of cable. It is the only one that counts with older ATX 2.x PSUs and power supply via a bent 12V-2×6 connector. Only select Seasonic power supplies are officially supported, as with all cables. For a list of compatible and incompatible series, see the product pages details for each cable (1, 2, 3). With the 12V-2×6 cable connecting via 8-pins to older PSUs, all PSUs with output below 650 W are incompatible. You can probably connect these cables to them physically and it is more of a prevention against their eventual overload, if after plugging in a too powerful graphics card, a weaker PSU would not be enough and the operation would be unstable (the PSU would shut down).
As for the materials used, they have not changed compared to the older cables (12VHPWR). The connectors are still HCS (Hard Clad Silica) and the gauge of the power wires is 1.31 mm2 (16AWG). The solution with 12V-2×6 connectors has one advantage (compared to 12VHPWR connectors), which is longer power pins. Even if there is a small gap, there is still a larger contact area and therefore less transient resistance leading to lower temperature inside the connector. The load capacity remains at 55 A, and the “600 W” marking counts with an eventual voltage below 12.0 V (10.9 V × 55 A = 600 W).
Each of the power wires has its own insulation, so that they can be rearranged in different ways during cable management. The insulation has not changed and will be soft again. Rubberized cables will be easy to bend, as is common with the Seasonic Vertex GX-850 power supply, for example.
All cables will be available separately, and are scheduled for Europe from June 2024 at suggested retail prices in the range of 21–26 EUR, where the cheapest is the straight cable with two identical 12V-2×6 connectors and the most expensive is the 90-degree cable with two 12V-2×6 connectors. The cable where there is a bent 12V-2×6 connector on one side and two 8-pins on the other is supposed to be a bit cheaper – at 25 EUR.
Seasonic will gradually replace the old cables (12VHPWR) with new ones (12V-2×6) even for ATX 3.0 power supplies to become part of the standard accessories. The dates of the changes for such revisions are as yet unknown, but when they occur, the presence of the new cable will be properly marked, either on the packaging of the power supply in question or within the parameter overview on the manufacturer’s website.
English translation and edit by Jozef Dudáš
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