Melting and overheating 12VHPWR power connectors have caused quite a splash among enthusiasts, which is why makers of PSUs and cables are trying to address these issues in any way they possibly can. PSU manufacturer Cooler Master recently started to bundle its latest PSUs with a revamped 12VHPWR cable with a 90-degree plug.
Cooler Master says that its new 90-degree 12VHPWR auxiliary PCIe 5.0 power connector is more durable and has a better thermal structure than competing products. In particularly, the company says that it produces 5 degrees Celsius lower temperature, has 25% thicker contacts, features a 45% lower impedance change rate, a 12% higher insertion withdrawal force, and has four springs instead of two. Cooler Master says that the new connector is safer to use than typical 12VHPWR connectors.
The cable with the new connector is supplied with the Cooler Master GX III Gold 850W PSU and it is likely that it will ship with some other power supplies, too.
Cables and connectors need to comply with rather strict standards designed by organizations like PCI-SIG. To that end, there is only so much makers of PSUs, graphics cards, and cables/connectors can do about improving those connectors as many things are tightly regulated for compatibility.
That said, the new connector probably has nothing to do with the pending 12V 2×6 standard connector, but is probably a slightly improved version of the 12VHPWR that is 100% compatible and compliant with it. In any case, users should properly plug the new cable to their graphics cards to avoid failures.
