Cooler Master Ships PSU with More Durable, Cooler 12VHPWR Connector

Cooler Master
(Image credit: Cooler Master)

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.

(Image credit: Cooler Master)

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 2x6 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.

(Image credit: Nvidia)
Anton Shilov
Contributing Writer

Anton Shilov is a contributing writer at Tom’s Hardware. Over the past couple of decades, he has covered everything from CPUs and GPUs to supercomputers and from modern process technologies and latest fab tools to high-tech industry trends.

  • Kamen Rider Blade
    I hope Tom's Hardware or another outlet can test all those claims.

    That should be easy enough to validate.
    Reply
  • TJ Hooker
    "45% lower impedance change rate"

    What does this even mean? The only thing I can think of is they're referring to the rate at which resistance/impedance can worsen over time/after repeated mating cycles.
    Reply
  • TechieTwo
    TJ Hooker said:
    "45% lower impedance change rate"

    What does this even mean? The only thing I can think of is they're referring to the rate at which resistance/impedance can worsen over time/after repeated mating cycles.
    Could mean change in resistance/impedance with thermal (connector temp) increase during use.
    Reply
  • King_V
    Kamen Rider Blade said:
    I hope Tom's Hardware or another outlet can test all those claims.

    That should be easy enough to validate.
    For success and, in particular, failure, I think I know the perfect guy to do the testing...

    Reply