EVGA's Kingpin (stylized as K|NGP|N) series graphics cards have always been a little special. They use a custom printed circuit board (PCB) with an enhanced voltage regulating module (VRM) along with a hybrid or liquid cooling system to ensure maximum performance. But with its GeForce RTX 3090 Ti, EVGA has gone one step further: it bundled a rather formidable 1600W power supply with the board. And now we see a special converter board for 12VHPWR.
PowerLink 52U for 3090 Ti KINGPIN 🤯 pic.twitter.com/Np7z1TDAPdJuly 12, 2022
EVGA's 1.6kW PSU lacks the 12VHPWR PCIe Gen5 auxiliary power connectors that EVGA's GeForce RTX 3090 Ti Kingpin graphics board uses, which is why EVGA had to create its special PowerLink 52U five 8-pin to two 16-pin (12VHPWR) power adapter exclusively for its flagship card (which will be among the best gaming graphics cards ever produced until the RTX refresh hits), Jacob Freeman, a spokesman for EVGA, has revealed in his Twitter.
The EVGA GeForce RTX 3090 Ti Kingpin uses two 12VHPWR PCIe Gen5 auxiliary power connectors that can deliver up to 1200W of power, an amount that the board can barely devour even when heavily overclocked. Nonetheless, to make its overkill VRM work properly, EVGA wants to feed both connectors with enough power. Apparently the five 8-pin PCIe auxiliary power plugs (that can deliver 750W) can do the job, albeit using a special adapter.
EVGA's PowerLink 52U will certainly simplify cable management for existing GeForce RTX 3090 Ti Kingpin owners since messing with cabled adapters is not particularly user friendly. What remains to be seen is whether the same adapter will be supplied with future GeForce RTX 40-series graphics cards (or sold separately) since they will use 12VHPWR PCIe Gen5 power connectors and will not be compatible with existing PSUs out-of-box.
Common logic says that since next-generation graphics cards will still be power hungry and will need new power connectors, there will be adapters for these boards to make them work with existing high-wattage power supply that will still be good for upcoming graphics adapters.
