Seasonic unveils 600W 12V-2X6 GPU power cable upgrade — company's earlier ATX 3.0 PSUs came with older 12VHPWR cables

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Hopefully, this means no more 16-pin adapter meltdowns.

Seasonic 12V-2X6 Power Cable
(Image credit: Seasonic)

Seasonic has released a new 12V-2x6 600W power cable for its outgoing ATX 3.0 compatible power supplies. The new cable is designed to replace its older 12VHPWR cables that came with all its original ATX 3.0 power supplies. The newer 12V-2x6 cable is a more mature revision of the 12VHPWR cable that is less susceptible — dare we say immune? — to meltdowns.

The cable itself is 700mm long and can deliver up to 600 watts to a connected GPU, and it uses 16 gauge wiring. The connector features HCS (High-Current System) terminals with 94V-0 plastic material for the 16-pin housing, and it's rated for up to 50-lifetime mating cycles. The connectors are also colored blue to help differentiate them from Seasonic's earlier black 12VHPWR power cables.

The new cable and the 12V-2X6 standard are backward compatible with 12VHPWR power connectors, which is how Seasonic was able to provide this upgrade in the first place. Compatible Seasonic power supplies include any of its ATX 3.0 power supplies. These PSU lineups are the Prime TX ATX 3.0 series, Prime PX ATX 3.0 series, Vertex GX, PX, GX White, and Sakura units, and the Focus GX and GX White ATX 3.0 lineups. Older ATX 2.0 Seasonic units are not compatible with this new power cable.

Seasonic recommends that you only use 750W or higher if your graphics card pulls a significant amount of power, like the RTX 4090. The new cable will be optimal for users who want to be free from the risk of a system meltdown due to the 16-pin power connector. The original 16-pin 12VHPWR standard became notorious for causing GPU meltdowns and was responsible for the vast majority of RTX 4090 deaths last year.

The new 12V-2X6 standard alleviates this problem by rectifying many of the problematic elements of the 12VHPWR standard. Most notably, the new connection standard boasts shortened connecting pins that are less resistant to voltage coming from the power supply. Hardware Busters tested the new 12V-2X6 standard and found it drastically outperforms the 12VHPWR standard in operating thermals, making it "virtually impossible" for the connector to melt.

Seasonic's new cable is available now, though that's dependent on your location. If you have any questions regarding availability, Seasonic recommends you contact them via their support email for assistance.

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Aaron Klotz
Aaron Klotz
Contributing Writer

Aaron Klotz is a contributing writer for Tom’s Hardware, covering news related to computer hardware such as CPUs, and graphics cards.

15 Comments Comment from the forums
  • pf100
    This cable makes no sense. The cable's connectors are the same whether you have the 12V-2x6 or 12VHPWR connector. The part of the connector on the gpu, not the cable's ends, are what's different with the 12V-2x6 connector as compared to the 12VHPWR connector.
    More info here:
    https://hwbusters.com/psus/will-my-atx-v3-0-psu-or-my-gpu-be-compatible-with-12v-2x6-do-i-need-a-new-cable-psu-gpu-everything-you-need-to-know/
    Reply
  • JarredWaltonGPU
    pf100 said:
    This cable makes no sense. The cable's connectors are the same whether you have the 12V-2x6 or 12VHPWR connector. The part of the connector on the gpu, not the cable's ends, are what's different with the 12V-2x6 connector as compared to the 12VHPWR connector.
    More info here:
    https://hwbusters.com/psus/will-my-atx-v3-0-psu-or-my-gpu-be-compatible-with-12v-2x6-do-i-need-a-new-cable-psu-gpu-everything-you-need-to-know/
    The early cables had longer sense pins and shorter power pins. By making the sense pins shorter and the power pins longer in 12V-2X6, it's easier to detect if the cable isn't fully inserted — and less likely to have a situation where you get arcing and a meltdown.

    So yes, this cable does make sense, as it incorporates the necessary changes on the connector that plugs into the graphics card.
    Reply
  • usertests
    I say we skip the whole thing and use AMD or Intel GPUs (or ≤75W cards like the RTX 3050 6GB) until a sane connector arrives in another 5 years.
    Reply
  • peachpuff
    Does this cable solve the issue with not having enough space between the card and side of the case so you have a crazy bend in it? No? Then nothing is solved.
    Reply
  • pf100
    JarredWaltonGPU said:
    The early cables had longer sense pins and shorter power pins. By making the sense pins shorter and the power pins longer in 12V-2X6, it's easier to detect if the cable isn't fully inserted — and less likely to have a situation where you get arcing and a meltdown.

    So yes, this cable does make sense, as it incorporates the necessary changes on the connector that plugs into the graphics card.
    The shorter sense pins and longer power pins are on the connector on the gpu, not the power supply cable end.
    Reply
  • JarredWaltonGPU
    pf100 said:
    The shorter sense pins and longer power pins are on the connector on the gpu, not the power supply cable end.
    True. I guess the question is whether or not there were any potential problems with the original cables that Seasonic shipped. If this is just a marketing stunt, that's a problem, but hopefully it's more than that. Maybe they improved the materials used on the connectors. I guess the only way to know for sure would be to get the new cables and the original cables and then do something like what Igor is doing with AIO coolers. LOL
    Reply
  • ezst036
    pf100 said:
    The shorter sense pins and longer power pins are on the connector on the gpu, not the power supply cable end.

    That does point out something interesting.

    Every time there was melting, it was always the GPU melting. Did we ever see melting on the PSU side of the cable?

    I mean, the manufacturers always blamed the users.(at least for a significant amount of the time at the beginning) How come the users got it right 100% of the time on the PSU side? Are we to assume that 100% of cable melts always happened on non-modular PSUs?

    That all seems a little convenient right?
    Reply
  • purple_dragon
    Great! Now the consumer who already paid for your product can fork out more money to fix YOUR mistake. How about you replace the original cable for free if it's a problem or replace the gpu? Otherwise, consumers should file a massive class action suit against the psu and gpu industry as a whole.
    Reply
  • newtechldtech
    usertests said:
    I say we skip the whole thing and use AMD or Intel GPUs (or ≤75W cards like the RTX 3050 6GB) until a sane connector arrives in another 5 years.
    you skip it alone :P I will be enjoying my RTX 4090 in the meanwhile.
    Reply
  • ivan_vy
    newtechldtech said:
    you skip it alone :p I will be enjoying my RTX 4090 in the meanwhile.
    I'll skip this and the next generation by economic reasons, thanks.
    PS5 Pro supposed to have the 7700XT graphical level, is the only sensible choice to have future proof gaming for the next 5 years. also FSR, RT and whatnot, I'll wait for a price drop.
    Reply