PCIe power connectors

PCIe power connectors are the supplemental cables that carry power to a graphics card beyond the 75 W the PCIe slot itself supplies. A 6-pin connector adds up to 75 W and an 8-pin adds up to 150 W. Cards needing more stack multiple connectors or use a single high current connector instead.

A 350 W GPU can run on two 8-pin connectors plus slot power, for 375 W of rated supply. A single 12V-2x6 connector, the revised 12VHPWR, is rated for up to 600 W and covers the highest end cards on its own. NVIDIA's RTX 5090 draws 575 W through one of them, while older cards in the 350 W to 450 W range typically used three 8-pin connectors.

When specing a system, match the GPU's connector type to native cables on the power supply. Adapters that combine multiple 8-pin cables into one 12V-2x6 work but add a failure point that's been linked to melted connectors on high draw cards.

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Last verified August 29, 2026.