This ASRock GPU Is The First Ever Radeon Card To Feature 12V-2×6 Connector

Amidst the 12VHPWR fiasco affecting flagship NVIDIA GPUs, AMD had promised that its RDNA3 GPUs will not feature the now-infamous connector back in late 2022. Fast forward to today, the connector has been improved in the newer 12V-2×6 format, and it has found its way to a Radeon GPU for the first time ever, courtesy of ASRock’s Creator series GPUs in blower fan form factor.

ASRock Brings 12V-2×6 Connector To Radeon GPUs

The GPU in question (courtesy of @momomo_us on X/Twitter) is the RX 7900 XTX Creator and RX 7900 XT Creator (previously named RX 7900 XTX WS and RX 7900 XT WS, respectively), both of which features the dual-slot blower fan design commonly found in workstation and multi-GPU setups.

The reason for adopting this new connector most likely comes down to space: both Radeon cards needs at least two 8-pin PCIe connectors to supply power (some RX 7900 XTX variants require three), and space is of the essence in blower-style coolers. As seen on the rendered images, the connector is placed at the end of the card, so putting multiple connectors together will occupy significant amounts of space.

Naturally, these GPUs are aimed towards workstation users on a budget – due to certification processes, workstation GPUs can be significantly more expensive compared to their gaming counterparts, despite largely featuring the same silicon (though workstation cards offer more VRAM). This kind of product may be ideal for HEDT creators or AI training who simply wants the VRAM and combined compute power for a relatively more affordable price.

Pokdepinion: Quite surprising to see a 16-pin connector on a Radeon GPU.