As much as 12V-2X6 is an improvement on the now-infamous 12VHPWR, there’s clearly still room to improve the design of the power connector further. With GeForce, and now Radeon, cards falling prey to user error or inherent flaws stemming from the cable, ASRock may have the solution we’ve needed all along to keep GPUs and PSUs alike safe from harm.
Though ASRock’s ’12V-2×6 600W / L-Type Cable’ name doesn’t suggest it’s anything special, take a look at the PSU-end and you’ll find an unusual four-pin addition. This is an NTC (Negative Temperature Coefficient) Sensor, which tracks the resistance within the wiring.
Should the NTC Sensor detect a decrease in resistance, meaning temperature is increasing, it will then send a signal to the power supply. ASRock stops short of explaining what the PSU will do once it receives such a notification, so I’m curious to see the cable in action.
ASRock’s 12V-2×6 cable also comes with other safeguards we’ve seen other manufacturers implement. More specifically, the company uses an L-Type connector for the GPU to avoid strain loosening the connection. Colour-coded headers are also part of the equation, giving users visual feedback that they’ve connected the wire properly (or improperly).
In order to use the NTC Sensor, you will need one of ASRock’s newer Taichi or Phantom Gaming Series power supplies. Take a gander at a the PSU’s outputs and if you see two additional headers next to the usual assortment of 12V-2×6 outputs, you’re on to a winner.
While there’s no guarantee that ASRock’s cable would have prevented damage recently seen on a Radeon graphics card, or the many GeForce victims, it certainly wouldn’t hurt. Should it prove a boon in saving the proverbial lives of consumer graphics cards, I hope other manufacturers follow suit.
Problematic as 12V-2×6 and 12VHPWR have proven, I can’t deny how much I prefer using them over the more-fiddly 8-pin connectors. However, my preference is undeniably laced with a touch of anxiety that I’d rather be rid of entirely. Hopefully ASRock’s cables are a step towards such a future.
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