Do PCI-E 5.0 graphics cards have to be used with ATX 3.0 power supplies?

In March of this year, Intel officially released the ATX 3.0 and ATX12VO 2.0 power supply design guidelines, introducing the 12VHPWR power supply interface for high-power hardware in the PCI-E 5.0 specification for PC power supplies, and there are also some related power performance performance.

requirements, including electrical performance requirements and corresponding test plans.

The RTX 3090 Ti graphics card, which debuted almost at the same time as the ATX 3.0 power supply design guide , is the first PC hardware product that uses the 12VHPWR power supply interface on a large scale on non-public products.

Therefore, many students have more or less the following Such cognitions, such as “RTX 3090 Ti belongs to PCI-E 5.0 graphics card”, “power supply with 12VHPWR power supply interface is ATX 3.0 power supply”, “PCI-E 5.0 graphics card must be used with ATX 3.0 power supply” and so on.

But is this really the case? It is true that ATX 3.0 power supply, 12VHPWR interface and PCI-E 5.0 graphics card are inextricably related to each other, but it is not so simple to draw an equal sign directly.

Today, we are going to take a look at the relationship between them here. If we say no, everyone should re-understand these three.

Is the power supply equipped with the 12VHPWR interface an ATX 3.0 power supply?

Intel introduced the 12VHPWR power supply interface in the ATX 3.0 power supply design guide, so the 12VHPWR interface naturally became the symbol of the ATX 3.0 power supply.

However, according to the ATX 3.0 power supply design guide, not all ATX 3.0 power supplies will be equipped with a 12VHPWR power supply interface.

If the rated power of the power supply does not exceed 450W, then the 12VHPWR interface is an “optional interface” and does not necessarily need to be equipped with the power supply.

Only ATX 3.0 power products with rated power greater than 450W, the 12VHPWR interface belongs to the category of “must be configured”.

Many power supply products are now providing 12VHPWR power supply interface

But even if the power supply is equipped with a 12VHPWR interface, it does not mean that it belongs to ATX 3.0.

In fact, after the release of the RTX 3090 Ti graphics card, many power supply manufacturers have already provided their own products with 12VHPWR interface module lines, making their own power supply products.

The RTX 3090 Ti can be powered directly without using the adapter cable that comes with the graphics card. But is such a power supply product an ATX 3.0 power supply?

Most likely not, because there are some related electrical performance requirements in ATX 3.0 power supply, only the power supply that meets these requirements is eligible to become an ATX 3.0 specification product.

Regarding the electrical performance requirements of the ATX 3.0 power supply, you can refer to our previous article ” Super Classroom (304): Do you need a high-power power supply?”

The ATX 3.0 Power Supply Design Guide has the answer “, here we take the 12VHPWR power supply interface as an example, the 12VHPWR power supply interface can provide up to 600W power supply capacity, but this 600W power supply capability refers to the continuous output capability, and the requirement for peak power is obviously higher.

According to the specifications given by the ATX 3.0 power supply design guide, if the duration of its peak power does not exceed 100 microseconds, its peak power consumption is allowed to reach 3 times the TDP , that is, a graphics card with a 600W TDP is allowed to obtain within 100 microseconds 1800W power supply capacity; if the peak power consumption duration is between 100 microseconds and 1 second, the power available to the hardware is inversely proportional to the duration, and the longer the duration, the lower the allowable peak power consumption.

This means that if the power supply is equipped with a 12VHPWR interface that can provide 600W of power, the +12V peak power that the power supply can output needs to reach the level of 1800W output within 100 microseconds , and according to our understanding, it can be A power supply that meets this requirement can basically easily achieve an output of 1200W in terms of rated power, which is exactly in line with the recommendations given by Intel.

And this is just a part of the specifications of the ATX 3.0 power supply.

Intel actually also gave a more detailed peak power test scheme, and the power supply that can pass these tests is eligible to become an ATX 3.0 power supply.

It can be seen from the above test specifications that for an ATX 3.0 power supply with a rated power greater than 450W, its peak power needs to achieve 200% output within 100 microseconds, that is to say, a 1000W rated power supply, the peak power within 100 microseconds must Reach the level of 2000W.

For this reason, some power supply manufacturers bluntly stated that with the current PC power supply technology, this is equivalent to making a 1600W level power supply product, and then marking it as a 1000W rated power to meet the requirements of ATX 3.0 power supply.

Since the power of the 12VHPWR interface can reach 600W, the requirements for the wire will be higher, and most of them use the 16AWG specification.

Therefore, the 12VHPWR power supply interface and the ATX 3.0 power supply cannot be directly equated.

Only the power supply products that meet the relevant design requirements of ATX 3.0 and have passed the relevant tests can be called ATX 3.0 specification power supplies.

The 12VHPWR interface cannot be configured only by an ATX 3.0 power supply.

As long as the rated power and peak power of the power supply can meet the requirements of the interface, even existing products can provide a high-standard 12VHPWR interface.

Do PCI-E 5.0 graphics cards have to use the 12VHPWR interface?

Before answering this question, we might as well look at a simple question, that is, is the graphics card configured with the 12VHPWR interface a PCI-E 5.0 graphics card?

The answer to this question is obvious.

It is true that the 12VHPWR power supply interface is indeed the high-power power supply interface specified in the PCI-E 5.0 specification.

However, the non-public RTX 3090 Ti graphics card can be said to have applied the 12VHPWR power supply interface on a large scale, but it is obvious These RTX 3090 Tis do not belong to PCI-E 5.0 products, they still belong to the category of PCI-E 4.0, so graphics cards using 12VHPWR power supply interface are not necessarily PCI-E 5.0 graphics cards.

The PCI-E 5.0 specification does not abandon the existing power supply interface

Will the problem be reversed then? It is not necessarily that the PCI-E 5.0 specification has not abandoned the 6pin and 6+2pin PCI-E power supply interfaces that are still widely used today.

They are still used as standard interfaces, and the 6pin interface can still be used in an environment where the power supply does not exceed 75W.

Among them, the 6+2pin or 8pin interface can output 150W power. Only when the single interface output is greater than or equal to 150W power, the 12VHPWR interface needs to be used.

Therefore, even in the era of PCI-E 5.0, there should be a large number of products using 6pin, 6+2pin, and 8pin interfaces for power supply in graphics card products.

The advantage of the 12VHPWR interface is that it provides high power in a small volume.

Generally speaking, only medium High-end products will be widely used.

Do PCI-E 5.0 graphics cards have to use ATX 3.0 power supplies?

Since PCI-E 5.0 graphics card and 12VHPWR interface, ATX 3.0 power supply and 12VHPWR interface are not necessarily or can be equated, then PCI-E 5.0 graphics card and ATX 3.0 power supply can not be equated?

In fact, there is no clear conclusion on this issue at present. It cannot be said that the PCI-E 5.0 graphics card has nothing to do with the ATX 3.0 power supply.

After all, the latter can be said to be formulated to meet the needs of the former, but so far there is still no real meaning in the market.

Whether the PCI-E 5.0 graphics card products and ATX 3.0 power supply products on the Internet must be used together cannot be verified.

12VHPWR interface is the key

However, the PCI-E 5.0 graphics card and ATX 3.0 power supply will form the “best match”. The possibility of this is still very high. The key here is the 12VHPWR power supply interface.

This interface adopts a 12+4pin design, of which 12pin is responsible for Power supply, and the other 4 pins are used for the communication between the graphics card and the power supply, so that the graphics card can clearly know the power supply capability of the power supply, and the power supply can also know the power supply status of the graphics card.

Adjustment so that both parties can work together to maximize their effectiveness.

Let’s take a look at the definition of the 12VHPWR power supply interface.

The 12pin of this interface are all used for power supply, and the 4pin below is the communication interface between the graphics card and the power supply.

From left to right, they are S1, S2, S3, and S4. S2 is mainly used for the transmission of working status information between the graphics card and the power supply, while S3 and S4 represent the interface power through the combination of high and low levels.

According to the above table, Open corresponds to a high level, and Gnd corresponds to a low level.

When S3 and S4, that is, Sense0 and Sense1 are both high, it means that the power of the 12VHPWR interface is 150W.

If When both interfaces are low, this means that the power that the 12VHPWR interface can provide is 600W.

Therefore, if you see a power supply product that provides a 12VHPWR interface by replacing the module cable, the S3 and S4 interfaces will be connected to the ground line invariably, so that even if it is used on a PCI-E 5.0 graphics card, the graphics card can also be based on 600W.

Power take off. However, since such a power supply is not connected to S1 and S2, the working status communication between the graphics card and the power supply cannot be realized, and the two parties cannot work together.

Therefore, such a power supply can only meet the power supply requirements of the PCI-E 5.0 graphics card, but it is not enough. It is the best partner for PCI-E 5.0 graphics cards.

The ATX 3.0 power supply can not only meet the power supply requirements of the PCI-E 5.0 graphics card, but also has the ability to communicate with the PCI-E 5.0 graphics card.

When the two are used together, they can theoretically achieve the best working state, which is beneficial to Ensure the stability of the entire system.

Therefore, PCI-E 5.0 graphics cards may not only be powered by ATX 3.0 power supplies, but to achieve the “best match” effect, according to the current information, it may really be ATX 3.0 power supplies.

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