Nvidia ditches problematic 12VHPWR RTX 4080 power connector with much longer one for RTX 5080 FE, according to leaked images

Chinese reviewer showcases the RTX 5080 FE and its new power connector
The embargo is expected to be on January 29, a day before its launch
The new power plug has new wires for a more secure connection

Following the unveiling of Nvidia’s RTX 5000 series at CES 2025, we’ll be waiting for our first look at the RTX 5090’s performance from user benchmarks to find out how well the new Multi Frame Generation feature really works – but for now, we’ve got our first look at its little brother, the RTX 5080 Founders Edition, and its new power connector.

This comes from a reviewer on Chinese social media Bilibili (as reported by VideoCardz) who showed off the RTX 5080 FE alongside its new power adapter and stated that the embargo date for reviews will be January 29th (one day before launch) – although this conflicts with an earlier VideoCardz report that the embargoes will be lifted on January 24th. At the time of writing, the Bilibili post appears to have been removed – potentially due to a legal notice from Nvidia – but the VideoCardz article is still live, at least for now.

The RTX 4080 and 4090 power connector, called the 12VHPWR connector, was not ideal for users – considering it was a potential fire hazard, and its short length left a lack of space and flexibility for PC case side panels to close ( it also wasn’t very pleasant to watch, frankly).

Based on the early image shown in the VideoCardz article (which we’re not posting here because we’d rather not incur the wrath of Nvidia’s legal department), it looks like Nvidia is providing a much longer and more flexible power adapter now – I recently covered RTX 4080 Super and its performance in Resident Evil 4 replay, and the only glaring problem I found was not with the performance of the card itself, but rather the nifty power adapter.

While there’s only so much information we can take from a leaked image like this, it seems to be a bit more box-friendly if it works the same way as Seasonic’s 12VHPWR power cable – VideoCardz also pointed out the extra sensor wires that have been added to ensure a secure 8-pin connection, hopefully preventing connection issues that caused the plug meltdowns we saw with the previous generation.

(Image credit: Nvidia)

What solutions are available for the RTX 4080 GPU power adapter?

For those sticking with the RTX 4080, depending on your PC’s power supply, there are plenty of options on the market that serve as viable alternatives to the problematic RTX 4080 power connector. It’s important to buy the correct cable that provides a sufficient amount of power and is compatible with your PSU – you also don’t want to risk buying a cheap, unreliable one.

It’s not entirely clear from the accompanying images if the new RTX 5080 (and RTX 5090) power adapter will be compatible with the RTX 4080 or other RTX 4000 cards, but if it is, it could be the easy fix for this case.

January 30 is on the horizon, so we’ll see more of what Nvidia’s new powerhouse GPUs will have to offer – hopefully there won’t be any recurring issues regarding potential melting cables on this occasion.

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