- Chinese reviewer shows off the RTX 5080 FE and its new power connector
- The embargo is scheduled to take place on January 29, one day before launch.
- New power connector features new wires for a more secure connection
Following the unveiling of Nvidia’s RTX 5000 series at CES 2025, we’re waiting for our first look at the RTX 5090’s performance from user testing to find out how well the new multi-frame generation feature actually works – but for the Right now we have 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 site Bilibili (as reported by VideoCardz), who introduced the RTX 5080 FE with its new power adapter and said the embargo date for reviews would be January 29 ( a day before launch) – although this contradicts a previous report from VideoCardz that the embargoes will be lifted on January 24. At the time of writing, Bilibili’s post appears to have been removed – potentially due to a legal notice from Nvidia – but VideoCardz’s post is still online, at least for now.
The RTX 4080 and 4090 power connector, called the 12VHPWR connector, was not ideal for users – given that it presented a potential fire hazard, and its short length left a lack of space and flexibility for closing the side panels of the PC cases (also it wasn’t very pleasant to look at, frankly).
Based on the first image shown in the VideoCardz article (which we’re not publishing here because we’d rather not invoke the fury of Nvidia’s legal department), it appears that Nvidia is now offering a much longer and more powerful AC adapter. flexible – I recently covered the RTX 4080 Super and its performance in the Resident Evil 4 remake, and the only glaring issue I found wasn’t with the performance of the card itself, but rather the temperamental power adapter.
While there’s only a limited amount of information we can glean from a leaked image like this, it seems to be a bit more user-friendly if it works the same way as the power cable Seasonic’s 12VHPWR – VideoCardz also highlighted the additional sense wires. which were added to ensure a secure 8-pin connection, preventing any connection issues that would have caused the connectors to fuse that we saw with the previous generation.
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 many options on the market that are viable alternatives to the RTX 4080’s problematic power connector. It’s important to buy the right cable that provides a sufficient amount of power and is compatible with your PSU – you also don’t want to take the risk of buying a cheap and unreliable one.
It’s not exactly clear from the provided images whether the new power adapter for the RTX 5080 (and RTX 5090) will be compatible with the RTX 4080 or any other RTX 4000 card, but if so, it might be the simplest solution. to this matter.
January 30 is coming up, so we’ll see more of what Nvidia’s powerful new GPUs will have to offer. Hopefully there are no recurring issues regarding potential cable melting on this occasion.
