Gigabyte Reveals A GeForce RTX 4090 With An Ingenious Way To Hide The Power Connector
GIGABYTE has released a unique GeForce RTX 4090 graphics card, called the WINDFORCE V2 that cleverly moves the 16-pin power connector into the interior of the graphics card itself. This radical new design allows the 16-pin to be almost hidden inside the graphics card improving aesthetic looks and improving compatibility with narrower computer chassis.
It is immediately obvious what GIGABYTE has done when taking a look at photos of the rear of the card. GIGABYTE has effectively cut out 1/6th of the 4090’s heatsink making room for the 16-pin connector to sit horizontally inside the graphics card. This allows 16-pin adapters or power cables to be installed length-wise inside the 4090, with the cables sticking out of the rear of the card, rather than the top.
This design change is genius and solves many problems with the 16-pin power connector. With the connector recessed inside the cooler length-wise, there will be no issues with cable stress near the 16-pin connector itself, ensuring better reliability of the card. This is especially true with the quadruple 8-pin to 16-pin power adapter all RTX 4090s come with since it's substantially bulkier compared to standard 16-pin power cables.
— 포시포시 (@harukaze5719) June 11, 2023
The only side-effect of GIGABYTE’s design is that a 6th (roughly) of the card’s cooling potential is now gone, thanks to the large cut-out required for the 16-pin power cable. This could affect thermals in a negative way, but generally, RTX 4090 coolers are already quite overbuilt so we doubt this will be a problem for any but the most extreme of overclocks.
