AMD confirms Radeon RX 7800/7700 XT GPUs were to use 12VHPWR connector, but the idea was dropped

AMD GPU Boss confirms the company wanted to use new power connector for Navi 32 GPUs

Scott Herkleman, the Senior Vice President and General Manager of AMD’s Graphics Business Unit, revealed in a Club386 interview that AMD had originally planned to use the 12VHWPR connector for its RX 7800 and RX 7700 series. However, the company changed its mind and decided to drop the new connector from its design.

Herkelman explained that AMD wanted to make sure that the gaming community was comfortable and confident with the new connector before implementing it in its products. He said that AMD would reconsider using the 12VHWPR connector in the future if the feedback was positive.

He also commented on the challenges that some companies faced with the new connector, and said that they should have taken responsibility and solved the issues that affected the users, just like AMD did with the vapor chamber problem on its Radeon RX 7900 series.

Club386: Still no sign of 12VHPWR on any Radeon graphics card. Is this a burning issue for you?

Scott Herkleman: We specifically, for 7900 Series, and even 7600, we didn’t plan on the new power cable, but 7800 and 7700 did have a plan for it. We removed it, and that was a purposeful removal. You shouldn’t blame end users for issues you have. You should catch and own any problems, just like we did with the vapour-chamber issue. I was all over social media because I felt like it was AMD’s problem and I was going to own it.

Until this power issue is cleaned up and there’s good confidence it’s working correctly for end users, that’s where you’ll start to see us incorporate it into our planning. The ability for someone to say it’s an end-user’s fault is a little strange to AMD and definitely strange to me.

The 12VHPWR connector has been updated with a new safety feature that moves the sense pins back. This prevents the card from getting too much power if the connector is not plugged in correctly. The card will only receive the right amount of power when the cable is properly seated.

The reports of melting connectors have become less frequent lately, but they are still a problem for some companies that use angled adapters. Therefore, the issue is not completely resolved, but it is less severe than before.

Source: Club386