ASUS has recently presented the RTX 4070 Megalodon, an Ada GPU of high performance, introducing an alternative to traditional power requirements.... ASUS Reveals RTX 4070 Megalodon: A GPU with a Proprietary PCI-like Power Solution
Looks like an interesting solution, but OMG I can't wait to see the price on this thing! It's going to be outrageous for sure, lol.
Pros: 1. You don't have to deal with power cords poking out of the GPU, which can often be a burden for the 300mm+ monstrosities. 2. Sleeker design. 3. Should help reduce some of the physical burden of the PCie slot. 4. If done right, should eliminate any fire hazard. Those connectors are exactly what I was suggesting be done instead of this stupid multi-pin approach. Cons: 1. If it is truly proprietary and probably not going to be found on all Asus boards, so adoption rate will be so low that it might as well not exist. I wouldn't be surprised if Asus will license it out but if it's not cheap enough, nobody is going to want to. 2. Cable management might actually be harder, since you now have more power connectors attached to the motherboard. Unless that implies there's a proprietary PSU design too... 3. The GPU seems to be deliberately designed to not have have traditional connectors, which means that these GPUs are forced to work on the select few Asus boards that supports this. Even if it did support those connectors, it's possible the tab sticking out may hit components on other motherboards. 4. The only time this extra connector makes sense is on a GPU that will be drawing more than 75W. Such GPUs will most likely be dual-slot. It would have made more sense to have the connector attached somewhere between the 1st and 2nd slot, or perhaps between the 2nd and 3rd slot since it's still free real estate. This way, both slots can still have PCIe lanes, you're not likely to collide with other motherboard components (so the GPU could fit in unsupported boards), and it can add more structural stability (since you're widening the footprint). Kinda gets me to realize: Why not just make a GPU where the power connector is a right-angle and mounted toward the bottom of the PCB? That way, the HSF can conceal much of the wires. Maybe even have a grommet in the motherboard so you can pass cables directly through it. Sure, it makes installation harder, but beauty is pain lol.
another possible point of failure added for people that still buy asus. no it doesn't, this is present only on a 200w 4070, not a 4090. 250 and up will still require 8/12-pins, and frankly I'd rather have a normal pcie cable on cards that will spike to 300w or more than run 200w through this thing.
lol, right, lets (re) move 2 cables going to the gpu (out of how many in a decent (gaming) rig?) over to the board, then run all that power needed thru the board. lets see how that works with >600w, ignoring completely how much (lane) space this would take up on the board. i would be 10x more interested in a separate gpu case, even if it would add (another) psu to run it..
they want to run they power threw pcb on thos connections below the pcie connection? nice idea i guess less wires but how beefy is pcb gona have to be to allow the much power threw + cpu that pull 200watts? I cant see it being cheap and it being asus just it would be just worse