Should I use the 12V-2x6 adapter from my RTX GPU, or the cable from my PSU?

If you have bought a 30-series or 40-series graphics card, chances are very likely that you have opened the box and found a little adapter in there. This adapter, nicknamed by the community as "the octopus" is included in these cards as they use a relatively new power connector called 12V-2x6 (formerly known as 12VHPWR - read more about the change here - 12VHPWR vs 12V-2x6).

So should you use this cable, or are there better alternatives? The answer is that you can really do whatever you want to. Many users prefers to use native cables, or 8-pin to 12V-2x6 to reduce cabler clutter in their PC.

Not using the included adapter have many advantages - amongst some of the bigger one is that with direct cables, you can get much cleaner cable runs, even going so far as using 90 degree cables so you do not collide with your side panel. Another advantage is that you reduce the amount of connections needed between your PSU and graphics card by using a direct cable.

In the image above you can see all the different connection options you have on CORSAIR power supplies. Please note that not all power supplies have the native 12V-2x6 connection, but even if it does not have this, you can safely use just an 8-pin to 12V-2x6 cable and get the exact same result. Just make sure that it's the correct type for the CORSAIR PSU in question. You will find cable type that the PSU uses in the "tech specs" section underneath each PSU on our webstore.