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Native 12V-2x6 vs 8-pin to 12V-2x6 – what is the difference?

First thing first – in the above image is shown a 12V-2x6 cable. This was previously called 12VHPWR, but there was some changes to the connectors on the GPU and PSU side to make it a more secure connection.

NOTE! This change ONLY affects the connectors on the GPU/PSU side. The actual cables are the exact same, so if you have a 12VHPWR cable, it is also a 12V-2x6 cable (confusing, yes we know). Most cards produced after September 2023 will be using the 12V-2x6 connector, but the only way to make sure is to measure the sense pins from the distance of the connector housing. On the 12VHPWR they are .45mm in, and on the 12V-2x6 they are 1.95mm in from the edge of the housing.

Native 12V-2x6 vs 8-pin to 12V-2x6

These are unofficial terms that we have made up because we must have a way to differentiate between various different types of cables. We will cover a lot of different terms and types of cables in this article, but you really only need to know one thing:

ALL CORSAIR 12V-2x6 / 12VHPWR cables do the exact same thing, which is delivering up to 600W to your graphics card. There is no difference in the amount of power, stability or functionality between any of the cables, no matter if it is a native cable, or an 8-pin to 12V-2x6.

"But 8 pin PCI-e is limited to 150W?"

There is a common misconception that ALL 8-pin connectors are limited to 150W - this is not true. First we need to differentiate between two connectors:

CORSAIR Type 4/5 8-pin PSU connector - This is the 8 pin connector that you connect to your power supply. This connector can supply over 300W.
PCI-e 6+2 pin connector - This is the 8 pin connector you would insert into your graphics card, or the adapter that came with your RTX series cards. The PCI-e specifications have set this connector to being able to handle 150W. In reality it can handle much more, but due to variances in power supply and cable manufacturer’s quality and materials used, the graphics card manufacturers are limited to only drawing 150W per connection.

This is also why you can safely power a GPU that needs two PCI-e 6+2 connectors with a single CORSAIR Type 4/5 connector, since the connector on the PSU end can supply more than 300W, and each of the PCI-e 6+2 connectors only draws up to 150W each.