Mass production of Asus GPUs without power cables to begin late this year

[Daniel Sims]

The big picture: At Computex in May, Asus showcased a custom graphics card that receives power directly from the motherboard instead of through cables. The company displayed the unique setup again at a recent event in Shanghai while further establishing its plans to bring the new design to the market.

Asus has confirmed its intentions to start manufacturing a cableless GeForce RTX 4070 later this year, suggesting it will be available globally either around the end of 2023 or early 2024. The GPU will be available in black and white variants.

Cable management can become a real annoyance when building a custom PC, and recent incidents with the RTX 4090 have proven that power cables can be dangerous. After dozens of cases of the flagship card's power adapters burning and melting, Nvidia had to update the connector design. One possible culprit is how the cables bend at the point of connection, so a GPU without cables would likely give builders one less thing to worry about.

Asus unveiled such a solution at Computex – a graphics card that receives power directly through a new port on a custom motherboard. Video channel EIXA Studio got another look at the GPU and motherboard at the Bilibili World 2023 exhibition in Shanghai, China, noting the motherboard's power supply indicator LEDs and the fact that it delivers up to 600W.

The hardware vendor hasn't mentioned intentions to bring the new power connection method to other cards or motherboards, suggesting that the upcoming release aims to probe consumer interest in ditching power cables. If successful, it could be the beginning of a new standard, which would make cable management at least slightly easier. However, it's unclear why Asus chose the RTX 4070 to debut the new design.

The cableless GPU's obvious downside is that using it requires a new motherboard, so it currently only makes sense for customers intending to build a new PC. Furthermore, users who purchase the combo could face an uncertain upgrade path afterward. If Asus eventually makes cable-free variants of more power-hungry cards like the RTX 4090, Radeon RX 7900 XTX, or future flagships, upgrading to that tier would mean upgrading to a motherboard with a higher cableless delivery wattage limit. It's also unclear whether the custom motherboards support GPUs with conventional power connectors.

Masthead: Wccftech

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https://www.techspot.com/news/99543-mass-production-asus-gpus-without-power-cables-begin.html

 

[takaozo]

The resale value of boards and GPU's will be like a car with steering on right side

 

[Geralt]

Now the mobos will be on fire, not the cables. 600W is insane. Crazy idea.

 

[redgarl]

So... Asus is trying to lock buyers into their ecosystem and pay for a motherboard and a GPU by them... well... at least if they had a good reputation with power regulation...

 

[TheBigT42]

With the direction this company has been moving towards...I can say I have purchased my last (or at least for the foreseeable future) Asus product.

 

[punctualturn]

I just put together a new system with a 7900XTX, which has 3 power plugs and must say, a solution to this is needed, just not this one.

 

[J95qRP7]

Call me old but I guess I just don't give a toss about cable management or how my build looks. I stick my expensive parts in my Define 7 XL and sit it next to my desk on a little stand. I can see one LED and it tells me if the computer is on or off. My 7800x3d or Nitro+ 7900 XTX aren't complaining about it being too hot, so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. From my point of view, this is just vendor lock in that reduces choices and the modular nature of the PC environment.

 

[hahahanoobs]

Nothing has changed when it comes to building a PC, so companies need a new thing.

This better not catch on.

 

[yRaz]

I like managing my cables and making them look pretty

 

[kira setsu]

I like managing my cables and making them look pretty

this is the true spirit of pc building, pretty cables.

 

[oasked]

This needs a new standard, that everyone else uses - until there is one, best to avoid.

 

[Adhmuz]

The GPU power wire isn't exactly a huge pain to deal with, now so more than ever as there is potentially only one to contend with, not that dual or triple 8 pins were that much of a challenge either. All the other small wires, fans, RGB, front panel, more RGB, now those are a pain to manage.

 

[waclark]

Personally, I like that someone is trying to do something innovative. Just like the Corsair lighting system, while it's proprietary now, hopefully the technology can develop into a standard that all manufacturers can follow.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

Personally, I like that someone is trying to do something innovative. Just like the Corsair lighting system, while it's proprietary now, hopefully the technology can develop into a standard that all manufacturers can follow.

Why? So motherboards can get even MORE expensive? Is plugging in a cable really that hard?

 

[waclark]

Why? So motherboards can get even MORE expensive? Is plugging in a cable really that hard?

If the technology is adopted by more manufacturers, it won't be more expensive. No, plugging in a cable isn't all that hard but technology should always be as foolproof as possible. What is your opposition to this if it becomes a standard?

 

[neeyik]

It should be noted that while the Asus system removes the requirement to plug a power cable directly into the graphics card, then extra connector on the card and motherboard still requires the use of a PSU cable. It basically plugs into a socket on the rear of the motherboard and if it's a 12VHPWR one (and I suspect it is), then there's no saying that it won't have issues.

Perhaps this is why Asus is going with the low-powered 4070 to begin with, until the whole cable-on-fire issue is fully resolved.

 

[waclark]

It should be noted that while the Asus system removes the requirement to plug a power cable directly into the graphics card, then extra connector on the card and motherboard still requires the use of a PSU cable. It basically plugs into a socket on the rear of the motherboard and if it's a 12VHPWR one (and I suspect it is), then there's no saying that it won't have issues.

Perhaps this is why Asus is going with the low-powered 4070 to begin with, until the whole cable-on-fire issue is fully resolved.

According to one article I read, the ASUS mobo has both 12VHPWR connector and 3 8-pin connectors for the added power. So, it seems like you have a choice of how to power the GPU.