Intel Max 1100 data center GPUs will feature 12VHPWR interface
The 16Pin PCIe 5.0 external power supply interface, that is, the 12VHPWR interface is not a hard requirement for ATX 3.0 power supplies, but so far, generally, power supplies that support ATX 3.0 will have at least one 12VHPWR interface reserved for graphics cards.
NVIDIA took the lead in adopting the 12VHPWR interface on the GeForce RTX 40 series graphics cards, replacing the original 8Pin external power supply interface, which can provide a maximum power of 600W. However, this design has not been very successful for NVIDIA for the time being. Recently, users have submitted reports of melting damage to 12VHPWR connectors and cables one after another. NVIDIA is still investigating the cause of these accidents. In addition to the GeForce RTX 4090 that is already on the market, the RTX 4080 that will go on sale next week will also use the 12VHPWR interface.
At the same time, Intel announced that it will launch Ponte Vecchio-based data center GPUs, the Max 1100 in PCIe specifications and the MAX 1350/1550 in OAM specifications. Among them, the Max 1100 will also use the 12VHPWR interface, which is no longer an interface unique to NVIDIA. It can be seen in the promotional video that, like EVGA’s GeForce RTX 4090 FTW3, the 12VHPWR interface is placed on the short side of the rear of the board. For data center servers that require multiple cards in parallel, this design is very reasonable.
Intel plans to launch the Max 1100 PCIe series data center GPUs in January 2023, but on desktop platforms, Intel has no plans to use the 12VHPWR interface yet. Since AMD’s latest Radeon RX 7000 series graphics cards still use the traditional 8Pin external power supply interface, in terms of desktop game graphics cards, the 12VHPWR interface is still exclusive to GeForce RTX graphics cards for a short time, and there are no new entrants for the time being.
