High-threshold graphics cards require supplementary power straight from the power supply, bypassing the motherboard's 75W limit. The standard PCIe 8-pin auxiliary connector is rated to supply up to 150 Watts of clean +12V DC current to power heavy computational workloads. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
- Pin 1: 💛 +12V DC (Yellow)
- Pin 2: 💛 +12V DC (Yellow)
- Pin 3: 💛 +12V DC (Yellow)
- Pin 4: ⚫ Ground / Sense 1 (Black)
- Pin 5: ⚫ Ground (Black)
- Pin 6: ⚫ Ground (Black)
- Pin 7: ⚫ Ground (Black)
- Pin 8: ⚫ Ground / Sense 0 (Black) [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
Technical note: The "Sense" pins are used by high-performance graphics architectures to detect whether a proper 8-pin cable is connected rather than an older 6-pin cable. If the GPU detects that the Sense pins are open (ungrounded), it will limit or refuse power to prevent electrical overloading. [1, 2, 3]