The RTX 4090 is such a chonker that this company designed a special power adapter for it
As soon as I saw photos of Nvidia’s RTX 4090 (opens in new tab), I started nervously eying my case. This new GPU isn’t tiny. It’s the opposite of tiny. It’s you-might-need-a-new-case not-tiny. At a full inch taller than the 3080 Founder’s Edition, there’s a chance the 3090 won’t fit into narrower cases once you factor in the power cables. Cable company Cablemod have come up with a solution for that very specific problem: a low-profile power adapter.
Cablemod’s cable adapter (opens in new tab) for the RTX 4090 (spotted by Tom’s Hardware (opens in new tab)) offers a 90-degree bend, giving you more space and clearance between your GPU and side panel. CableMod 12VHPWR right angle adapter plugs into your RTX 4090’s 12VHPWR port, rated to PCIe 5.0 spec. Right now, the CableMod 12VHPWR only supports the RTX 4090, but it should work on other GPUs once more arrive with that same connector (it’s different than the power pins most GPUs have been using for years).
The RTX 30-series Founders Editions offer a similarly sized and shaped connector, but those lack the extra four auxiliary pins, so they are incompatible.
The adapter itself measures 29mm x 36.3mm x 23.2mm.
According to the company, what sets the CableMod 12VHPWR adapter apart from other 90-degree connectors is that it “utilizes a multi-PCB design to achieve a right angle connection.” The right-angle connection means you won’t have the power cable protrude out, taking up more precious space inside your PC case.
The power adapter has two different configurations, so it should fit other compatible graphics cards in the future even if their power ports are oriented differently than the RTX 4090’s.
With the 90 degree plug there’s ideally no wire bending; it should be able to relieve any potential strain from you having to tug the power cable around the behemoth card and behind the motherboard to reach the power supply.
This idea is that it should make the gargantuan video card easier to install inside of smaller or oddly sized PC cases. Some cases simply aren’t wide enough to house both the RTX 4090 and its chunky 12-pin (16-pin if you include the auxiliary pins) power cable. And judging by the way things are going, the RTX 4090 isn’t going to be the last absolute chonker of a GPU.
The CableMod 12VHPWR right-angle adapter goes on pre-sale on October 31st. No word on pricing just yet.
