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Power supplies haven't changed that much over the years, but there's a new specification

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that could force you to buy a new one the next time you upgrade your GPU.

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It's called ATX 3.0, and it was designed by Intel specifically with high-performance

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GPUs in mind. But what's different about it?

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Let's start by talking about the most obvious part of the new spec, the power connector

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for your GPU. Instead of the 8-pin PCI Express connector that we've been used to for a long time,

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ATX 3.0 uses a 16-pin connector called 12VHPWR, which is a mouthful that stands for 12VHP.

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Any power supply rated for more than 450W is supposed to use this new connector, which

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is meant to simplify the build process. Instead of having different graphics cards requiring different numbers of 6 or 8-pin

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connectors, or even custom ones, new cards would instead just need one of these new 16-pin

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connectors, even if a particular card is on the more power-hungry side.

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Think of it kind of like USB-C in that it's one form factor to plug in, but with different

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power delivery depending on the implementation. The spec recommends that the connector be labeled with how much power it supports, 150,

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450, or 600W, though that 600W option is supposed to only be used for liquid cooled cards since

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that's just, wow, a lot of power.

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And remember how I said it had 16 pins? Well, four of those pins are smaller than the rest, and they're there so that the power

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supply and the GPU can actually talk to each other.

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Specifically, the power supply can tell the GPU what its capabilities are, which means

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that if you have a beefy graphics card, but a power supply that can't quite provide all

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the power it might ask for, the power supply can tell the GPU, hey, I'm not actually that

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powerful, and the GPU's power limit can be lowered to accommodate it.

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This should help prevent unexpected instability due to a card drawing too much power, though

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it also means that your GPU's performance could be throttled if your power supply isn't

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up to scratch, so you'll need to make sure that your power supply is rated for the amount

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of power that your GPU requires, oh, and also the rest of your system.

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One of the other new ATX 3.0 features, also aimed at GPU's, is better spike resistance.

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The thing is, GPU's have a normal power draw when they're under load, like playing a game,

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but they can also experience big momentary spikes in power draw.

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This is a notable issue with RTX 3000 series cards.

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Well, ATX 3.0 is supposed to alleviate this by requiring any certified power supply to

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be capable of providing twice its maximum rated power for 10 straight microseconds, and

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it has to be able to do this for 10% of its total running time.

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That means that power supplies may become costlier due to the better electronics required.

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Don't have a high-end GPU? Join the club.

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Well there are other changes that still might affect you. ATX 3.0 should deliver better longevity with power supplies being able to handle over 175,000

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power cycles per year, which is kind of like turning your computer off and back on 480 times

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a day over its lifetime. And speaking of which, ATX 3.0 should provide faster system wake-up time, so I say go for

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it! Turn it on and off as often as you want!

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Efficiency should also improve when your system isn't working too hard, as power supplies

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have to be above 60% efficient at just 10 watts, or at 2% of their rated maximum power.

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The spec also mentions that there will be a new certification system from Cybernetic

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Labs. This is kind of like the 80-plus system that we're all used to, but Cybernetics raises

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power supplies for both noise and efficiency, so you should be able to get a quick idea

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as to how loud your new PSU will be just by looking at the box.

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So should you budget for a new power supply alongside your next GPU purchase?

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Ah well, remember that this is a recently published spec, and it may be quite a while

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before ATX 3.0 power supplies hit the market, if we end up seeing them at all.

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Intel is pushing the spec, but it could meet resistance from manufacturers if the changes

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end up being too costly to implement, so don't go throwing out your existing power supply

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just yet. I mean, it works pretty hard for you, and once the last time you even told it, thank you.

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And once the last time you hit the like button and subscribed, hopefully just moments ago.