ASRock’s $40 16-pin power cable has overheating protection designed to prevent meltdowns — company claims a 90-degree design ensures worry-free installation

The 16-pin (12VHPWR) power connector melting on some of the best graphics cards has caused headaches for consumers and graphics card vendors. The latter have resorted to adding extra mechanisms to their products for protection, such as ASRock’s latest 12V-2×6 power cable (CB-12V2X6L600W), which features overheating protection.

The ASRock 12V-2×6 power cable, rated for 105 degrees Celsius, aims to attack the 16-pin power connector meltdowns from all angles. What really sets the ASRock 12V-2×6 power cable apart from the competition is the overheating protection. The company has implemented a tiny NTC (Negative Temperature Coefficient) sensor on the power connector that goes to the graphics card. It essentially monitors the temperature and sends the signal to the power supply.

While the ASRock 12V-2×6 power cable is compliant with both ATX 3.1 and PCIe 5.1 standards, it’s only compatible with ASRock’s Taichi or Phantom Gaming power supplies. This makes sense because not all power supplies have the same features as ASRock’s offering. The only requirement is that the power supply must have a minimum capacity of 750W. The 600W-rated cable, which is 27.6 inches (700 mm) long, utilizes 16 AWG wires and HCS (High-Current System) terminals, which are plastic compliant with the 94V-0 certification.

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If you’ve never heard of the UL 94 standard, it’s essentially a plastics flammability criterion established by Underwriters Laboratories (UL). The organization develops standards based on how plastics react to flames, such as the time it takes to ignite or extinguish. The V-0 rating is basically the highest level of resistance when it comes to vertical burning. It means that the burning stops within 10 seconds on the vertical part with drops of plastic that do not cause inflammation. In other words, if the power connector on the ASRock 12V-2×6 power cable catches fire, it won’t consistently burn until only ash is left.