Is Bending a 12V-2x6 Cable Bad?

Since the introduction of the 12V-2x6 power cable alongside Nvidia's 40 Series of GPUs, there has been a significant amount of concern regarding it's reliability. This is not without good reason, as many consumers have reported melted power connectors, loose pins, and damaged GPUs - all seemingly as a result of this cable.

One of the most commonly cited reasons for these unfortunate incidents is the user bending the 12V-2x6 cable too much, or in the wrong way. So, is bending the cable safe? Let's take a look.

Yes, but you do need to follow some guidelines.

• Avoid bending the cable right where it joins the physical connector housing both horizontally and vertically.
• Keep around 40mm of cable from the connector before a bend.
• Where possible avoid harsh 90° bends in the cable.

The key concern raised with the connector has been the risks caused with a poor connection. This can happen from either poor initial connection or from overly aggressive bending which can pull the connector out.

If the cable is bent too much, it can put too much stress on the connector. In turn, this can lead to the connector not sitting correctly which means that not all pins are making good contact. As a result of poor contact, uneven power distribution can occur across the pins.

This means some pins may have little or no contact leading to excessive load on others. As a result, they heat up too much which can melt or otherwise damage the connection on the PSU side, GPU side, or both.

You may have seen these across the internet with multiple GPUs that use this connector type. Through the changes seen from 12V-HPWR to 12V-2X6 on the GPU's connector this risk has been reduced. But it is still a risk and as such the preventative steps should be taken to reduce the risk where possible.

Yes, there are a few solutions available.

You could try, if your case supports it swapping your GPU to a vertical position, this may require a bracket or PCIe ribbon cable compatible with your case and motherboard.

A 180° bridge connector puts the cable over the GPU backplate, these can work very well in general and with vertical GPUs.

A 90-degree 12V-2X6 GPU power cable is also a good idea. This will remove the bend at it's most important point, this can help in narrower cases or small form factor builds, as well as making the cabling neater.