2x 8-pin to 12V-2x6 vs dual PCIe 6+2 to 12V-2x6: What's the difference?

Whether you have an AMD, Intel, or Nvidia GPU it's going to need a cable for power. Sounds simple doesn't it?

Wrong.

With power requirements climbing ever higher, power delivery options have evolved with the at-times controversial 12V-2x6 standard offering greater power delivery in a single cable. So you can just use that one right?

Wrong, again.

There are still plenty of GPUs using one or more of the trusty PCIe 6+2 cables, so there are a couple of options that allow you to convert one to the other.

We should mention that the heuristics used to differentiate these cables in the rest of this article are not necessarily applicable to cables from other brands. But, if your PSU is from CORSAIR, read on.

12V-2x6 has become common on GPUs, as has the inclusion of the 2x 8-pin to 12V-2x6 cable, which takes two 300W outputs from your PSU to combine them into a single 600W connector. This allows you to power a modern GPU that uses the 12V-2x6 connector, without needing a native 12V-2x6 connection on the PSU itself.

However, we have something a little different as well: Many new PSUs feature a native 12V-2x6 on the PSU with the included native cable. Sounds great if you have a GPU that uses the connector, but what if your GPU uses PCIe 6+2?

On PSUs that feature the native 12V-2x6, we a include a cable which converts this into a pair of PCIe 6+2 connections. This allows you to use these to power a GPU, or to power other devices such as an iCUE LINK System Hub.

While the cables may look the same at a glance, they are different. The way to tell is the 12V-2x6 to 2x 8-pin has Type 4 or Type 5 stamped on the side of the 2x 8-pin connectors.

Additionally, the connectors do not have a way to break them into two like a PCIe 6+2 would. This cable allows you to convert a pair of 8-Pin PSU connectors into a single 12V-2x6

The 12V-2X6 to 2 X PCIe 6+2 however, will say PCIe on the cable and you will be physically able To split the cable into a 6-pin PCIe if needed. This cable converts a single 12V-2x6 into a pair of PCIe-8 Pin connectors which can be used with GPUs and other devices.