MSI has unveiled the upcoming MPG X870E Carbon WIFI at Gamescom 2024, which is a high-end motherboard with a lot of cool features like a 20-phase VRM and plenty of I/O ports including two USB4 ports and two 2.5/5.0 GbE LAN ports. The board also features an EZ slot and EZ-release mechanism, making it easy to install and remove M.2/PCIe devices.
Another interesting feature of this motherboard is the integration of a dedicated 8-pin power connector. This connector will complement the power needs of the Gen5 lines present on the motherboard. The 8-pin connector in future products is reportedly needed for the next generation of NVIDIA RTX 50.
Many motherboard manufacturers like MSI and even ASUS will integrate dedicated 8-pin power connectors on their motherboards to extend the power requirements of NVIDIA’s RTX 50 graphics cards. Not that these cards are power hungry, but using a multi-card solution like two RTX 40s or RTX 50s puts a lot of strain on the PCIe lanes, which require more power in the current Gen5 generation.
Below is the full list of MSI X870E and X870 motherboards that will feature the dedicated 8-pin power connector:
MEG X870E GODLIKE
MPG X870E CARBON WIFI
PRO X870-P WIFI
MAG X870 TOMAHAWK WIFI
X870E GAMING PLUS WIFI
AMD 800 series motherboards with special 8-pin connectors:
MEG X870E GODLIKE
MPG X870E CARBON WIFI
PRO X870-P WIFI
MAG X870 TOMAHAWK WIFI
X870E GAMING PLUS WIFI
ASUS X870E ROG Crosshair
MSI will be adding a dedicated 8-pin connector to all of its X870E motherboards, and even a few X870 models, including the MPG Carbon WIFI, MEG ACE, and MEG GODLIKE. The other two motherboards will be part of the lineup, but they will be revealed later, as the X870E series is scheduled to launch on September 30.
Not only MSI, but ASUS will also have this dedicated 8-pin connector on its flagship X870E ROG Crosshair HERO, but it is the only motherboard that offers such a power delivery solution for the Gen5 lanes and the upcoming NVIDIA RTX 50 multi-GPU AI operations. Other manufacturers such as Gigabyte, ASRock, and Biostar also do not have such connectors on the boards they have shown so far, however, this may change as the launch approaches, as there is still plenty of time to make such changes.
