What is ATX 3.1?
With the release of Nvidia’s RTX 4090, a new power connector was introduced to support the card’s massive 450W power requirement. However, many users reported cases of the connector overheating, causing permanent damage to their cards. To address this, a revision to the ATX standard was made that changed the connector design.
What is the ATX Standard?
A fully-functioning PC is built from components made by different manufacturers. To ensure compatibility, the motherboard, graphics card, and even the power supply unit (PSU) follow a predefined standard. This is called the ATX (Advanced Technology eXtended) standard, and it was introduced by Intel in 1995. Over the years, the ATX standard has seen many revisions to keep up with the evolving hardware requirements.
Why ATX Matters
The ATX standard ensures that two components from different companies can work reliably without compatibility issues. ATX also covers power supplies, including how their power connectors are designed for each component and the safety standards they follow. This allows consumers to easily choose any ATX-compliant component for their computer without worrying about compatibility or power issues.
What’s Changed in ATX 3.1?
ATX 3.0 adopted the infamous and flawed 12VHPWR connector to supply power to the GPU. This single connector can deliver up to 600 Watts of power, and it replaced the older PCIe 6+2 pin connector. Due to some inherent design flaws, these connectors started to overheat when connected to extremely power-hungry GPUs like the RTX 4090.
The main difference in the updated ATX 3.1 standard was the introduction of the 12V-2x6 GPU connector for the PSU. This was an improved version of the 12VHPWR and was designed to fix the overheating problem. Note that the connector on the GPU is still the same and remains compatible with both 12VHPWR and 12V-2x6 power cables.
Do You Need an ATX 3.1 Power Supply?
If you’re building a PC with a high-end Nvidia RTX 40 or 50-series GPU, an ATX3.1-compliant PSU is strongly recommended. The 12V-2x6 connector will safely deliver up to 600W of power to your GPU with minimal risk of overheating.
For top-tier desktops with multiple RTX 4090 or 5090 GPUs, the FUSION 1600 Titanium is perfect. It is ATX 3.1-compatible and has a Titanium 80-Plus and Cybenetics rating.
While AMD uses the tried and tested PCIe 6+2-pin connector for most of their GPUs, some RX 9070 and 9070 XT models use the newer 12VHPWR/12v-2x6 connector. In such cases, go for a lower wattage PSU that is ATX 3.1-compatible but also supports PCIe 6+2-pin connectors, like the CORE REACTOR II. It supports both Nvidia RTX 40/50 series and AMD’s RX 7000/9000-series GPUs. It’s suitable for everything from premium builds to budget ones.
Even if you use an older RX 5000-series or RTX 30-series GPU, going with an ATX 3.1-compliant PSU has its benefits. Not only will they be future proof, but they can handle sudden power excursions.
What is Power Excursion?
High-end GPUs often draw a brief surge of power from the PSU. This can happen during power-hungry tasks like rendering, AI inference, or even gaming at higher resolutions, and leads to system instability or sudden shutdowns. The ATX 3.0 standard requires compliant PSUs to support power delivery of at least 200% of the rated wattage for a very brief period to handle these excursions. This requirement carries over into the newer ATX 3.1 standard, making these PSUs safe for newer, high-end GPUs.
All XPG PSUs are compliant with the ATX 3.1 standard and can handle power excursions of up to 235% of the rated wattage. This surpasses the ATX requirements, making them extremely stable and future-ready for next-gen GPUs.
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