A few days ago, it was reported that NVIDIA and PCI-SIG have been working on improving the existing controversial 12VHPWR power connector to prevent issues. The new connector, called 12V-2x6, has minor revisions. NVIDIA has already started shipping GeForce RTX 4070 graphics cards with the new connector, as confirmed by Igor's Lab. While most RTX 4070 cards from AIBs still use the 8-pin PCI connector, those that don't use the reference 12-pin connection have the new 12V-2x6 revision.
Below is a picture comparison of the connectors on the Founders Edition of GeForce RTX 4070 and RTX 4080. The new connector on the RTX 4070 has shorter sensing pins that can detect if the connector is fully plugged in. If it's not fully plugged in, the card won't draw the required maximum power load. This is expected to solve the connector burning issues that have occurred in the past, but it remains to be seen. It's unclear if this is the final implementation of the new connector, as the labeling refers to it as "H+" instead of the expected "H++" label on its module. According to Igor's Lab article, "Since the launch of the GeForce RTX 4070 FE, NVIDIA has been using a modified 12VHPWR connector with significantly recessed pins! While the GeForce RTX 4080 Founders Edition still uses the header from the CEM 5.0 with only a 0.45 mm offset, the GeForce RTX 4070 Founders Edition has been using a modified variant with a 1.7 mm inward offset, similar to the 12V-2x6 connector."
