Last week some news hit the web that detailed specification of the new PCI-Express Gen 4.0 standard that is being developed. It was indicated that the motherboard slot would be capable of delivering 300 Watts through the PCI-Express slot, this is erroneous as it will remain to be 75 Watt, much like it is these days.
The info was shared to tomshardware, who accidentally got it wrong in their assumptions and findings. The PCI Express group contacted them and shared the info that the guys probably retrieved and thus explained wrong information. The 300 Watts is intended for the certification process but the maximum slot power will remain to be 75 Watts:
Update, 8/24/16, 2:06pm PT:PCI-SIG reached out to tell us that the power increase for PCI Express 4.0 will come from secondary connectors and not from the slot directly. They confirmed that we were initially told incorrect information. We have redacted a short passage from our original article that stated what were originally told, which is that the slot would provide at least 300W, and added clarification:
- PCIe 3.0 max power capabilities: 75W from CEM + 225W from supplemental power connectors = 300W total
- PCIe 4.0 max power capabilities: TBD
New value “P” = 75W from CEM + (P-75)W from supplemental power connectors.
So there you go, graphics cards will still get external power connectors.
