Quadro Power Guidelines 4
Quadro Power Guidelines 4
Quadro Power Guidelines 4
Products
Application Note
List of Tables
Table 1. Workstation GPU Power Specifications ...................................................................... 2
Table 2. Power Connectors Pin Description ............................................................................. 4
Table 3. Sense1, Sense0 Power Class Definitions .................................................................. 10
Table 4. NVIDIA 2 x PCIe 8-Pin to 1 x CEM5 16-Pin Adapter Logic........................................ 12
Table 5. CEM5 16-Pin Power Connector ................................................................................. 13
This application note discusses the power requirements of the NVIDIA® workstation products
based on NVIDIA RTX™, and Quadro RTX™ line of graphics cards. A suitable power supply is
necessary to maintain system integrity under computational load.
The workstation desktop graphics cards may require auxiliary power within the host chassis.
Ensure that your system can deliver the necessary wattage and auxiliary power connectors for
all cards in the system. If the supplied power is not adequate, the cards will not function
properly. Table 1 specifies the power requirements and power connectors for the various
workstation desktop graphics cards.
The total graphics power (TGP) represents the maximum amount of graphics board power that
the system power supply should be able to provide to the graphics card.
Depending on the workstation graphics card the end customer is utilizing, external power
connectors may be required to fully power up the graphics card. The supported power
connectors on workstation graphics card are CPU 8-pin, PICe 8-pin and PCIe 6-pin.
Typically, the PCIe slot is rated for 75 W and a PCIe 8-pin connector is rated for 150 W.
However, based on NVIDIA testing and surveying of the current ecosystem, it is found that the
PCIe 8-pin connector can carry up to 175 W. Along with the PCIe slot power, a graphics card
consuming up to 250 W can potentially be supported.
Note that if a PCIe 8-pin connector is used to carry up to 175 W to the NVIDIA card, the system
PSU must be able to drive at least 18 A of dedicated current to that PCIe 8-pin connector.
Note also that the auxiliary power input of some NVIDIA cards is specified at the full TGP of the
card. If so then a card TGP of 250 W will require the auxiliary power input to be able to supply
up to the entire 250 W. This power is beyond the capability of a single PCIe 8-pin connector.
It is extremely important to understand the board power requirements when selecting power
supplies. It is recommended to use a power supply that has all the required connectors.
However, if the required connector is not available on a given power supply, it is possible to
use adapters to convert existing connectors to PCIe or CPU auxiliary connectors.
When using power adapters, it is important to evaluate the rated amperage on the 12V rail that
is being used to source the adapter cable. The information is available in the power supply’s
user manual, or it is printed on the power supply casing.
! CAUTION: System builders should review the power specifications and guidelines outlined on
their system power supply to ensure that the connector limits are not exceeded when using
adapters.
This chapter contains details on the PCIe CEM5 16-pin power connector that is used on the
next generation NVIDIA ProViz workstation graphics cards. The information in this chapter is
intended for OEM and power supply vendors. This chapter also discusses active power and idle
power recommendations for OEM partners and system builders.
OEMs, and PSU vendors are recommended to use the CEM5 16-pin connector for CDP designs
and partners should refer to this connector as “CEM5 16-pin” in all documents and
communication. The CEM5 16-pin power connector is described as follows. For pinout
information, refer to the PCIe CEM 5.0 Specification.
Connector has six 12 V power pins and up to six GND (0) pins.
Sense and Sideband pins are present on this connector.
The exact connector orientation may depend on the NVIDIA graphics card product.
Receptacle
Plug
The allowed configurations for the ProViz workstation power adapter are as follows:
2 x PCIe 8-pin to 1 x CEM5 16-pin
1 x PCIe 8-pin to 1 x CEM5 16-pin
1 x CPU 8-pin to 1 x CEM5 16-pin
Power Adaptors
NVIDIA workstation power adaptor designs are described as follows.
connector (the two sense pins become [1,1] to indicate only 150 W of available power). This
active circuitry intelligence provides a protection mechanism to ensure that the NVIDIA card is
aware of the reduced power availability. If the Sense pin levels indicate insufficient power, the
NVIDIA card will not boot.
The adapter is mechanically compatible only with NVIDIA cards that require power input into
single CEM5 16-pin receptacle connectors.
PCIe 8-pin connectors on the power supply end. CPU 8-pin connectors can carry up to 300 W
of power, so an adapter whose sense pins indicate 300 W of available power could use a single
CPU 8-pin connector on the power supply end (However, if the adapter sense pins are
strapped to indicate up to 450 W or 600 W of available power as in rows 1 or 2 of Table 3, then
a single CPU 8-pin connector on the power supply end is insufficient.).
If the power adapter is designed with multiple connectors on the power supply end, there is a
possibility that in operation not all connectors are connected and sourced with power. If this is
the case, for operational and safety reasons the NVIDIA card must be aware that less power is
available on the card end of the adapter. Thus, the adapter should be able to sense whether all
connectors are sourced with power and should reflect the true power availability in its sense
pin settings.
Partners can use a programmable IC such as a CPLD, or alternatively discrete components, to
implement the desired logic for such an intelligent power adaptor design. As an example, the
logic implemented by the NVIDIA 2 x PCIe 8-pin to 1 x CEM5 16-pin adapter is provided in
Table 4 for reference.
As Table 4 indicates, the NVIDIA intelligent adapter implements presence detection on each
receptacle connector of the adaptor’s power supply end; it determines connectivity by verifying
a true GND level on sense Pin 4 of the receptacle. If the true GND level is not observed, the
receptacle is considered unconnected.
Note: The mechanical drawings for the components used on the 16-pin power connector and
power plug are in the attached PDF documents.
To access the attached file, click the Attachment icon on the left-hand toolbar on this PDF (using
Adobe Acrobat Reader or Adobe Acrobat). Select the file and use the Tool Bar options (Open,
Save) to retrieve the documents.
The CEM5 16-pin power plug houses two different terminals for power delivery and Sideband
signals respectively. The 3.00 mm pitch terminal is used for power delivery; the 2.00 mm
terminal is used for Sideband signaling. Refer to the PCIe CEM 5.0 Specification for more
information on the two different types of terminals used on the power plug.
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other countries. Other company and product names may be trademarks of the respective companies with which they are associated.
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