Weird "PCIe" plugs on my Corsair 12VHPWR Type 4 adapter cable

[Philipp K]

My newly acquired Corsair 12VHPWR Type 4 adapter cable "features" some weird plugs at the PSU side of the cable. Each plug misses one pin (the spot where the pin is supposed to be in the plug is just empty and there are also only 7 cables leading to each of the plugs. The other weird thing is that the missing pins aren't at the same spot on the plugs. One plug is missing the bottom left pin, the other one the bottom right one. 

On all the images I have seen of the cable, each plug clearly got 8 pins...

Have a look at the image that should clearly depict the weird pin layout I'm talking about...

[Philipp K]

Shouldn't it also be a 12+4 pin cable? Mine is a "12+2". Well, as you probably already guessed, it only got 14 strands. 12 are leading to the lower 12-pin portion of the GPU side plug as one would expect. But only 2 to the top 4-pin portion. To "pins 3 and 4" to be exact.

Edited January 6 by Philipp K

[LeDoyen]

on the webstore, all the images are 3D renderings.

It doesn't really matter what pin in the row is unpopulated. the rows are all connected together. one row of 12V, one row of grounds. I guess they got one missing on each side for aesthetics reasons, so the gap is hidden between the two connectors.

it's a 12+2 because the cable only has two connexions to the PSU. no need for more to let the videocard know how much power it can draw.

it's like a binary combination with the 4 cables, on adapters with 4 PCIE connexions to the PSU. 150 - 300 - 450 - 600W, depending on how many connexions are physically present.

with two beefy connexions, they limit to 300 or 600W.