Yes, because 24V would halve the current requirements back to the older “safe” 8-pin spec. However, you introduce a huge host of other compatibility problems, namely shared 12V rails between the PSU and motherboard that are now mismatched (since the motherboard PCIe slot does provide some power to the GPU). It would require a significant redesign of either the GPU board, or the motherboard and entire PC ecosystem. Both of which are a much more costly endeavor compared to “same voltage, new pins”.
Eli5 but wouldn’t going to 24v fix all of this? People buy new PSUs for their 4090 anyway.
Yes, because 24V would halve the current requirements back to the older “safe” 8-pin spec. However, you introduce a huge host of other compatibility problems, namely shared 12V rails between the PSU and motherboard that are now mismatched (since the motherboard PCIe slot does provide some power to the GPU). It would require a significant redesign of either the GPU board, or the motherboard and entire PC ecosystem. Both of which are a much more costly endeavor compared to “same voltage, new pins”.