The bigger callout is the safety margins that were assigned to each plug. The new connector runs pretty much right at rated margin minus 84W (6pins * 12V * 9.5A

The bigger callout is the safety margins that were assigned to each plug. The new connector runs pretty much right at rated margin minus 84W (6pins * 12V * 9.5A = 684W) for losses at full spec. The old connector was rated for 324W (3pins * 12V * 9A) but only specced for 150W or approx 4.2A per pin. So there was a massive safety margin there. Also the larger pin spacing means that the connections were better able to dissipate any heat that did show up for the most part anyway. The much tighter pin spacing on the new connection pretty much ensures that any dongle like this will be extremely hard to cool because of the fact the wires must come together in the actual connector. Long story short: IMO the new connector makes me extremely nervous, running anything that can cause fire within ~14% of rated is not a wise idea unless you're doing Aerospace and have no other options. Even then they generally have extremely high QA and assembly verification, something I'm not expecting from computer OEMs.