An 8-pin PCIe (Peripheral Component Interconnect Express) power cable is required to provide adequate power to each GPU in an SLI (Scalable Link Interface) configuration. High-performance GPUs often require more power than the PCIe slot on the motherboard can supply, necessitating additional power directly from the power supply. The 8-pin PCIe connector can deliver more power than the standard 6-pin connector, making it suitable for high-end graphics cards commonly used in SLI configurations. This requirement is consistent with the hardware installation and configuration principles covered in the CompTIA A+ Core 1 (220-1101) Exam Objectives, particularly in sections dealing with hardware components and their installation .