12v rails explained for PS?? please

[BoboKatt]

Good morning,

Can someone please let this old goat understand what is with this 12v rail I keep hearing about in regards to power supplies... I am currently running a nice plain Antec Sonata with a 380w PS that came with it. I bought it because the case looks nice, was decent to work with and is quiet in regards to the PS. I keep seeing all these issues with folks and notice many have 550W crazy nut PS that I have seen at my local computer store but I swear they cost more than my total case does!
I have an AMD64 3200+ Winchester with an MSi Neo2 Plat mobo. 2 GIG of ram, DVD burner and 2 HD, TVtuner, BFG 6800GT AGP, wireless NIC and SB Audigy card. Also have 3 extra fans running. I cannot overclock this if my life depended on it. I will be switching to a new AMD64 4000+ or 3700+ depending on availability all to get the SanDiego core and finally not have crashes that often due to my 4 DIMM slots. Should I be worried about a PS?? Is it that important? if I should replace the one that came with my box what to get?

thanks!

Bob

 

[HardWarrior]

There are many here who know more than I do about PSU's, but in general, the 12v rail supplies current to most of the devices in your box. That why having a high amperage 12v line is important. Do you need to higher wattage\amperage PSU with what you have? Probably not, but if you add things it could become an issue very quickly. That's why I bought a PSU that was a fair amount higher in wattage that I needed at the time.

If I was in the market for a PSU right now I'd get a PCP&C multi-rail PSU. You can't go wrong with a PCP&C unit, regardless of which one you pick.

 

[JEDIYoda]

Originally posted by: BoboKatt
Good morning,

Can someone please let this old goat understand what is with this 12v rail I keep hearing about in regards to power supplies... I am currently running a nice plain Antec Sonata with a 380w PS that came with it. I bought it because the case looks nice, was decent to work with and is quiet in regards to the PS. I keep seeing all these issues with folks and notice many have 550W crazy nut PS that I have seen at my local computer store but I swear they cost more than my total case does!
I have an AMD64 3200+ Winchester with an MSi Neo2 Plat mobo. 2 GIG of ram, DVD burner and 2 HD, TVtuner, BFG 6800GT AGP, wireless NIC and SB Audigy card. Also have 3 extra fans running. I cannot overclock this if my life depended on it. I will be switching to a new AMD64 4000+ or 3700+ depending on availability all to get the SanDiego core and finally not have crashes that often due to my 4 DIMM slots. Should I be worried about a PS?? Is it that important? if I should replace the one that came with my box what to get?

thanks!

Bob

heyaz BoboKatt!

As with anything else computer related we all have the various brands and various factors that we use when buying PC equipment!

Alot of us are fanatical about the brands we use.
http://www.pcpowerandcooling.com/ --ie--fanatical..lolol

Yet truth be told there are alot of good solid brands on the market!

There are several things concerning 12v rails that are important for you to know!
First of all I`m not going to get into the dual rails debate thats not really an issue here!

When you purchase a PSU its reaslly important to have a strong 12volt rail.
14-18 amps on the 12v rail in my opinion are not enough!
You should have possibly 20 or more amps on the 12v rail!

Again the brand of PSU is important for one reason.
Again this is my opinion.
Its a fact that the you are apt to have less problems with your PSU depending on the price!
Now when is enough to much...
Well if you can afford it the PCP&C brand is shall we say above the rest!

Yet coming in a close 2nd is the Seasonic brand!
Zippy is also real fine as is Fortron and OCZ...all real fine PSU`s!

But even at this next level in my opinion there are alot of again real solid performers..
Thermaltake....Antec.....Silverstone.....Zin-Tek....etc.....

Again note on one of my other computers that is over 2 years old I have a generic OKIA PSU that only has 14 amps on the 12v rail and it keeps puttering along!

Its true in a sense you get what you pay for yet there are alot of people with sub 50 dollar PSU`s who have no problems overclocking etc.

So bottom line is I would`nt worry about this PSU thing!

Just make sure that whatever PSU you get you can run what you have in your box!

Good Luck!!

 

[BoboKatt]

thanks guys.. this really helps!

 

[Zepper]

The fact is is that most systems can get along fine on a quality 350W PSU as long as the power is distributed among the "rails" appropriately for the system. The "rails" are basically the different voltages that the PSU outputs. Most ATX PSUs have +12V, +5V, +3.3V and -12V "rails". Some also have -5V but that has recently been written out of the ATX spec and -12V will be the next to go. The term "Rail" is 'borrowed' from the large power distribution field and doesn't really apply to the way most computer PSUs are set up. But it seems like the denizens of computerdom like things to sound more impressive than they are. "The +12V trace, layer or pad" just doesn't sound as sexy...
. Most recent systems require more of the total power of the PSU to be available on the +12V "rail" as both the CPU and the fancy video cards draw power from that "rail", while older systems that run almost everything on the mobo from the +5V "rail" obviously need more of the total power apportioned to the +5V "rail". You can determine the power apportioned to a "rail" by multiplying the Voltage by the Amps available on that rail to give you Watts. Also be aware that that Watts number can seldom be reached in normal use as it would require that the all other "rails" be very lightly loaded.

.bh.