GTS450/PSU Question.

[RavenSEAL]

what? I just showed you that even during furmark it is no where near pushing that psu too far even with an i7. your entire setup will never pull more than 250-275 actual watts.

Oh, my bad, I misread the graph D:

 

[blastingcap]

I'm just wondering if it's gonna blow while the GTS450 might be under load...i don't know how far BC2 might push the gts450 @ med/720p

If I were you, I'd replace the PSU before even THINKING about adding any more load to the machine. Look at newegg reviews of the v-400, like the people talking about how the PSU failed (and not necessarily only at high loads). And look at the links that someone else put up earlier about Coolmax PSUs. If your PSU blows, you have the possibility of losing the rest of your system along with it.

 

[RavenSEAL]

Alright, i guess i made my decision to get the MSI OC GTS 450 for $95(<<<Too good to pass up) and wait to purchase a better PSU later on the month...


Hopefully my annoying ass impatience doesn't push me to eventually try to use the GTS450 w/ the coolmax POS lol.

 

[happy medium]

Look at newegg reviews of the v-400

Newegg reviews? You are kidding right?

 

[Throckmorton]

Wait, why are people still looking at total wattage? If you have a PSU with four 12v rails, where one rail is not enough for the video card, you are going to burn down your house regardless of total wattage. Of course those other rails will be happy with their tiny loads from your DVDRW drive and fans, maybe a couple hard drives.

Not having a single rail is such a waste.

 

[theAnimal]

Wait, why are people still looking at total wattage? If you have a PSU with four 12v rails, where one rail is not enough for the video card, you are going to burn down your house regardless of total wattage. Of course those other rails will be happy with their tiny loads from your DVDRW drive and fans, maybe a couple hard drives.

Not having a single rail is such a waste.

Number of rails almost never matters. Buy a quality PSU with enough native connectors for your hardware.

 

[tomoyo]

Wait, why are people still looking at total wattage? If you have a PSU with four 12v rails, where one rail is not enough for the video card, you are going to burn down your house regardless of total wattage. Of course those other rails will be happy with their tiny loads from your DVDRW drive and fans, maybe a couple hard drives.

Not having a single rail is such a waste.

Uh something is wrong with this comment. The most likely reason for a psu burning down a house would be because it sucks and it's SINGLE rail. Single rail causes way more overload danger than any multirail. Multi-rail with ocp = safer, period.

 

[Throckmorton]

I don't think you guys get how it works. Let's say you have a PSU with 3 12v rails at 20W each. Each rail gets a cable with some connectors on it. The maximum wattage on each rail is 240W. So you have to be careful and split your devices among the rails, while also dealing with positioning in the computer case.

If the PSU had a single 12v rail that could handle 60amps, you wouldn't have to worry at all about which devices are on which cables. Just plug them all in and go.

If you have a video card that draws over 240W on the 3 rail example, you are screwed. That is never ever an issue with a single rail PSU.

It's like moving cargo with 3 small trucks vs 1 huge truck. Having the bigger truck allows you to carry just as much total stuff, without having to worry about how it's distributed. With the small trucks, you are physically limited by the maximum cargo weight and volume of a single truck.

Can you give me ANY reason why the single rail is worse?

 

[tomoyo]

Didn't I just say. Single rail = overload danger = burning down your house.

 

[Throckmorton]

Didn't I just say. Single rail = overload danger = burning down your house.

That makes no sense. The single rail can physically handle 3x as many amps as the 3 smaller rails in my example. It's at lower risk for overloading and burning down your house.

 

[Zap]

Alright, i guess i made my decision to get the MSI OC GTS 450 for $95(<<<Too good to pass up)

You've just passed up Black Friday sales. Fail. :thumbsdown:

That makes no sense. The single rail can physically handle 3x as many amps as the 3 smaller rails in my example. It's at lower risk for overloading and burning down your house.

Stop spreading FUD and read the FAQ:

The bottom line is, for 99% of the folks out there single vs. multiple +12V rails is a NON ISSUE. It's something that has been hyped up by marketing folks on BOTH SIDES of the fence.

Multiple "rails" are actually safer because if there is some electrical short, less power gets pumped through it, thus single rail (of same overall wattage) is more "dangerous."

However, the biggest danger is not how many rails. The biggest danger is crap PSUs.

 

[tomoyo]

That makes no sense. The single rail can physically handle 3x as many amps as the 3 smaller rails in my example. It's at lower risk for overloading and burning down your house.

You're ignoring the fact most multi-rail psus are just taking power from the same source. The difference is that on a high quality psu, the rails are just ocp protected to avoid causing trouble if there's an electrical short. The actual amount of power you can get from the psu is the same in a multi-rail compared to single rail unless the psu maker has fscked up majorly. And indeed as zap said, the true danger is a LOW quality psu, not how many rails.
I'm just tired of anti-multi rail FUD and other misinformation. The only thing important here is getting people to buy quality psus of any type.

 

[theAnimal]

I don't think you guys get how it works.

And I think you need to read the sticky.

So you have to be careful and split your devices among the rails....

....you wouldn't have to worry at all about which devices are on which cables.

There really isn't much choice about which type of cable connects where, or to which rail you connect the cable (multiple video card rails aside) since the PSU maker has already decided this.

If you have a video card that draws over 240W on the 3 rail example, you are screwed.

Only if the PSU maker is incompetent and has included connectors for which it cannot supply sufficient power. Not all of the power for the video card comes from the PCIe connectors, therefore it will not all be on one rail.

 

[Throckmorton]

You're ignoring the fact most multi-rail psus are just taking power from the same source. The difference is that on a high quality psu, the rails are just ocp protected to avoid causing trouble if there's an electrical short. The actual amount of power you can get from the psu is the same in a multi-rail compared to single rail unless the psu maker has fscked up majorly. And indeed as zap said, the true danger is a LOW quality psu, not how many rails.
I'm just tired of anti-multi rail FUD and other misinformation. The only thing important here is getting people to buy quality psus of any type.

Interesting. I didn't realize all the rails were powered by the same source.

 

[Throckmorton]

You've just passed up Black Friday sales. Fail. :thumbsdown:



Stop spreading FUD and read the FAQ:


Multiple "rails" are actually safer because if there is some electrical short, less power gets pumped through it, thus single rail (of same overall wattage) is more "dangerous."

However, the biggest danger is not how many rails. The biggest danger is crap PSUs.

Is each rail fused? That would be the only way the smaller rails would help if there's a short