Something I've always wondered (PSU's)

[broly8877]

What is exactly meant when the same v has two figures, for example:

+12V1@18A, +12V2@18A

Does this mean a split line, but equivelant to 36+A?

Or something different?

 

[MustISO]

That means 2 x 12V rails, each with 18A. Normally you see a single 12V rail, dual rails is a newer feature.

 

[shoRunner]

yes it is part of the ATX 2.0 specifications where psu that have more than 14A on the 12v rail split it into 2 rails(or more). IIRC

 

[broly8877]

Alright, nice.
Thanks

 

[Xcellere]

Broly smells. 😛

 

[Zepper]

Actually the split is to occur above 20A on the +12 not 14... Single rail PSUs are much more flexible - I don't care for split rail. Split rail is for sissies! 😉

.bh.

 

[Continuity27]

Originally posted by: Zepper
Actually the split is to occur above 20A on the +12 not 14... Single rail PSUs are much more flexible - I don't care for split rail. Split rail is for sissies! 😉

.bh.

More flexible but likely harder to get 36A on one rail than 18A on two rails. That's what 216 watts on each rail as opposed to 432 watts on one?

 

[fstime]

Some people will tell you dual rail power supplies arnt as good as single rails but they are wrong.


Dual rails are perfectly fine.

Single rail:

One large hose watering a plant,

Dual rail, two smaller hoses watering a plant.

 

[Zepper]

Not if you're willing to pay for a Zippy 😉 ... The Sparkle FSP550-60PLG has a pretty stout +12 also.

.bh.

 

[Continuity27]

Usually to get a single rail power supply that offers the same amperes as the combined dual rails of such a power supply you need to pay a lot more, and the quality needs to be better as well... dual rails are simply easier to make so the power supply companies will use that to their advantage. 😉

 

[fstime]

A lot of high quality PSUs use dual rails.

Such as my OCZ 600watt Powerstream with 20A/18A.

Yes, there are cheaper to make but there is nothing wrong with them.

Antecs, Seasonics, OCZ, Enermax, ect all have dual rail PSUs.

Dual rails are getting beefier and beefier.

Two 19A rails on the 550watt TPII is killer.

I remember a while back someone dissed the 850 watt PCP&C because it only had 17A on each of its four rails....

Lets get serious, I ran my A64, 6800GT, 3 hard drives, 2 opticals, floppy, on my old TT 420 with 18A on the 12V for months and never experianced instability, i'm sure as hell positive two 18A rails can do a hell of alot better.

 

[Zepper]

. Yes, but with the standard split rail arrangement, you are only allowed to water a certain small patch of plants with one of the hoses (perhaps only ONE plant).
. While with one big hose there is plenty to water ALL of your plants at the same time. 😉

.bh.

 

[fstime]

It sounds like your saying dual rail is more efficient than single rail which would be a plus for a lot of people.

Seasonics use dual rails and they offer excellent efficiency.

 

[Zepper]

Not necessarily more efficient but definitely more flexible.

.bh.

 

[aatf510]

Originally posted by: BouZouki
Some people will tell you dual rail power supplies arnt as good as single rails but they are wrong.


Dual rails are perfectly fine.

Single rail:

One large hose watering a plant,

Dual rail, two smaller hoses watering a plant.

Acutually it's more like two smaller hoses watering two plants (CPU & Video Card)
that case a sudden drain of power of one component would not affect the other.

 

[Continuity27]

Originally posted by: toattett

Originally posted by: BouZouki
Some people will tell you dual rail power supplies arnt as good as single rails but they are wrong.


Dual rails are perfectly fine.

Single rail:

One large hose watering a plant,

Dual rail, two smaller hoses watering a plant.

Acutually it's more like two smaller hoses watering two plants (CPU & Video Card)
that case a sudden drain of power of one component would not affect the other.

Depends how good your PSU is too. Some have the 2 video cards and CPU all on the same rail, and the motherboard on the other, etc. You need to be careful of how much you load each rail.

 

[batmanuel]

Originally posted by: Zepper
. Yes, but with the standard split rail arrangement, you are only allowed to water a certain small patch of plants with one of the hoses (perhaps only ONE plant).
. While with one big hose there is plenty to water ALL of your plants at the same time. 😉

.bh.

"Hey kids, who wants to drink from the firehose?!"

 

[Zepper]

Ah, but I have four plants {CPU (P4 connector), mobo in general (ATX connector), fancy vid cards (SLI or other connectors), and drive motors (4-pin Molexes)} and only two hoses. Aye, there's the rub... I have a commonly available "Y" connector for my big hose to which I can attach a couple of sprinklers and hit all my flowers.
. Unfortunately one of the split hoses at my vacation house has some danged metric fitting or other and there are no commonly available sprinkers for it...

.bh.