12 volt rail question?

Joaquin Dronko: Actually the less rails there are the better. More rails give a higher wattage and amperage BUT it is unsteady as a single rail will be more reliable just have less WATT/AMP reading.I use a PC power & cooling 750 WATT single rail w/ 62 amps.....that is up there with some 1000Watt PSU'sPC Power & Cooling by far the best PSU supplier/manufacturer...Show more

Caroyln Ebach: This unit includes the case and power supply.

Rick Duchane: There is a psu calculator that may help you determine it with a small bit of calculation.eXtreme Power Supply Calculator Litehttp://www.extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorli...I got this for your system-----System Type:Single ProcessorMotherboard:Regular - DesktopCPU:Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 2660 MHz ConroeCPU Utilization (TDP):85% TDPRAM:2 Sticks DDR2 SDRAMVideo Card:NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT 512MBVideo Type:Single CardSATA HDD:1 HDDDVD-RW/DVD+RW Drive:1 DriveFansRegular: 1 Fan 80mm; 2 Fans 120mm; Keyboard and mouse:Y! esSystem Load:90 % Recommended Wattage:228 Watts-----Unfortunately they do not have 9600gt but found a review that found it slightly lower than the 8800gthttp://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/1293/19/page_19_p...So we can use the above to calculate a good power supply for you, a good safety factor would be to place the entire system wattage upon the +12v rails combined, you get a minimum of +12v@19A even a decent 350w unit should be able to handle it - the Antec Basiq 350w even supports +12@23A/276w combined.http://c1.neweggimages.com/NeweggImage/productimag...To calculate your per-rail limits, just use these component selections in the calc:+12v1 = all components less CPU, memory - 169w or 14.1A min+12v2 = CPU only - 84W or 7A minNote these calc'd values are quite a bit higher than actual use, but that is a good thing since the power supply load max should be below 80% of its rated capacity for optimum operation and longevity.Most manufacturers balance the load outside of the ! ATX 2.1 spec:http://c1.neweggimages.com/NeweggImage/productima! g...This OCZ unit balances the load with +12v1 feeding the mobo/pci-E (through the 24-pin ATX connector most likely) and +12v2 feeds the CPU and accessory (which may include the external PCI-E GPU power) so you can split the GPU power between both rails.These OCZ have quad-rail configs (man I wish all PSU manufacturers would label like OCZ does :)http://c1.neweggimages.com/NeweggImage/productimag...http://c1.neweggimages.com/NeweggImage/productimag...http://c1.neweggimages.com/NeweggImage/productimag...so just calculate accordingly.Overall, a dual-rail power supply allegedly helps with stability, in most cases a single +12v usually feeds them and manufacturers put per-rail limiters to meet the ATX requirements (it keeps costs down over true multi-rail power supplies). Some units just keep the single-rail concept and split it based on the rail "groupings" like the seasonic brand (and consequently Antec / Corsair since they are based on that design)http://www.hardwaresecrets! .com/article/371/6see "Figure 19: +12 V wires are separated into two groups (there is no 12V3 virtual rail inside the PSU)." and "Figure 20: But they are connected to the same +12 V line on the PCB."Nonetheless, a single rail unit will work just as well (if not better than multi-rail) and it is a top-quality unit that rivals the seasonic OEM unit it is based upon and the Antec Trio unit is also a good budget choice that is hampered only by Antec's quality control (some dud's go out the door).Ok I will stop rambling now - cheers :)...Show more

Georgina Natal: Although the auctions over, I would have went with a 500Watt PS or better, why? anticipate future PS needs, I wouldn't buy through these people, $65 is a bit much for a PS you can usually buy a little cheaper through your local computer stores and install it your self with zero cost.Hope this helps.

Douglass Sarley: IMHO, you need a good 500 watt pwr supply with 2 12volt rails minimum and 3 12volt would be ! best. Then you could have the video card on a seperate rail.I didn't se! e any mention of pwr supply in the link.