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3 12v rails

O

Oline61

Gawd
Joined
Aug 8, 2005
Messages
869
I there any benefit in having three 12V rails as opposed to two? Is this only beneficial to SLI setups or can it help single video card systems also?
 
uh, u got ur info backwards. multiple rails are detrimental to SLI setups because they need more amperage on the rail they draw power from, and multi-12v rails are usually lower amps than a single rail.
 
I am more interested in whether or not 3 rails would be better than 2 for a non-sli setup. Would one rail just not be used? Where does the third rail go?

Wouldn't having three rails be a benefit to SLI (1 rail PCI-E/Mobo, 1 rail 4-pin proc plug, 1 rail video cards).

Also, the new Anted HE review at http://www.silentpcreview.com/article273-page2.html says that "Three +12V output circuits provide maximum stable power for the CPU independently of the other peripherals. Good for dual-VGA SLI / CrossFire systems."

Just wondering...
 
hmm... im not too sure. i think for dual rails its 1 for mobo, one for everything else, so thats not as good for sli. i dunno how 3 rails would b split though. i guess more is better?
 
I guess that there is probably no detriment to performance as long as there is good amperage across all the 12V rails. Still would like to know how it's split up.
 
Multiple 12V rails are all fine and dandy as long as each rail can supply 15A or more current.You better have one 30A 12V rail than three 10A rails.
 
Being lazy I guess (tried looking it up but didn't find anything) but this thread begs the question:

Is there a power supply that has a 24 pin power connector (native, no 20-24 converter) with greater than 30 amps on the 12v rail that provides the pci-e graphics card connectors for sli (no 4 pin to pci-e converters wanted).

I still hear a lots of people in love with single 12v rail with lots of amps and I think I tend to agree. But I understand that the power is cleaner with dual rails and it prevents the 12v rail to the motherboard from being subjected to the high and low sudden current draws that video cards can give.

All of the 24 pin power supplies with pci-e connectors I can find are dual rail.

1 day away from buying Antec Truepower II 550 if I can't find giant single rail 24 pin, pci-e and sata ready.
 
wrangler said:
Being lazy I guess (tried looking it up but didn't find anything) but this thread begs the question:

Is there a power supply that has a 24 pin power connector (native, no 20-24 converter) with greater than 30 amps on the 12v rail that provides the pci-e graphics card connectors for sli (no 4 pin to pci-e converters wanted).
Click to expand...

Of course there are.

I still hear a lots of people in love with single 12v rail with lots of amps and I think I tend to agree. But I understand that the power is cleaner with dual rails and it prevents the 12v rail to the motherboard from being subjected to the high and low sudden current draws that video cards can give.
Click to expand...

Your PCI-e card(s), drives, fans, etc. won't need as much power as what one rail of a quality, substantial, dual rail PSU is capable of providing.

I used to be on the single rail bandwagon too. But the technology is too expensive to make a single MOSFET that is capable of > 30A and still provide clean, cool, stable and efficient power... except for the Turbo Cool 510. Dead serious. Not even the OCZ 520ADJ because even that PSU starts to wiggle a little over 30A.

All of the 24 pin power supplies with pci-e connectors I can find are dual rail.

1 day away from buying Antec Truepower II 550 if I can't find giant single rail 24 pin, pci-e and sata ready.
Click to expand...
 
Damn. A response from the actual guru.

TPII-550 it is then. It will go damn fine with my new Antec P-160 case. :D
 
jonnyGURU said:
Of course there are.

Your PCI-e card(s), drives, fans, etc. won't need as much power as what one rail of a quality, substantial, dual rail PSU is capable of providing.

I used to be on the single rail bandwagon too. But the technology is too expensive to make a single MOSFET that is capable of > 30A and still provide clean, cool, stable and efficient power... except for the Turbo Cool 510. Dead serious. Not even the OCZ 520ADJ because even that PSU starts to wiggle a little over 30A.
Click to expand...
I'm with jonny.

Sure the 700W Zippy has +12V@45A, but also cost over $300.
There are several good EPS PSU's that have +12V@36A for about $100.

However as we move in to the future, multi-core CPU's, multi CPU mobos, 2X SLI, 4X SLI, the new ATI offerings,
2GB RAM min (with no max) we will need more than +12V@36A & the only reasonable &
safe way to supply this is with multi-rail PSU's.

Please consider that a +12V@36A rail makes a pretty good arc-welder &
nothing short of a "100% 0-ohom short" is going to shut these down, not safe!

Look at these specs & their rail assignments:

http://forums.extremeoverclocking.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=60568

http://www.ssiforum.org/Power Supplies/EPS12V_Spec 2_1.pdf

And info has been leaked of new ATX12V3/4.xx standards that would superceed all of these.

Multi-rail PSU's are here to stay & we should welcome them.

Dave ;)
 
So, I should go with the TPII 550 EPS 12V version? I thought those were for servers only. Can I use one with a regular ATX board without having to mod it in any way? I looked at the specs and they are the same except it seems to have an extra connector for server boards. Also, it has 2 80mm fans instead of the 1 120mm.
 
wrangler said:
So, I should go with the TPII 550 EPS 12V version? I thought those were for servers only. Can I use one with a regular ATX board without having to mod it in any way? I looked at the specs and they are the same except it seems to have an extra connector for server boards. Also, it has 2 80mm fans instead of the 1 120mm.
Click to expand...
The new EPS version as the newest mobos will require it. ;)
 
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