Rails?

[monkeyboys6]

What do the rails on the power supplies mean?
Like theres a 12v rail 2
or theres a 12v rail 4
what is the difference between all the different ones and which is the best?

 

[GreyRadean]

The term rail on your PSU simply refers to a single voltage coming from it. you have the 3.3v rail, the 5v rail and the 12v rail(s).

The reason you find many PSU's with multiple 12v rails is because ATX12V version 2.0 calls for no more than 20 amps on the 12v rail. Manufactures have worked around this limitation by providing more rails to supply 12v with and then marketing it like it's the next "big thing". More rails does not = a better PSU, I don't care who tell you differently. A lot of companies advertise multiple rails, but internally they are all connected to the same rail. Still, other companies have thrown this limitation out altogether (and the marketing hype also) and continue to offer one large 12v rail (PC Power & Cooling being one of them).
Either design is fine in theory. On one hand, you have to make sure you don't overload one of the 12v rails... and on the other hand, if you ever get shocked by more than 20amps you will be in trouble (hence the new restriction).

Hope this helps.

Grey

 

[monkeyboys6]

so basically you have to find a mid way point because not enough rails is bad but too many can be bad too.
am i right on that?

 

[GreyRadean]

Not necessarily. When creating a power supply with, say, 72 amps for the 12v line, a manufacturer will break that into to separate rails to comply with ATX v2.0 guidlines. So you would have something like 4 separate 18amp rails. If they were to add a couple 18amp (or any number under 20) you would simply have more rails and more power to work with. instead of a 750w PSU, you might have something like 1000w. More rails doesn't make it worse... if you believe the marketing hype. The fact is, any newer PSU will work fine for what you want to put it on. The key factors to look for are

1)Reputable manufacturer... you want something that people have tried and found to work as advertised.
Names that come to mind: Thermaltake, Antec, PC Power & Cooling, Silverstone, OCZ, Corsair, and some others. just check Google for whatever one you are looking at.

2)Wattage output: Assuming #1 is taken into consideration, these manufacturers have done the leg work for you. Any modern power supply from these vendors would suit you just fine, be it on a single large rail, or multiple smaller ones. Just make sure you get one that delivers the amount of power you will need. There are many PSU calculators out there to use for this. The general rule is always go at least one step ahead. if you need 600w of power, then get at least a 750w


Grey

 

[Dangman]

1)Reputable manufacturer... you want something that people have tried and found to work as advertised.
Names that come to mind: Thermaltake, Antec, PC Power & Cooling, Silverstone, OCZ, Corsair, and some others. just check Google for whatever one you are looking at.

Actually you really should go for certain line of PSUs because some of the PSU makers that you mention do have shitty line of PSUs:

As for OCZ PSUs, avoid their GameXStream, ModXStream and StealthXStream line of PSUs. They're all based on the FSP Episilon design that has out of spec ripple at high loads. While you may not reach such high loads, why risk your PC? The ProXStream is somewhat, at least from what I can gather.

Also, the only decent Thermaltake PSUs are part of their Toughpower line of PSUs.

As for Antec, their Neopower, Truepower Trio and Earthwatts line of PSUs are of pretty good quality. All 6 Corsair PSUs are VERY good choices at the moment. In fact, Seasonic makes about 3 of Corsair PSUs as well as Antec's Neopower, Truepower Trio and Earthwatts lines of PSUs. So generally, any Seasonic made PSU is an good quality PSU.

Read the PSU reviews by HardOCP and JonnyGURU.com since they actually and properly test the PSU with a factory automated test equipment. (I hope I got that right)