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Power supply question

Post Date: 2008-02-03
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dt6248 View Drop Down
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Posts: 9 		  Quote dt6248 Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Topic: Power supply question
    Posted: 03 Feb 2008 at 11:13pm
Since I am buying a DS PC, I figured I can try to use parts from my 7 year old Dell PC as a project so if I screw anything up I'm not really out anything.

So here is the question, I'm wanting to get a new power supply but I keep seeing "rails" mentioned. What are rails? What do they do? etc. All I see is a box and wires.

My un-educated guess is that rails are the set of wires that run to everything else in the case. Kinda the auxillary 4 prong wires that power fans, and everything else.
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dt6248 View Drop Down
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Posts: 9 		  Quote dt6248 Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 04 Feb 2008 at 8:43pm
Anybody?
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EdH63 View Drop Down
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_supply_rail

I grabbed that for ya in 1.5 minutes... DOH!



Edited by EdH63 - 04 Feb 2008 at 8:59pm
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dt6248 View Drop Down
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Posts: 9 		  Quote dt6248 Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 04 Feb 2008 at 9:12pm
I'm not really sure if that helped or not, but thanks.
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EdH63 View Drop Down
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Posts: 1826 		  Quote EdH63 Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 04 Feb 2008 at 9:19pm
Originally posted by dt6248

I'm not really sure if that helped or not, but thanks.


A voltage "rail" refers to a single voltage provided by the PSU.
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dt6248 View Drop Down
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Posts: 9 		  Quote dt6248 Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 04 Feb 2008 at 9:36pm
So basicaly each strand of 12v wires is a rail then?

I have one power supply Antech earthwatts 500 2 rail that I picked up cheap that has the normal strands for motherboard high and low voltage, PCI-E x2, Sata x2, and then 2 strands with multiple 4 prong plug ins. I'm assuming the 2 strands with 4 prong plugs is a rail?
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skyR View Drop Down
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Posts: 2220 		  Quote skyR Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 04 Feb 2008 at 10:00pm
The 12v rail(s) supplies power to the most demanding parts in the system (GPU, CPU, ...)

Edited by skyR - 04 Feb 2008 at 10:04pm
The only thing that keeps me wishing on a wishing star.
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Tyler Lowe View Drop Down
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Posts: 0 		  Quote Tyler Lowe Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 04 Feb 2008 at 11:02pm
Originally posted by dt6248

So basicaly each strand of 12v wires is a rail then?

I have one power supply Antech earthwatts 500 2 rail that I picked up cheap that has the normal strands for motherboard high and low voltage, PCI-E x2, Sata x2, and then 2 strands with multiple 4 prong plug ins. I'm assuming the 2 strands with 4 prong plugs is a rail?



It is more properly stated that the two wire "strands" or bundles are connected to 12V rails. The important part of the Wikipedia article that Ed linked for you is the last section on 12V requirements, and to some extent the mention of a shared power output for 3.3V and 5V. You could safely skip most of that article if you read and understand the last 2 sections, "Increase in +12V demand" and "Multiple +12V Rails".

Your Antec power supply is capable of 500W of total power output. You should check with the manufacturer (look your specific model up on their site) to see how it outputs that power, and then compare amperage ratings to the demands of the devices to which you intend to connect that power supply.

Think of the Voltage as the 'type' of power, and amperage as how much of each 'type' is available for use. The 4 pin connections you are looking at are almost certainly +12V. That type of connection should have sort of a "D" shaped connector, with 4 evenly spaced round pins or holes.
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dt6248 View Drop Down
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Posts: 9 		  Quote dt6248 Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 05 Feb 2008 at 5:30pm
Ok, now I think I'm getting somewhere. I'm a slow learner somtimes...

Thanks all.
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