PSU buzzing, tweeting and trying to sing

[NickN]

So.... Nick... a 36A single rail PSU is better than a 18A two-rail one? or is it the same?

I was confused with that some weeks ago, when trying to buy a PSU...

Use your head..

you would never buy a 36A single rail PSU for a video card that needs almost all of it because there is MORE NEEDED than just the video card... for the 2 RAILS its worse

However lets ASSUME you need 26A on that.. you use 2 rails at 18A to get it.. guess what, you are stuck because you CAN NOT have whats left over elsewhere.. you lose the use of 10A

Single rail means 26A goes to the job and the other 10 is available!

PSU selection is based on the total system need for each primary output

12v

3.3v

5v

VSB

You spec a PSU with 25% more power than you actually need so as components start to age they are covered and at the same time if you add something to a system you have all the power you need.. and then there is the THERMAL issue.. a 25% over spec'd PSU is going to run QUIET and COOL

you get what you pay for

If one is running a decent typical system and not clocking a 610watt PC Power and Cooling using will do just fine

If a Quad core and clocking is desired a PC Power and Cooling 750 is perfect

If one wishes a dual video card and clocking that must go up.. the PC Power and Cooling 850-1000 are needed depending on the cards and their needs


all are single rail PSUs and all will last for years.. I still have 2 PC P&C units from 1999 and 2001

a FULL LOAD efficiency rating of 82% or GREATER is what you look for with a single rail

[Wingo]

The new PSU arrived today and I must say it is impressive. It runs quieter than my old one and the fan spins a lot slower. There was a problem with my wireless keyboard when I first started it up, but I don't know if it was coincidence or not.

[Maverick6901]

[quote]
He knows the difference between the silly marketing game of mult-rail and the full efficiency and power availability of a single

For years other PSU companies besides PC Power and Cooling/Silverstone would not budge on that. Made up all sorts of marketing bull to convince people there was nothing wrong with multi-rail and even said there was no reason for single

[NickN]

You are not dealing with a engine/transmission. You can not use the remaining current from a individual rail that is being used (or not being used) and place it toward another rail.

In a single rail PSU all points have full access to the efficiency rated output of the single rail of the supply if/as it is available.


Your analogy makes no sense. It

[Maverick6901]

[quote]
Your analogy makes no sense. It

[Wingo]

There is no contest between single and multi rail PSUs. If you look on the side of the box you see where the power for each rail goes.

For example, from my previous PSU

12V1 - CPU1/CPU2
12V2 - PCIE3-4
12V3 - M/B, accessories
12V4 - PCIE1-2

All have a max of 20 amps

Now lets say we have a high end SLI set up. We'll say that 12V1 is only supplying 10 amps with another 10 is spare and 12V3 is supplying another 10 with 10 spare. We have two GTX280 in an SLI set up, which needs a 6 and 8 pin connector on each card. A GTX280 takes about 23 amps each to power. So we connect the two GPUs to the PSU. We place the first on the 12V2 rail, and the second on the 12V4 rail. These can only supply 20 amps each, so they can't power the cards at all. Now, we have an extra 20 amps spare on the other rails, but we can't use that 20 amps because the amps aren't on the two rails the GPUs are using. The power is there, but it might as well be on Mars for all the two GPUs care.

Now with this exact same set up but a single rail PSU then we have 80amps available on one 12V rail. All devices from above can access the amperage they need with an extra 20 amps spare so that if we connect anything else or upgrade the power is available.

I hope this example demonstrates you can't compare it to a V4 or V6 engine. Comparing a V4 to V6 engine is like comparing a 850 watt unit to a 1000 watt unit. Comparing a multi-rail PSU to a single rail really doesn't have a real world mechanical comparison. The closest I can come to is saying a multi rail PSU is like a singe engine driving each wheel via its own transmission system, and if one wheel needs more power it can't get it from the unused power on the other transmissions. As i said, not a real world example but it is one at least.

[NickN]

[quote][quote]
Your analogy makes no sense. It