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Tom's Hardware > Forum > CPU & Components > Power Supplies, Cases & Mods > What will happen if the Amps on the 12V rail are too small?

What will happen if the Amps on the 12V rail are too small?

Forum CPU & Components : Power Supplies, Cases & Mods What will happen if the Amps on the 12V rail are too small?

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what the title says, I've recently bought an AMD X6 1055T, but i'mnot sure my PSU will be able to run it. It's a 600W Storm with 24A in the 12V rail.
What is the worst case scenario and the most likely scenario if i were to replace it now?

i currently have an AMD Athlon 7850 Dual Core
GTX460
2 sticks of 2 GB ram, DDR2
one 500GB HDD (1080 RPM i think)
on a GA M720 US3 mobo.

also have one external fan and 4 LED lights.

Thanks in advance for any help

Reply to ChosterF
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Hi :)

Your PSU can EASILY run that system including the 1055T.... NO CHANGE NEEDED...

All the best Brett :)

Reply to Brett928S2

Well this slightly confuses me, i've read somewhere that 24A is no where near enough on a 12V rail and that a good PSU should have at least 40A on the 12V rail.

Source: http://www.tech-forums.net/pc/f76/ [...] ms-253155/

It's on the third comment.

Thanks again :)

Reply to ChosterF

consider this: MAXIMUM COMBINED 12v rail amperage times 12 is basically your power wattage.

12*24= 288w. Your PSU looks more like a 300w PSU than a 600w

------------------------------ Core i7 2600k, Asus P8Z68 Deluxe, 16GB Patriot DDR3, 2TB HD , SLI GTX 460 1GB, XFX 750W BE, 3D Vision, CM 690 II Advanced
Reply to vitornob

oh, i've got about 30A on my 3.3V so it looks more like a 400W i guess. Looks as if Storm tend to lie by about 200W :/

what would happen if my total power usage goes over what the PSU can handle then?

will it simply slow down,will the system shut down, will the PSU blow, etc.?

Reply to ChosterF
- 0 +

nope you measure the amps off the 12 v rail/s only. if it has 2 or more rails, you will combine the output so if you have 1 12v rail putting out 24a and a second rail putting out 20a you add the 2 together to get 44a and times that by 12... at lest thats the method i was shown.
the storm 600w has 2 rails rated at 16 and 18 amps respectively. which is a pretty poor. combined maximum of 34a. so 32a x12 = 408w max its likely it wont even reach that b4 it fails though. because when manufacturers over play the watts by so much, it normaly means the psu is pants.

Message quoted 1 times
Message edited by HEXiT on 01-08-2012 at 02:59:27 PM
------------------------------ |i7 920 D0@3.6 |CNPS10 flex |ex58-ud5 |6Gig 1333 C7 |HD 5870
|G11 keyboard|X-fi Xtreme |G930 |3x1tb SpinPoint f3's raid 0 |thermaltake tp 850watt |antec 902
|Rat 7 contagion |Razer Destructor mat |bamboo pen'N'touch | 3d pro stick |nitro wheel |360 pad
Reply to HEXiT

So they lied by 300W then >.<

anyway, back to the original question,
This ( VVV) is the PSU i currently own
http://www.cjcomputers.co.uk/produ [...] number=310

What will happen if my total load exceeds what my PSU can handle?

Reply to ChosterF

HEXiT wrote :

nope you measure the amps off the 12 v rail/s only. if it has 2 or more rails, you will combine the output so if you have 1 12v rail putting out 24a and a second rail putting out 20a you add the 2 together to get 44a and times that by 12... at lest thats the method i was shown.
the storm 600w has 2 rails rated at 16 and 18 amps respectively. which is a pretty poor. combined maximum of 34a. so 32a x12 = 408w max its likely it wont even reach that b4 it fails though. because when manufacturers over play the watts by so much, it normaly means the psu is pants.


First of all, I am not picking on you, I would just like to see correct information being posted.
You were shown the wrong method, it's very seldom that the rails add up to the total output , one example is on the label I provided in another thread.
The only sure way of knowing the combined 12v output is having the wattage available to it on the label.

Reply to delluser1
- 0 +

yep and i saw the lable... on another site... as for picking on my... yer not. i get finikey 2 when i think sum1 is making a mistake...

but to be honest there are a few sites that rate that psu as a 24@ unit while other rate it at 16a+18a basicaly i dont think any 1 knows what the true output will be as it looks like they b.s so much about there numbers

Message quoted 1 times
Message edited by HEXiT on 01-08-2012 at 03:21:34 PM
------------------------------ |i7 920 D0@3.6 |CNPS10 flex |ex58-ud5 |6Gig 1333 C7 |HD 5870
|G11 keyboard|X-fi Xtreme |G930 |3x1tb SpinPoint f3's raid 0 |thermaltake tp 850watt |antec 902
|Rat 7 contagion |Razer Destructor mat |bamboo pen'N'touch | 3d pro stick |nitro wheel |360 pad
Reply to HEXiT

Okay, sorry to sound like some attention seeking child, but i have asked the same question three times now without an answer.

What will happen if the total load exceeds the amount a psu can take?

will it cause damage to my components? if so, in what way?

Reply to ChosterF

HEXiT wrote :

yep and i saw the lable... on another site... as for picking on my... yer not. i get finikey 2 when i think sum1 is making a mistake...

but to be honest there are a few sites that rate that psu as a 24@ unit while other rate it at 16a+18a basicaly i dont think any 1 knows what the true output will be as it looks like they b.s so much about there numbers


I haven't even tried to find info on the OP's psu.
Got scared and ran when he said 600 watts and 24 amps :lol:

Reply to delluser1
- 0 +

Choster, if your PSU output is inadequate, you simply may get random looking reset/reboots - if you are lucky. If you are unlucky, you will get a catastrophic failure, "catastrophic" defined as "bursting into smoke and flames". If that happens, it may take out other computer components with it.

24 amps is pitiful for a 600 watt PSU. A good modern 600 watt PSU should put out around 45 amps. Your PSU looks like an old design dressed up with a few modern cables. The give-away is the really heavy (by today's standards) 5 volt output.

I do not think you have enough power. A GTX460 needs about 12 amps (a bit less for a 768 kB model, a little more for a 1 GB model). Figure about 10 amps for your CPU and you are close to the limit and you haven't added drives and fans yet.

You will need a better PSU.

Reply to jsc

jsc wrote :

Choster, if your PSU output is inadequate, you simply may get random looking reset/reboots - if you are lucky. If you are unlucky, you will get a catastrophic failure, "catastrophic" defined as "bursting into smoke and flames". If that happens, it may take out other computer components with it.

24 amps is pitiful for a 600 watt PSU. A good modern 600 watt PSU should put out around 45 amps. Your PSU looks like an old design dressed up with a few modern cables. The give-away is the really heavy (by today's standards) 5 volt output.

I do not think you have enough power. A GTX460 needs about 12 amps (a bit less for a 768 kB model, a little more for a 1 GB model). Figure about 10 amps for your CPU and you are close to the limit and you haven't added drives and fans yet.

You will need a better PSU.




Ah, just the answer i was looking for. Thanks :)

do you know if it can cause direct damage to my components without showing any obvious signs (like bursting into smoke and flames)?

Reply to ChosterF

Yes, a poor PSU can cause direct damage to your computer components without having to burst into flames and magic smoke.

What could happen to your system is that your GTX 460 over time will degrade to the point that the game flickers regularly, freezes the game under any significant load, and eventually dies.

The motherboard electrical components will degrade by trying to give correct voltages to each of your components (if it doesn’t give adequate voltage, it damages the correspondent components), eventually it will random reboot regularly or won’t boot up anymore.

Since your motherboard is working more under stress, your CPU won’t be able to overclock as high or be as stable as when it was new.

Your hard drive may become corrupted from the random boots.

I recommend to get a high quality reputable PSU. It is better than having to RMA each component, paying shipping, and still have the same issues. JonnyGuru gives very good reviews on PSUs. A 500w 40amp PSU would be more than enough for your system.

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