What is the +12v rail powering exactly?

[Jamers]

I'm looking for a relatively low power PSU. The SeaSonic 330 watt has the V1 & V2 +12v rails. V1 is 8amp and V2 is 14amp. Combined they total 264 watt. Should I be concerned this isn't enough power. Here's my proposed setup.

C2D E6400 (mild overclock)
1 low end PCIExpress en7300 Video Card
1 Hard Drive
1 DVD Drive

The PSU Calculator puts my total watts required at a mere 240 w. I'm just a wondering if the +12 v rails are too low, although I'm not even sure what they power.

 

[jaguarskx]

I'm looking for a relatively low power PSU. The SeaSonic 330 watt has the V1 & V2 +12v rails. V1 is 8amp and V2 is 14amp. Combined they total 264 watt. Should I be concerned this isn't enough power. Here's my proposed setup.

C2D E6400 (mild overclock)
1 low end PCIExpress en7300 Video Card
1 Hard Drive
1 DVD Drive

The PSU Calculator puts my total watts required at a mere 240 w. I'm just a wondering if the +12 v rails are too low, although I'm not even sure what they power.

The Seasonic S12 3300 is fine for your system based on what you have the following will be your maximum power consumption on the 12v rails:

C2D E6400 @ 2.93GHz (X6800 equivalent)..........66w Core 2 Duo Power Consumption graphs.

7900GT (let's assume you will upgrade)...............49w GPU Power Consumption Chart

1 300GB Hard Drive.............................................22w (Also draws some power from the 5v for the read/write heads)

DVD Burner.........................................................14w (Also draws some power from the 5v rail for the laser)

3 120mm Case fans - full speed..........................15w

RAM....................................................................0w (Power is drawn from the 3.3v rail).

Motherboard........................................................0w (Power is drawn from 3.3v & 5v rails)

All PCI cards - (Sound Card, etc)...........................0w (Power is drawn from 3.3v & 5v rails)

Total Max Power Consumption on the 12v Rails...166w

Total Max Apms used.........................................13.83a

It may surprise you but the Seasonic S12 330 is more than enough for your system. Out of the total 264w (22 amps) available on the 12v rails, under the worst possible conditions your system will only be drawing 166w (13.83 amps) of power.

 

[jaguarskx]

I'm looking for a relatively low power PSU. The SeaSonic 330 watt has the V1 & V2 +12v rails. V1 is 8amp and V2 is 14amp.

BTW, Seasonic is an excellent PSU. I have the Seasonic S12 500. Real quiet and reliable.

 

[Granite3]

I'm looking for a relatively low power PSU. The SeaSonic 330 watt has the V1 & V2 +12v rails. V1 is 8amp and V2 is 14amp. Combined they total 264 watt. Should I be concerned this isn't enough power. Here's my proposed setup.

C2D E6400 (mild overclock)
1 low end PCIExpress en7300 Video Card
1 Hard Drive
1 DVD Drive

The PSU Calculator puts my total watts required at a mere 240 w. I'm just a wondering if the +12 v rails are too low, although I'm not even sure what they power.

The Seasonic S12 3300 is fine for your system based on what you have the following will be your maximum power consumption on the 12v rails:

C2D E6400 @ 2.93GHz (X6800 equivalent)..........66w Core 2 Duo Power Consumption graphs.

7900GT (let's assume you will upgrade)...............49w GPU Power Consumption Chart

1 300GB Hard Drive.............................................22w (Also draws some power from the 5v for the read/write heads)

DVD Burner.........................................................14w (Also draws some power from the 5v rail for the laser)

3 120mm Case fans - full speed..........................15w

RAM....................................................................0w (Power is drawn from the 3.3v rail).

Motherboard........................................................0w (Power is drawn from 3.3v & 5v rails)

All PCI cards - (Sound Card, etc)...........................0w (Power is drawn from 3.3v & 5v rails)

Total Max Power Consumption on the 12v Rails...166w

Total Max Apms used.........................................13.83a

It may surprise you but the Seasonic S12 330 is more than enough for your system. Out of the total 264w (22 amps) available on the 12v rails, under the worst possible conditions your system will only be drawing 166w (13.83 amps) of power.


I second this opinion, as I stated earlier, quality of the power delivered is usually way more important than quantity, within reason.

Good to see someone actually add it up, vs wild high side speculation.

95% of systems will run very stable with a 380w OR less quality psu, the video card is usually the guilty party to move you up the power scale.

I ran a p4 3.2, 1.5 gig ram, 2 80 gig SATA, 2 dvdrws, floppy, and a 7800GT along with an external dvdrw, on a 380 watt dell psu for almost a year.

I did move up to a Thermaltake T2 430w when I added a x1900xtx to the box, but it did run for almost a week on the 380w dell b4 the new psu arrived.

Enjoy!

 

[jaguarskx]

Good to see someone actually add it up, vs wild high side speculation.

Thanks!

 

[Jamers]

I can get the The SeaSonic 380 w for only an additional $7.50 over the 330. Although you say I don't need the extra power, I read on silentpcreview.com that the 380 w has the same larger heatsinks that are in the 430 w and thus runs a but cooler. As a result the fan doesn't have to work as hard making it a bit quieter too. What do you think?

 

[jaguarskx]

Since the cost is only $7.50 more then I would simply get the 380w. It's always nice to have extra power on tap if it doesn't cost much more as long as it is not excessive. A small load on a PSU makes the PSU very inefficient.
However, if I remember Seasonic S12 PSU reveiws from www.silentpcreview.com, their efficiency ranges between 77% and 83%. That's a nice tight range and pretty high efficiency as well.

I didn't realize the S12 380 uses the same heatsink as the S12 430. If true than it would be great 'cause the fan would not have to spin very fast. In any case, the Seasonic S12 series are amongst the most quiet and efficient PSU you can buy.