PSU Questions- 3.3V and 5V recommendations

[thelethalblow]

1) All I hear is the 12v rail these days. Wondering what you guys would recommend having for the 3.3v and 5v rails for a new mid range system.

2) Also when you have dual 12v rails, how do you figure out what the combined amount is. From what I understand having line 1 with 20a and 2 with 20a, may not mean you have 40a.

 

[THEpiGUY]

1) All I hear is the 12v rail these days. Wondering what you guys would recommend having for the 3.3v and 5v rails for a new mid range system.

2) Also when you have dual 12v rails, how do you figure out what the combined amount is. From what I understand having line 1 with 20a and 2 with 20a, may not mean you have 40a.

Don't know the answer to #1, but pretty much anything that is sold at a major online site (Newegg) will be plenty for a mid-range system.

As for #2, you take the combined wattage and divide by 12. E.g. if you had a dual rail with 20A on both, if the combined wattage for the 12V rails was 360W, you'd be getting 30A total. The combined wattage varies from PSU to PSU, even if they have the same amperage on their rails.