ARrrrrgh! What's a power rail?

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Magilla

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It's got to be a stupid question but I'm totally frustrated at this point in selecting new PC parts.

I searched and looked for the answer and I see it mentioned while shopping for a PSU but can't find out what the crap a power rail is.

All I picture is the rails my case has for the 5" drive bays.

Feel free to beat me...Just tell me the answer.
 
power rail is basically how much power the power supply gives to different components in the computer.

for example, rail 12 is connected to the graphic card. some power supplies have rail 12+ and 12- while some only has 12. usually if you're buying a powerful graphics card like a 7900 series, you would want at least 25amps on the 12 rail so it be enough power for the graphics card to operate.

on the power supply there should be a sticker that tells you which rail has how many amps.

e.g. 25A means 25 amps, etc.

hope that helped and welcome to TF.
 
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