PSU power and connection confusion, help me ID?

[notsmart]

Hello guys, newbie here. I bought a entry-level prebuilt gaming computer, for which i will be using an entry-level GPU. I need help determining whether my power supply is good enough, or if it's going to risk my computer it's life:

Firstly, I wanna say I wont be overclocking anything (per se, i wont OC them myself. ie factory OCs)

My PSU stickers says this:
input 100-240 ~8A 50-60Hz
output max power 460W
+12VA 18A
+12VB 16A
+12VC 8A
+5V 25A
+3.3V 17A
-12V 0.3A
+5 Vaux 2A
Max comb. power on 5V and 3.3V is 142W
Max comb. power on 12VA-C is 385W

Now, having read some of the stickies, i have determined that it is probably a multirail thingymajig (confirm?) because of the A B C 12Vs. But i am not sure if i can still handle the GPUs in tier (row) 7 of the hierarchy chart (http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-performance-radeon-geforce,3018-7.html) [If needed, let's use the GTX 550 Ti and Radeon HD 6770 as reference.]

Additionally, i know for SURE it doesn't have a 8 pin connector. only 2 6-pin connectors. Which is where the 2nd confusion arises.

See Images Attached. Are these considered the 2x6pin connectors that some cards require? Because if it is, doesn't that mean the power still comes from a single 12V source? Or is that supposed to be like that? Also, If i am using a GPU card that only requires 1 6 pin connector, which one do i connect it to, the one that's closer to the PSU (middle) or the one that's at the end of the wire?

Summary:
1. Is that a multirail?
2. Can it support tier (row) 7 cards in the hierarchy?
3. Are those the correct 2x6 pins?
4. Which pin should I use for a 1x6 pin card?

Thank you for taking the time to read, understand and post.

Basically the wire is like this: PSU ------ 6 pin ------ 6 pin

 

[cygone]

1. Yes its multi-rail, your correctin the A B C thingy =)
2. Yes
3. Yes
4. Does a single 6 pin card exist =), either one, it makes no difference, they are on the same rail.

Additional points, the 2x6 Pin 'Probably' sit on the 12VA rail (18A), it is listed as a 460w power supply, so that means if you are pulling 385w on the 12v rail, the combinded 3.3/5v rail can only pull a max of 75w. Only the GPU(s) and the CPU use the 12v rails, other things like HDD/ODD/SSD/Fans/Lights use either the 3.3 or 5v rails.

 

[notsmart]

1. Yes its multi-rail, your correc tin the A B C thingy =)
2. Yes, just
3. Yes
4. Does a single 6 pin card exist =), either one, it makes no difference, they are on the same rail.

"Yes, just" as in just enough? or as they say, still under the 85% efficiency or something etc etc?

Isn't the HD 6770 single pin? http://www.amd.com/us/products/desktop/graphics/amd-radeon-hd-6000/hd-6770/Pages/amd-radeon-hd-6770-overview.aspx#3

 

[BlackHawk91]

So you are trying to power up two gtx550ti/6770's with that psu? Could you list your system full specs please.

 

[notsmart]

So you are trying to power up two gtx550ti/6770's with that psu? Could you list your system full specs please.

no sir, i only have 1 pcie slot. it's just for reference. like say you want me to list a specific card to use the wattage or requirements of a card to explain.

460W psu
i5 2.8Ghz
6GB Ram
no vid card yet
1680x1050 monitor

 

[BlackHawk91]

Ok, I get it now. To answer your questions:

1- Yes, your psu has 3 12v rails.
2- yes, however, I DON'T recommend getting anything above a 6770 (typically, a three rails PSU would assign the first rail to cpu, the second to gpu, and the third one to extras) Do it only if your psu is a brand name one.
3 and 4- It is actually one 6pin pci-e connector split into 2. (either will work)

 

[hunter315]

Lets do some clarification on the 6 pin issue that appears to be causing confusion.

You power supply has 2 6 pin PCI-E connectors, the fact that they are on the same cable doesn't matter. A 6 pin connector provides up to 75W of power, two of them will provide up to 150 W of power which is only ~12.5 A from the 12 V rail so they are likely running off of the second 12 V rail as 12 A from the first one are allotted to the CPU and some extra to the motherboard.

You can use that PSU to run a card that needs two 6 pin connectors, its got enough for a 6770 or a 550 Ti.


Now for you 4 questions just for completeness,
1. It has 3 12 V rails
2. Aside from the 5830 and GTX 280(really power hungry for their performance) it can handle anything in tier 7, but some of the newer cards like the 6850 are more powerful and still in its range.
3. Those are the right connectors
4. Use either, or both, or which ever is easiest.

 

[delluser1]

^ This

 

[notsmart]

Lets do some clarification on the 6 pin issue that appears to be causing confusion.

You power supply has 2 6 pin PCI-E connectors, the fact that they are on the same cable doesn't matter. A 6 pin connector provides up to 75W of power, two of them will provide up to 150 W of power which is only ~12.5 A from the 12 V rail so they are likely running off of the second 12 V rail as 12 A from the first one are allotted to the CPU and some extra to the motherboard.

You can use that PSU to run a card that needs two 6 pin connectors, its got enough for a 6770 or a 550 Ti.


Now for you 4 questions just for completeness,
1. It has 3 12 V rails
2. Aside from the 5830 and GTX 280(really power hungry for their performance) it can handle anything in tier 7, but some of the newer cards like the 6850 are more powerful and still in its range.
3. Those are the right connectors
4. Use either, or both, or which ever is easiest.

so you said a 6850 would still be okay; are there any other cards that would be okay that's higher than 6770 and 550 Ti? Both nvidia and radeon. Or if it be easier, how can you tell if it can support it or not.

[looking at the 6850, it says a min of 500, while mine is 460. you sure?]

 

[hunter315]

The 6850 only has a TDP of 125 W so fluffing that up a bit puts you at about 300W from the 12 V rail for the CPU and GPU which leaves you a fair amount left over for the less power hungry components.

The power recommendations are done using a massive system so that if you are using a half way decent 500 W unit you don't have a chance of not having enough power, they are over estimated for safety.

If you are going to try to get as much graphics power out of your PSU as possible i would stick with AMD cards as they are a bit more energy efficient, a 550 Ti has a TDP of ~120 W while a 560 (non Ti) has a TDP of 150 which is quite a jump.

 

[notsmart]

Best answer selected by notsmart.
n
nI am a Nvidia fanboy, unfortunately