5v and 12v wiring to power supply

[urbecrisch]

I'm curious how many components you can hook up to a "y" power connector?  I'm planning on:

12v to translucent trackball
5v to coin lamps
5v to coin counter

1. Can all of this be hooked up to the same power supply or do I need additional power to plug things into?

2. Also, if I plan on using some LED pushbuttons, can these be used with the same power supply or is another source of power needed?

Cheers!

[mountain]

What is the rating on your power supply? How many other components are you using? Generally speaking you should be fine. However, if you are hooking up 3-4 hard drives, a DVD rom and ather components to a very small power supply, it may be pushing it.

[urbecrisch]

Where do I find the power supply rating? 

[SavannahLion]

Some power supplies have a little information on the back, probably not enough to figure find what you need. Most, if not all, PSU's have a big sticker on the side. You can find it when you open your PC case up and take a glance. The information is located on a power supply like thus:


Depending on the design of the case, you might have to physically remove the PSU from the case. Some cases have a carriage, others have the PSU upside down or whatever.

Some stickers look like this power supply rated at 220W:


This particular model is a 300W unit:


Most stickers are broken down on how much power is pumped through each rail. A few show general information and a few show a per connector basis.

Please note, that despite a PSU stating they're 300W or whatever, There's a lot of variations in the manufacturing process and quality control. I've seen 250W PSU's from a top quality manufacturer run the same equipment more reliably than a 300W PSU from a ---smurfy--- company. Most people usually don't have to worry since they'll rarely hit the upper limits of their PSU.

[urbecrisch]

So if my PSU can put out 220W - 300W, will the bottom voltage work with everything else the PSU is powering?

12v to translucent trackball
5v to coin lamps
5v to coin counter