Raindrops form when small cloud droplets collide with each other. In most computer models of clouds, this process is described using the Smoluchowski equation. We compare the Smoluchowski equation with computer simulations in which each droplet within a small part of the cloud is modeled. We show, depending on the simulation setup, that the Smoluchowski equation can give overly slow or fast rain formation. This implies that many cloud models used do not correctly represent rain formation.