What's the deal with rails? also a RAM question

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1

I've recently been looking to upgrade my PC and my only two remaining questions are:

(currency conversions are a rough estimate, simply made as most here are from the US and probably won't understand ZAR prices)

16GB RAM 1333 at a slightly higher price, about 95USD or 8GB RAM 1600 at 70USD? (then upgrade later)

Then, the real question, what importance do the number of rails in a PSU hold? I've done some reading online, but can't really get a definitive answer. I know Logan always seems to support single rail PSU's, but I would like to get a slightly technical explanation as to what is better? (not too complicated please) The reason is that the electricity supply in South Africa isn't too great: This year alone I blew 2 external HDD power supplies (they are now internal), 1 internal HDD fried completely and an LED in one of my case fans also blew(not sure if it's related but yeah.) I have now purchased a Surge protection plug, but I want my system as safe as possible.

So the power supply is really important to me, I'm thinking of getting around the 550W area (PSU of choice currently is the Coolermaster GX550). So yeah, the only bit I do not quite understand are what effect the Rails have on overall safety and performance. I'm going to a dealer this afternoon and would love to be able to make an informed argument.

 

2

get a psu with one single 12v rail... more stable corsair (seasonic is oem except for the new ***i versions) and seasonic definitely have single volt 12s

3

how many dimm slots does your mobo have? if 4, you can still get 2 packs of 2x4gb ram at 1600 for a good price too around 80-$100 depending on what brand you get 

4

Yeah, I've decided to go with 2x4GB 1600 then add 2 more later in the year (I might need alot of RAM if I decide to host a minecraft server.)

Anyway, my power supply decisions are down to:

COOLERMASTER GX 550W : http://www.coolermaster.com/product.php?product_id=6641

COOLERMASTER GX-LITE 600W : http://www.coolermaster.com/product.php?product_id=6789

COOLERMASTER THUNDER 600W : http://www.coolermaster.com/product.php?product_id=6851

All of which I can get for about the same price, so was just wondering whether anyone has any suggestions on the matter?  All are single Rail and 85%+ efficiency. I'm now leaning towards the Thunder, just for the extra wattage providing some slight future proofing...

5

If anyone talks shit about coolermaster psu's i'll fight them. Also if they're all the same price reletively go for the thunder, stick it in a thor case, buy an msi lightning gpu, and bam you can name your rig "Lord of the Skies" or "Son of Odin". 

6

Also skip a hard drive and stick all your data on the cloud. (pun so hard)

7

Hopefully this will help you better understand 12V rails.

8

Yeah, thanks, that's about the general Idea I got from my own research, that the number of rails don't really matter as much (at least in lower wattage PSUs in the less than 1000W range.)

Just wanted to confirm with some people here, who have perhaps had some personal experience. Which is also why I asked for suggestions on the above mentioned 3 candidates (as they all seem pretty much the same).