Corsair HX520W & HX620W Modular power supplies

Want to talk about one of the articles in SPCR? Here's the forum for you.
chienpourri
Posts: 63
Joined: Mon Jul 10, 2006 10:37 am

Post by chienpourri » Thu Feb 01, 2007 11:47 am

Well, I bought the 520 Corsair PSU, I have tested it by itself with a PSU tester and it's soooooo quiet! Incredible!!!! Let's hope it's going to make a big difference with my current PSU (Icute 420W, 2 x 80mm @~ 3000 RPM - a pain to my ears!).

Oleg Artamonov
Posts: 107
Joined: Sat Feb 05, 2005 3:45 am
Location: Moscow, Russia
Contact:

Post by Oleg Artamonov » Thu Feb 01, 2007 12:15 pm

Sooty wrote:That capacitors rated to 105 degrees are common fitment by most PSU manufacturers. So the Seasonics are almost certainly the same rated capacitors?
Yes.
So the venting on the Seasonics might well be superfluous, if the Corsairs can do without??
There are three different cooling schemes:
a) Seasonic S12 with very quiet fan and venting holes on the back;
b) Seasonic M12 with additional 60 mm fan on the back;
c) Corsair without 60 mm fan and venting holes, but with more powerful (and more noisy) 120 mm fan.

~El~Jefe~
Friend of SPCR
Posts: 2887
Joined: Mon Feb 28, 2005 4:21 pm
Location: New York City zzzz
Contact:

Post by ~El~Jefe~ » Fri Feb 16, 2007 7:41 am

HX620W model.... basically, this model has the same accoustic properties of the 520 version except that it can handle higher loads correct?

HX620W is my next psu for the new r600 ati cards that are comming out. hopefully, like usual, the all-in-wonder versions require less cooling (like my x1900 aiw is much easier to cool than the xt version non aiw)

typ0
Posts: 7
Joined: Sat Apr 21, 2007 2:26 pm

Post by typ0 » Sat Apr 21, 2007 3:12 pm

Hi :)
Im looking for the quietest power supply to buy, and after reviewing the tops chart @ http://www.silentpcreview.com/article699-page1.html Im wondering why is Corsair HX520 rated 8+ in the noise department, and Seasonic S12-430 only 8 when in their reviews HX520 produces 22 dB(A) of noise and additional noise at lower loads, and S12-430 only does 20 dB(A). Another weird thing is that while hearing the recordings, i find the S12-430 to be louder than Corsair despite their measured dB(A)s . So, which one of these 2 PSUs would you recomend for my "silent workstation" based on a Intel G965 motherboard (with integrated Intel X3000 graphics), a Pentium D 820, a couple of hard-drives and an optical drive in an Antec Solo case? I don't want to be bitten by buzzing sounds from the Corsair PSU at lower loads, tough it seems quieter overall.

Cheers

reyn116
Posts: 66
Joined: Tue Apr 11, 2006 3:01 pm
Location: Sydney Australia

Post by reyn116 » Sat May 05, 2007 1:18 pm

im wondering why this PSU is not 80+ ? if they can achieve the efficiency then why don't they get the rebate from the 80+ program?

=assassin=
Posts: 243
Joined: Thu Aug 25, 2005 2:46 am
Location: Blackpool, England, UK
Contact:

Post by =assassin= » Wed May 23, 2007 9:55 am

My current PC has been crashing alot, and now won't even boot (using the Antec 380watt PSU in the NSK4400 case). I'm hoping it's not the motherboard, and so have gone for one of these Corsair 520watt PSU's - hopefully I'm replacing the right part, but either way, looks like I've picked a decent PSU! :D

LuckyNV
Posts: 68
Joined: Thu Jan 18, 2007 4:26 pm

Post by LuckyNV » Sat May 26, 2007 4:33 am

Oleg Artamonov wrote: c) Corsair without 60 mm fan and venting holes, but with more powerful (and more noisy) 120 mm fan.
The Corsair units have ultra quiet fans, in audible even in a minimal fan machine.

If you have one and are speaking from experience, highly likely you have a duff unit.

RBBOT
Posts: 93
Joined: Thu May 17, 2007 9:02 am

Post by RBBOT » Sat May 26, 2007 3:03 pm

Im wondering why is Corsair HX520 rated 8+ in the noise department, and Seasonic S12-430 only 8 when in their reviews HX520 produces 22 dB(A) of noise and additional noise at lower loads, and S12-430 only does 20 dB(A). Another weird thing is that while hearing the recordings, i find the S12-430 to be louder than Corsair despite their measured dB(A)s .
You've pretty much answered your own question - the ratings are based on how audible/noticable the unit is to a human ear, which is not always the same as the db(A) rating. See http://www.silentpcreview.com/article669-page1.html

Halk
Posts: 7
Joined: Fri Jun 08, 2007 3:56 pm

Post by Halk » Fri Jun 08, 2007 4:32 pm

Just wanted to say thanks for the review here. PSU reviews are seldom any good. SPCRs are first class.

Bought the PSU, and it's exactly as the review says.

Now, let's hope with as many units selling as there are, that Corsair will start selling additional cables for it.

386-sx-33
Posts: 49
Joined: Tue Nov 09, 2004 9:16 am
Location: Netherlands

Post by 386-sx-33 » Fri Jun 22, 2007 10:55 pm

Corsair CMPSU-620HXEU, 620W (ATX12V v2.2)
Corsair CMPSU-520HXEU

I can only find the above PSUs.
Their modelnumbers are slightly diffrent from the ones in the PSU.
Are it the same ones as in the review that's 7 months old now.

rpsgc
Friend of SPCR
Posts: 1630
Joined: Tue Oct 05, 2004 1:59 am
Location: Portugal

Post by rpsgc » Sat Jun 23, 2007 12:31 am

386-sx-33 wrote:Corsair CMPSU-620HXEU, 620W (ATX12V v2.2)
Corsair CMPSU-520HXEU

I can only find the above PSUs.
Their modelnumbers are slightly diffrent from the ones in the PSU.
Are it the same ones as in the review that's 7 months old now.
The only difference is the "EU", which means they're the European model ;)

386-sx-33
Posts: 49
Joined: Tue Nov 09, 2004 9:16 am
Location: Netherlands

Post by 386-sx-33 » Sat Jun 23, 2007 1:40 am

Yeah, I guessed that much :P
But it also means its a different model.
Most likely there are no performance differences; but lets say I've gotten over cautious over the years...

MoJo-chan
Posts: 167
Joined: Wed Apr 30, 2003 3:49 pm

Post by MoJo-chan » Fri Jul 06, 2007 12:29 pm

I have a question about the review.

It says that there is some buzzing at low power levels. I might want to have my system in S3 sleep mode (basically everyone except the RAM and NIC turned off) so this kind of thing worries me.

Would it be noticeable from >1m with the PSU in a case?

nutball
*Lifetime Patron*
Posts: 1304
Joined: Thu Apr 10, 2003 7:16 am
Location: en.gb.uk

Post by nutball » Fri Jul 06, 2007 12:39 pm

MoJo-chan wrote:Would it be noticeable from >1m with the PSU in a case?
No. It's utterly silent in S3/STR.

MoJo-chan
Posts: 167
Joined: Wed Apr 30, 2003 3:49 pm

Post by MoJo-chan » Fri Jul 06, 2007 12:56 pm

nutball wrote:
MoJo-chan wrote:Would it be noticeable from >1m with the PSU in a case?
No. It's utterly silent in S3/STR.
Thanks, that's really helpful.

LuckyNV
Posts: 68
Joined: Thu Jan 18, 2007 4:26 pm

Post by LuckyNV » Sat Jul 07, 2007 2:47 am

386-sx-33 wrote:Yeah, I guessed that much :P
But it also means its a different model.
Most likely there are no performance differences; but lets say I've gotten over cautious over the years...
there are 3, EU, UK and US, the only difference is the type of plug that is supplied, the internals are designed such that it will recognise any type of voltage is being input and switch accordingly.

Chaendler
Posts: 53
Joined: Tue Aug 16, 2005 5:58 am
Location: Spain

Fan swap possible?

Post by Chaendler » Thu Aug 23, 2007 12:44 pm

Hi guys,

Does anyone know if it is possible to replace the fan of one of these corsair units with any other one?

I mean, is there any two/three pin plug inside the psu, or otherwise the fan is welded to the pcb?

Thank you very much!

MikeC
Site Admin
Posts: 12285
Joined: Sun Aug 11, 2002 3:26 pm
Location: Vancouver, BC, Canada
Contact:

Post by MikeC » Thu Aug 23, 2007 12:49 pm

irrc, it's a small 2-pin plug like in almost all the Seasonic-made PSUs.

Jasper
Posts: 53
Joined: Fri Jun 30, 2006 8:05 am

Post by Jasper » Thu Aug 23, 2007 2:45 pm

In S3 sleep mode, the PSU fan turns off, at least it does on the systems I've built that do S3 (SU380 x2 and neoHE 430). My system with the corsair 520 doesn't really do 'off', in any variant, so I've never tried that one, but I suspect that it, too, would completely shut down the fan in S3.

And without the fan running, most PSUs are completely silent (not entirely self-evident, the transformer can hum a bit in some of them -- not on the ones rated highly by SPCR, though).

Sainty
Posts: 55
Joined: Tue Aug 21, 2007 7:48 am

Post by Sainty » Sat Aug 25, 2007 4:06 pm

After reading nothing but gold reviews from just about every major hardware site and Newegg's comment section, I finally bit and got the 620w. I plan on doing some overclocking so clean, reliable power is key. Hopefully the unit I have will be up to the task. A five year warranty even tops my Antec True Power 3 year. Not bad! I powered on the the new PSU with the old paper clip trick just to see how loud the fan was without connecting any other noisy parts. At no/mild loads it is nearly inaudible at a meter away. Great unit!

Post Reply