SysOpt > Features > Cases & Power > Power and Efficiency from a Memory Company: Corsair TX650W Review

Power and Efficiency from a Memory Company: Corsair TX650W Review- Page 4/4
February 26, 2008
By Thomas Soderstrom

Efficiency, stability, and capacity - what else could a power supply buyer want. Corsair's TX650W certainly delivers on our three main quality criteria, but we still feel there's something missing.

So what's missing? Silence isn't the problem, as the unit is capable of operating well under 30db under normal loads and only broke into the upper 30's when the rest of our torture-test system was also running under full-fan-speed, high stress conditions. Warranty isn't an issue as Corsair covers this part for five years. The only real problem we see is that the TX650W power supply isn't designed to support dual high-power graphics cards, as it only has two PCI-Express connectors. Corsair instead makes a 750W version for high-end Crossfire or SLI configurations. With so much excess power available at 650W, we don't think that high-end SLI and Crossfire users should be forced to select a higher-rated part in order to support two high-end video cards.

This brings us to the question of value. A $130 average price puts the Corsair TX650W in mid-pack among similarly-rated "80 Plus" certified parts. Extra value comes by way of the single large 12V rail, which has no per-rail limitations, unlike the typical 4-rail parts of the competition. We would still really like to see additional PCI-Express power connectors, and for the lack of such, Corsair's middle-value price earns it a middle-value score.

Pros:

• Excellent stability under excessive loads
• 80-Plus certified for high efficiency
• 120mm cooling fan remains very quiet under typical loads
• Auto-Switching for 115/230 volt source power
• Fully sleeved cables for tangle-free routing
• Single 52A 12V rail eliminates load-balance issues of multi-rail competitors
• Five-year warranty

Cons:

• Only two (not four) PCI-Express Graphics power connections
• Limited number of power leads makes PCI-Express power adapters a bad option

The Verdict: High efficiency and exceptional stability at extreme loads make the TX650W a good choice for users who only need two (or fewer) PCI-Express Graphics connectors.

Tools:

Add www.sysopt.com to your favorites Add www.sysopt.com to your browser search box IE 7 | Firefox 2.0 | Firefox 1.5.x Receive news via our XML/RSS feed