First Look
Corsair has a long standing reputation for high quality products, and their HX series power supplies are no exception, and have proved popular among enthusiasts. This line contains power supplies from 520W up to 1050W. The variant being reviewed today is the 750-watter. Unlike the 520 and 620W versions which are made by Seasonic, this power supply is made by Channel Well (CWT).
The Box
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The top of the box tells us what product is enclosed, that it is nVidia SLI ready, that it has a 7 year warranty, and that it is 80plus silver certified. Interestingly, this product is actually 80plus gold certified, but corsair decided to de-rate it as 80plus silver as they felt it may not be able to maintain 80plus gold efficiency at higher temperatures. Corsair has recently revised the HX line and now markets them as being 80plus gold certified, but I have the older variant here today.
The back of the box contains some marketing , a load table, some graphs for the efficiency and noise, and a picture of the power supply at the bottom. As usual, I’ll re-type (and maybe comment on) the marketing.
- Flat, Modular cables – Low-profile cable design allows for superior airflow and complete flexibility to choose only the cables you need
- 140mm Thermally Controlled Fan – Ultra-quiet 140mm dual ball bearing fan intelligently throttles fan speed based on temperature
- Solid State 105°C Capacitors – Upgraded 105°C solid state capacitors for years of uncompromised performance and reliability (They are called solid capacitors or polymer capacitors, not solid state capacitors)
- DC-to-DC Converter – Full DC-to-DC conversion on all voltage rails for best-in-class efficiency (On ALL rails? That’s a first. I’ve never seen DC-DC conversion used for the 12V rail before)
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More marketing on the front of the box
- Guaranteed to deliver 750W at 50°C
- 90% energy efficiency under real world load conditions
- Multiple GPU ready
- 105°C solid state capacitors (Solid capacitors!)
- Active Power Factor Correction (APFC) with PF value of 0.99
- Supports ATX12V 2.3 and EPS12V 2.91 standards. Backwards compatible with ATX12V 2.01
- Auto-switching circuitry provides universal AC input from 90V-264V (Of course. That’s an inherent feature with APFC)
- Over Current/Voltage Protection, Under Voltage Protection and Short Circuit Protection provide maximum component safety (What about Over Power Protection?)
- Dimensions: 150mm (W) x 86mm (H) x 180mm (L)
- MTBF: 100,000 Hours
The back of the box gives us a list of cables, which will be discussed shortly.
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Even more marketing
Corsair Professional Series power supplies boast an innovative cabling configuration that uses modular, low-profile flat cables. This intelligent design reduces clutter and helps maximize airflow through your computer chassis. The modular cabling system also simplifies installation by allowing you to use only the cables you need.
Corsair Professional Series power supply units – designed for enthusiasts.
Now that all the marketing is out of the way, let’s open it up
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Opening the box, we find a power supply, a power cable, a bag of modular cables, a manual, and a zip-lock bag, which contains a “Powered by Corsair” sticker, some screws and some zip ties. That’s pretty much what I would expect to find in the box for a power supply of this caliber.
The Power Supply
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The label is located on the bottom of the power supply, which means that you won’t see it unless your case allows for it to be installed with the fan facing the case. We can see that this is a single rail power supply, with a whopping 62A available on the 12V rail. Personally, I’d prefer to have that split into a few rails, as 62A is enough to burn up a connector if a component fails shorted.
The main ATX connector and the 12V CPU connector are both hard-wired, which I don’t see as a problem, since they are required on all PCs. The modular cables provide up to 12 SATA power connectors, 8 molex/peripheral connectors and four 6+2 pin PCI-E power connectors. Two Molex-FDD adapters are provided, just in case you still have an FDD. The wires are 18AWG on the modular connectors, which is the recommended gauge. The hardwired connectors use slightly thicker 16AWG wires. While they have lower resistance and can handle more current, they are stiffer.
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This power supply uses a 140mm fan. Both of the grilles are very open, with a wire grille used on top, and a honeycomb grille at the back. Since this power supply has APFC, there is no voltage selector switch.
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