Corsair SF600: 600W semi-fanless SFX unit

Conclusion and evaluation

The Corsair SF600 passed the combined and crossload testing in accordance with the ATX specification, so according to my evaluation methodology, it is deserving of its evaluation. There is very little bad to say about this unit so let’s start with it first. What definitely is a problem is the oscillation which occurs upon loss of AC power to the unit. Its peaks go well above 12.60 V which is violation of ATX specification on the voltage regulation. I agree this is rather special situation, but it should still not be happening. Other than that, it runs hot. It is most likely designed that way so the fan can keep low speed, but still. And when we are at that, though Corsair did everything they could, the unit is still not really silent at full power output.

On the other, if you keep it well cooled and within reasonable power envelope – which most people will anyway, what do you want to power with 600 W in SFX case? – it will stay very silent. At maybe up to 300 W depending on the conditions even dead silent. So yeah, I would say this is great bargain. Most customers will choose this 600W version especially because of the fact it stays silent under the normal power output they will be pulling out of it. That is around 300-400 W under maximum load. But it can provide much more, well over 800 W if you can withstand that turbofan noise.

Other than that, there is not much to comment. The voltage regulation, besides the oscillation, is great, as the ripple suppression. Efficiency is very high, all the great components are there, it is fully modular and semi-fanless with long warranty. Silverstone and Chieftec now have strong competition in yet another market which they shared without much intrusion. If you don’t like the flat cables, you can always tear it apart to individual wires and tie round cabling from it. I just don’t understand how can anybody call that stone-hard piece of Main ATX cabling flexible, but I don’t understand way too many things in this world so you may skip my rants.

The value of the Corsair SF600 as a high-end unit is as follows:

• component/technology quality: 12 p. (− for thinner wires and lack of gold-plating, + for working OTP, + for extra saver technology, + for both primary and secondary side overdesigning)
• built quality: 9 p. (− for soldering flux residue mess)
• voltage regulation: 15 p. (+ for combined loading, + for crossloading, + for stand-by)
• ripple: 20 p. (+ for combined loading, + for crossloading)
• efficiency: 12.5 p. (+ for higher efficiency, + for stand-by efficiency)
• hold-up time: -6 p. (− for shorter hold-up time, − for oscillation overshooting maximum voltage)
• others: 20 p. (+ for great overload possibility, + for long operation without cooling, + for semi-fanless operation, + for modular cabling, + for longer warranty, + for extra equipment, + for molex clips)

The result is very good, but because of those regulation problems during hold-up time tests, I could not really award this with gold. So “only” second-best, silver award!

So as a high-end product, the SF600 gets a value of 82.5. Assuming the cost is 3200 CZK, then the price per value ratio would be 100×82.5/3200 = 2.58. Being SFX unit, this is great result. Overall I would say the Corsair units are beginning to crowd on the top places…

Pros	+ fanless at low to medium load + fully-modular cabling + working OTP + outstanding voltage regulation + outstanding ripple suppression + high efficiency + great build quality + generously overdesigned + long warranty + runs long without any cooling
Cons	− shorter hold-up time − voltage ocillation after loosing power − noisy at full power output − runs warm − no connector gold-plated
Be aware of…	/?\

Thanks

I thank the Corsair company for providing the Corsair SF600 unit.

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