Corsair CX550M – farewell group design

Connectors & cabling

There are no markings on the cabling once again and they are all black, but I am pretty sure the 8 wires leading to the first PCIe connector are 16AWG. While this is nice, I would have expected this from high-end Corsair units, and not the mainstream CX550M. The remaining ones for the second connector like most of the other cabling uses 18AWG. The wiring for the Berg connectors as well as the few signal/sense (I’ve noticed sense also for +5 V and return) leads is 20AWG. Nothing is gold-plated, though the molex connectors have clips for easier unplugging. The fixed cabling is sleeved while the modular cables are molded together to form flat ribbons.

In total, we have:

Fixed cabling:

  • 1× Main ATX (20+4pin): 61 cm
  • 1× ATX 12 V (4+4pin): 65 cm

Modular cabling:

  • 2× PCIe (6+2pin): 60 cm, 73 cm
  • 6× SATA: 35 cm, 47 cm, 48 cm, 60 cm, 61 cm, 72 cm
  • 3× peripheral molex: 47 cm, 54 cm, 65 cm,
  • 1× Berg for FDD: 74 cm

We can see the the modular cabling EPS for the PCIe/ATX 12 V cabling and 6 pin PCIe connectors for peripherals.

Casing & cooling

The metal chassis of the CX550M is made from 0.7mm SECC steel, and it has a matte black finish (which is most likely a powder coating). Corsair opted for a wired fan grille which is nice as it produces less turbulence and noise. There’s a warranty sticker over one of the case screws.

The back side has an exhaust in the form of hexagonally-punched holes. These holes however do not extend to underneath the input receptacle and double-pole AC switch. A plastic grommet protects the cables coming out of the through the back.

The fan is a 12cm Hong Hua HA1225H12S-Z. This is a sleeve bearing fan with a maximum speed of 2200 RPM, with a typical airflow of 77.5 CFM and a static pressure of 2.4 mm of water column. Under such conditions the maximum noise then reaches 37 dBA. Also present this time around is a plastic sheet, which covers almost half of the fan.

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