Corsair TX650W PSU - Printer Friendly version

1. Introduction

Corsair is a well established manufacturer of quality computer power supplies, targeting demanding users. The latest proposal comes in the TX series, aiming at advanced users providing them with high efficiency and great stability. Lets meet the Corsair TX650W and check its features.

- Corsair TX650W Power Supply

The Corsair TX650W power supply is engineered using advanced technology and components typically found with high performance power supplies. With design features such as a dedicated, single +12V rail offer the maximum compatibility with the latest system components. Energy efficient circuitry capable of delivering greater than 80% efficiency ratings across 20%, 50%, and 100% load conditions make the TX family of PSU's ideal for the value/quality conscious enthusiast. With a 120mm diameter temperature-controlled fan that is ultra quiet, yet still more than sufficient to cool the internals of the system, reliability and stability are no longer worries for the gamer, overclocker or enthusiast and high-end system builder.

The performance according to Corsair is very good as we will find out later in our review:

- Features

Supports ATX12V v2.2 standard and older ATX12V 2.01 spec
Ultra-quiet 120mm (140mm on TX750W) double ball-bearing fan delivers excellent airflow
80%+ energy efficiency at 20%, 50% and 100% load condition for less heat generation and lower energy bill
99% Active Power Factor Correction provides clean and reliable power to your system
Universal AC input 90~264V automatically scans and detects the correct voltage
Dedicated single +12V rail offers maximum compatibility with latest components
Over Current/Voltage/Power Protection, Under Voltage Protection, and Short Circuit Protection provide maximum safety to your critical system components.
High quality Japanese capacitors provide uncompromised performance and reliability.
Extra long cables support full tower size chassis: 5.9"(W) x 3.4"(H) X 5.5"(L)
MTBF: 100,000 Hours
NVIDIA SLI-ready certified.

- Specifications

Model	TX650W
AC Input Rating	90 - 264VAC
Input Current	5 - 9A
Frequency	47Hz - 63Hz
DC Output	Max Load	Max Output
+3.3V	24A	170W
+5V	30A	170W
+12V	52A	624W
-12V	0.8A	9.6W
+5VSB	3A	15W
Total Power	650W

2. Retail package

Corsair's TX650W Power Supply (part number: CMPSU-650TX) costs around $140(+ shipping). The retail package follows the usual design. Corsair has chosen a different color for every one of their power supplies (VX, TX, HQ) series and the TX series comes in yellow. The 5 years warranty logo indicates Corsair's strong belief in this product:

Lets open the box,

Everything is well placed and secured, the power supply is protected by a cocoon of Styrofoam so no worries about getting a damaged product. After removing the top piece of padding, the TX650W is also protected against scratches and dust by a black fabric bag:

Here is what you will find at the box:

Corsair TX650W/TX750W Power Supply unit
User Manual
AC Power cord
Cable ties
Mounting screws
Corsair case badge

We can say that the retail box is complete, nothing important is missing. Lets proceed to the PSU itself. The size is typical for this category (150 x 140 x 86mm) certified for ATX v2.2 standard. The external black paint job looks great. The PSU edges are not sharp, so you can handle it without any worries. The rear end of the PSU has a honeycomb design, that helps lower PSU's internal temperature, since it drives the produced hot air out of the case. At the top there is the model's specifications and part number:

Some background info about the numbers at the label. The TX650W has two different rails: the +3.3/+5V rail (motherboard, memory, PCI cards) and the +12V rail (hard drives, optical drives, fans, CPU, Video Cards) . In this particular case, the approximate maximum peak output of the +3.3/+5v rail is 170 watts and for the +12v is 624 watts. At the bottom, there is a 12cm silent fan:

While on the side there is another sticker with Corsair's logo and model name:

All cables connectors are attached to the main body, this power supply has a non-modular design. The only thing we noticed is that the cables are not completely sleeved all the way into the housing. While there shouldn't be any danger of damaging the naked cables, we would prefer them fully sleeved. All the molex connectors are equipped with quick-release tabs which really come in hand when disconnecting them.

Many connectors are included with proper length.:

Connectors Included	VX550W
ATX 24 pin & 20 pin compatible	x1
EPS/ATX12V 8-4 pin	x1
PCI-E 6+2 pin	x2
SATA	x8
4 pin Peripheral	x8
Floppy	x2

1 x 610mm (24”) 24-pin ATX power connector cable. The ATX power connector has a detachable 4-pin mechanism in order to support either a 24-pin or a 20-pin socket on the motherboard.
1 x 610mm (24”) 8-pin EPS12V connector cable. The EPS12V power connector has a detachable 4-pin mechanism
in order to support either an 8-pin socket or a 4-pin “P4/12V” socket on the motherboard.
2 x 610mm (24”) 6+2-pin PCI-E connector cable.
2 x 864mm (34”) SATA connector cable with four SATA connector heads.
2 x 1016mm (40”) 4-pin peripheral power connector cable with four connector heads and one small 4-pin for floppy drive.

Since all of the PCI-E connectors are of the 6+2 pin variety, they can be used as both 8-pin or 6-pin connectors depending on the situation.

3. Benchmarks

Testing PSUs is not something easy, we used the user side, meaning we gave to our system enough load either through extensive CPU and 3D usage via 3D Mark 06 v1.0.2 and burn-in tests with Sisoft Sandra 2007. Our test PC was:

AMD Athlon 64 X2 4600+ AM2
ASUS M2N32Pro WS
2x Asus EN7900GS Top VGA cards
2GB Crucial PC-8000
1xWD 80JB SATA I
1xSeagate 80GB SATAII

All PSU ratings were monitored with Everest Ultimate Edition v3.0. The following table lists the industry wide specifications for DC Output Voltage Regulation.

After running 3D Mark 06, the monitored outputs showed us how much stress the power supply has taken. A summary of the measured results can be found in the table bellow.

		Minimum	Maximum	Average
CPU1	%	0	100	54,9
CPU2	%	0	100	54,8
CPU Core	V	1,34	1,34	1,34
+3.3 V	V	3,25	3,27	3,26
+5 V	V	4,88	4,93	4,91
+12 V	V	12,22	12,28	12,25

The results were very good. All ratings are within the standard range, while even at full load, the voltage only changes by 0.01~0.06V. The PSU can fully support a high performance system even with two energy demanding graphics cards installed.

4. Conclusion

The TX series is a new introduction from Corsair providing power users with enough power to fulfill their energy lack. From a price point of view, the TX650W is priced above VX series and below HQ series. The five (5) years of warranty and and the 24/7 on-demand customer service still stands for this product, so no worries here.

The TX650W can handle two PCI-E VGA cards, either with 6/8pins in order to assemble a high performance SLI/Crossfire based system. There are no modular sleeved cables, but the overall length is more than enough to cover even full ATX housings.

The performance levels were very good, with two graphic cards in SLI mode and several HDD's we didn't noticed high variations of the reported Voltages. Overall, Corsair's TX650Watt power supply is a great product at a reasonable price range. We did found the product listed around $140 (for short amount of time with a -25$ rebate), so we have no major hesitations to suggest this product to you...

- The Good

650Watt output
Cables are very long
Active PFC design
SLI certified
5 years warranty!
Low working noise even at full load
ATX v2.2 certified
Plenty of connectors
Stable voltages under heavy load

- The Bad

Price could be a little lower...