The Corsair CX-series

[STRMfrmXMN]

I guess this thread was bound to happen soon enough (I typed one up months ago but because I accidentally used the browser back button on my mouse I lost everything and was too lazy to re-type everything). @EllieThePurpleFuzzy also wanted this so I guess it's a good time to do this.

 

Note, if you're looking for the Corsair CS series - THAT IS DIFFERENT. Go here to read about it.

 

Here's a list of the Corsair CX/M series labels:

 

• CX400 (older version made by Seasonic. It's not terrible but has common issues with transistors.)
• CX430/M (there are various revisions of this model)
• CX500/M (also multiple revisions)
• CX600/M (more revisions)
• CX 750/M (multiple revisions - a rebranded Corsair GS-series)
• CX850 (brand new to the CX-series but is a Corsair GS-series rebrand like the 750W)
• New CX450/550/650/750/850/M versions - all good. You can tell the difference between the old and new by the color of the branding which is white and not green. Note that these new revisions, although much better quality and a better electrical performer by and large, still retain a sleeve bearing fan so although they're great for now, you should consider swapping them out after 4-5 years as sleeve bearing fans are not meant to be mounted horizontally as this voids them of proper lubrication of the bearings. The PSUs are still good but just be aware of this - they are not going to outlast you like many high end Seasonic units. The price reflects that.
• Corsair's Vengeance series which is the new CXM series but are not sold in North America. They have a superior fan bearing to the CXM thus they are quite an excellent PSU for most system builders.

 

Little note to add in here: The "M" series revisions of these (the modular ones) are of superior quality to the non-modular ones and use better capacitors inside. They aren't the best still bit they're a much better value proposition. Also note that the third revision of the non-modular CX-series is the same as the CX-M internally. Just note that, in the event you do buy one, online retailers from Amazon and Newegg, for example, may not check the SKU of the PSU you order, thus, when you paid for a third generation unit, you may end up with an older, inferior revision.

 

 

Short explanation as to why these PSUs are generally not recommended for many builds: The CX600 and below have an ambient temp tolerance of 30C which is extremely poor, especially if you live in a hot climate. The PSU will soon shut off after breaching much more than this temperature. The CX750 and above do not have this issue as they are rebrands of the Corsair GS series, HOWEVER they are quite overpriced when much better EVGA/Antec/Seasonic/XFX/etc units exist at lower price points.

 

Spoiler

 

 

The above but let's explain why 30C is a poor temperature. Isn't that a fairly warm temperature? My room is only 25C, should I be concerned?

Yes.

Unless you have an open-air case or your PSU is separate from your components (like in a Corsair Air 240/540 case) or you are watercooling (please don't build a watercooled build with the CX-series, thanks) then your system is likely going to breach this constantly as heat is preserved in your case. If you live in Abu Dhabi, Somalia, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Houston, etc, your summer heat is simply too much for the poor thing to bear whether you have air-conditioning on or not. If you live in a cooler climate then you are likely to be hitting this temperature during the summer but less likely during the rest of the year. If you have hotter hardware (290X or GTX Titan type GPUs) then you are simply taking a huge risk running this with a CX-series. The PSU restarts to save itself but that does mean that you can lose valuable data and projects on your PC, and, in the event the PSU legitimately dies, the potential loss of your graphics card, motherboard, hard drive and other precious components.

 

This is how Corsair advertises their CX-series power supplies.

Quote

 

"CX Series PC power supplies are an excellent choice for basic system builds and desktop PC computer upgrades. CX Series PSUs are available in a variety of power configurations, and include features that are normally found only on premium power supplies."

Source: http://www.corsair.com/en/power-supply-units/cx-series

 

They are a great option for office PCs or granny's Facebook machine and are a good upgrade from the generic PSU in your dad's Lenovo that is literally a bomb with a free fan included to keep it cool. Some versions come with modular connections which is a nice feature on a low-end PSU. That does not make it a PSU for anything with a hot GPU in it.

 

Here's an example of what I would consider to be the very limit of what I would place a CX-series (600W or less) in. This is a nice, cheap budget system to get playing games on for $500 USD.

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

• CPU: AMD Athlon X4 860K 3.7GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($89.98 @ OutletPC) 
• Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-F2A78M-HD2 Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard  ($46.98 @ Newegg) 
• Memory: PNY Anarchy 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($24.99 @ Amazon) 
• Storage: OCZ TRION 150 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($39.95 @ Amazon) 
• Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($48.89 @ OutletPC) 
• Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R7 370 2GB WINDFORCE 2X Video Card  ($133.98 @ Newegg) 
• Case: Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case  ($41.00 @ Amazon) 
• Power Supply: Corsair CX 430W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($69.98 @ OutletPC) 
• Total: $495.75

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-07-07 14:27 EDT-0400

 

Note a GPU that isn't crazy hot.

 

Keep in mind that this same concept doesn't apply with no GPU. It may very well be safe to run an i7 4790 with no discrete graphics card if you build a system like that. However I would say that any GPU over the GTX 960/R9 270 in terms of heat output is not a good combination with the low-end CX series. Any overclocking should also be avoided.

 

Hope this explains all the confusion about the Corsair CX-series seen here on the daily. If you want to post a build here asking "is there CX-*** OK with this build?" then that is ay-OK.

 

Another moment here to mention:

THE NEW CX/CXM SERIES WITH WHITE BRANDING ARE QUITE DECENT AND ARE OK FOR HIGHER-END BUILDS! Just be aware of the sleeve-bearing fan which will wear out if mounted in the traditional PSU position of "on the bottom of an ATX layout PC."

 

Might as well tag @Aniallation @Sam Z Man since they like electrical things that power other things as well.

 

[Jerakl]

I had a CX600 die on me last week. lel

[thekeemo]

very short must watch

[Arcanekitten]

I guess this thread was bound to happen soon enough (I typed one up months ago but because I accidentally used the browser back button on my mouse I lost everything and was too lazy to re-type everything). @Elitethepurplefuzzy also wanted this so I guess it's a good time to do this.

 

Here's a list of the Corsair CX/M series labels:

• CX400 (older version made by Seasonic. It's not terrible but has common issues with transistors.)
•  
• CX430/M (there are various revisions of this model)
•  
• CX500/M (also multiple revisions)
•  
• CX600/M (more revisions)
•  
• CX 750/ (multiple revisions - a rebranded Corsair GS-series)
•  
• CX850 (brand new to the CX-series but is a Corsair GS-series rebrand like the 750W)
•  

 

Short explanation as to why these PSUs are generally not recommended: The CX600 and below have an ambient temp tolerance of 30C which is extremely poor, especially if you live in a hot climate. The PSU will soon shut off after breaching much more than this temperature. The CX750 and above do not have this issue as they are rebrands of the Corsair GS series HOWEVER they are quite overpriced when much better EVGA/Antec/Seasonic/XFX/etc units exist at lower price points.

 

The above but let's explain why 30C is a poor temperature. Isn't that a fairly warm temperature? My room is only 27C, should I be concerned?

Yes.

Unless you have an open-air case or your PSU is separate from your components (like in a Corsair Air 240/540 case) or you are watercooling (please don't build a watercooled build with the CX-series, thanks) then your system is likely going to breach this constantly as heat is preserved in your case. If you live in Abu Dhabi, Somalia, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Houston, etc, your summer heat is simply too much for the poor thing to bear whether you have air-conditioning on or not. If you live in a cooler climate then you are likely to be hitting this temperature during the summer but less likely during the rest of the year. If you have hotter hardware (290X or GTX Titan type GPUs) then you are simply taking a huge risk running this with a CX-series. The PSU restarts to save itself but that does mean that you can lose valuable data and projects on your PC.

 

 

This is how Corsair advertises their CX-series power supplies.

Source: http://www.corsair.com/en/power-supply-units/cx-series

 

They are a great option for office PCs or granny's Facebook machine and are a good upgrade from the generic PSU in your dad's Lenovo that is literally a bomb with a free fan included to keep it cool. Some versions come with modular connections which is a nice feature on a low-end PSU. That does not make it a PSU for anything with a hot GPU in it.

 

Here's an example of what I would consider to be the very limit of what I would place a CX-series (600W or less) in. This is a nice, cheap budget system to get playing games on for $500 USD.

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: AMD Athlon X4 860K 3.7GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($74.99 @ Amazon) 

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-F2A88XM-D3H Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard  ($65.98 @ Newegg) 

Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($49.99 @ Newegg) 

Storage: Sandisk SSD PLUS 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($44.99 @ Amazon) 

Storage: Hitachi Ultrastar 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($43.00 @ Amazon) 

Video Card: XFX Radeon R7 260X 2GB Core Edition Video Card  ($127.47 @ Amazon) 

Case: Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case  ($44.75 @ Amazon) 

Power Supply: Corsair CX 430W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($51.98 @ Newegg) 

Total: $490.15

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-08-21 18:38 EDT-0400

 

Note a GPU that isn't crazy hot. 

 

Keep in mind that this same concept doesn't apply with no GPU. It may very well be safe to run an i7 4790 with no discrete graphics card if you build a system like that. However I would say that any GPU over the GTX 960/R9 270 in terms of heat output is not a good combination with the low-end CX series. Any overclocking should also be avoided.

 

Hope this explains all the confusion about the Corsair CX-series seen here on the daily. If you want to post a build here asking "is there CX-*** OK with this build?" then that is ay-OK.

 

Might as well tag @Aniallation @Sam Z Man since they like electrical things that power other things as well.

well i used them for 1 1/2 year and din't have any issues with it untill my hd 7850 died and got a r9 290 with a new psu.

[STRMfrmXMN]

 

very short must watch

Seen many times. Gotten rekt in the pelvis laughing

[Aytex]

tl:Dr CX arent for high end builds.

[Arcanekitten]

very short must watch

*bookmarked* best answer to people that ask for cx series psu's

[STRMfrmXMN]

well i used them for 1 1/2 year and din't have any issues with it untill my hd 7850 died and got a r9 290 with a new psu.

No matter how many times I say it:

Just because you own it and never had problems with it doesn't make it good. There are people driving around AMC Pacers that have never had a single problem with their car. Does that make it good? No.

[FLUFFYJELLO]

You are seriously so f***ing quick with these guides; it's ridiculous.

[STRMfrmXMN]

You are seriously so f***ing quick with these guides; it's ridiculous.

lol thx bby

 

First it's a guide to how girls work then it's a guide to how PSUs like to catch fire

[OAcesync]

Thank you for the long overdue thread

[CydiaDash]

very short must watch

That's my new favourite video

[Arcanekitten]

No matter how many times I say it:

Just because you own it and never had problems with it doesn't make it good. There are people driving around AMC Pacers that have never had a single problem with their car. Does that make it good? No.

did i say its a good one ? the hd 7850 with phenom x4 965 black does not draw alot of power so its a basic pc and i will never ever say that its a "good" PSU but for basic stuff like just family pc stuff or low budget gaming ofcourse not for 6 titan x cards

[STRMfrmXMN]

did i say its a good one ? the hd 7850 with phenom x4 965 black does not draw alot of power so its a basic pc and i will never ever say that its a "good" PSU but for basic stuff like just family pc stuff or low budget gaming ofcourse not for 6 titan x cards

You pointed out you never had problems with it meaning (that I thought you were) implication that it was a good PSU that can power a horse to China.

But I guess I was wrong

[soaringchicken]

*bookmarked* best answer to people that ask for cx series psu's

OMG yes

[Lolzious]

 

The CX600 and below have an ambient temp tolerance of 30C which is extremely poor, especially if you live in a hot climate. The PSU will soon shut off after breaching much more than this temperature.

I have a CX-600, (as well as a 280x) I also live in a desert with no air conditioning. Ambient temperatures can reach up to 35c in my room, and currently my system is in a shit case with a single $3 120mm exhaust fan. Have never had a single problem.

 

I feel like you made this thread to bash on an item, when it is not the product that is at fault, it's the people misusing it.

[STRMfrmXMN]

I have a CX-600, (as well as a 280x) I also live in a desert with no air conditioning. Ambient temperatures can reach up to 35c in my room, and currently my system is in a shit case with a single $3 120mm exhaust fan. Have never had a single problem.

 

I feel like you made this thread to bash on an item, when it is not the product that is at fault, it's the people misusing it.

read this:

 

No matter how many times I say it:

Just because you own it and never had problems with it doesn't make it good. There are people driving around AMC Pacers that have never had a single problem with their car. Does that make it good? No.

[Aniallation]

well i used them for 1 1/2 year and din't have any issues with it untill my hd 7850 died and got a r9 290 with a new psu.

such quote

very large

many word

much snip

[Aytex]

i haz CX i like it eveyrone else can go suk it

[Lolzious]

read this:

Lmao

[STRMfrmXMN]

such quote

very large

many word

much snip

so confuse

[Arcanekitten]

You pointed out you never had problems with it meaning (that I thought you were) implication that it was a good PSU that can power a horse to China.

But I guess I was wrong

i just meant by saying it that I never had problems with it but i din't say that i recommend it sorry for the confusion

[KemoKa]

I have a CX500 and it's great for what it needs to do. Performs well in hot, sweaty New Hampshire, so I don't have any negative experience with them. Admittedly, though, I would never use them in a high-end rig, not when I don't know who actually built the damn PSU, and certainly not when there are 80+ Platinum PSUs out there for not a hell of a lot more.

[STRMfrmXMN]

i just meant by saying it that I never had problems with it but i din't say that i recommend it sorry for the confusion

[STRMfrmXMN]

I have a CX500 and it's great for what it needs to do. Performs well in hot, sweaty New Hampshire, so I don't have any negative experience with them. Admittedly, though, I would never use them in a high-end rig, not when I don't know who actually built the damn PSU, and certainly not when there are 80+ Platinum PSUs out there for not a hell of a lot more.

CWT built the damn PSU: http://www.realhardtechx.com/index_archivos/PSUReviewDatabase.html