# The Good, the Bad and the Ugly - A Story of experience with PSUs



## topgear (Jul 15, 2017)

So on one fine morning the corsair GS600 produced a big bang ( at-least it sounded like it ). All I could hear is a frightening sound and smell of something has burned. I got panicked though was sure it was the PSU. Unplugged and dismounted that damn thing from pc. Tested it with a PSU tester ( link below ) as it's safer than paper clip method :

REO LED 20+4-pin Power Supply Tester w/8/6/4-pin Connectors - Amazon.in

So it's fan was not moving and the PSU testers light was not lit. So the GS600 was gone for good. Now this is gong to be named as the " *The bad* " in my story. Why I'm saying this is whenever I was playing MEA the UPS I'm using will show sign of overloading ( with beeps and red light ) which was mighty annoying. This has happened every time I was playing the game - same happened with BF1 as well. I know the UPS I'm using APC 600 VA is not going to win any award but my systems load is not too high as well.

*Now coming back to the part where GS600 was knocked off. *

I have one VS450 as backup unit ( actually got it on a terrific sale ! and RMAed it once) - read a lot forums and used PSU calculators and as per all those my systems power consumption should be under what VS450 can offer on it's 12V rail.

So mounted the PSU and connected it. Started pc and it was on. Checked +12V rail and it was showing 11.80v ( HWinfo64 ). Still well within ATX specs. So fired up MEA and the game loaded just fine. No beep or overload warning. I had a sigh of relief and though finally corsair may have improved their baseline PSU models.

But that was too much to expect. The UPS again started it's overload warning and after around 15 mins later the system restarted and upon startup showed Asus Anti Surge protection at bios screen. A thought it may be due to incompatibility between this feature and the PSU. So turned it off. Again started MEA and monitored it's +12v reading and it showed 11.65v and was sure it was the this PSU. So as usually the pc restarted again.

*Observation : *
1. VS450 gave fewer overload beep warning than GS600.
2. With GS600 the PC never got restarted.

I was thinking if the UPS is giving overload warning then the PSU+Monitor  ( it draws 25W max )  must be drawing more than 360 from it. Now if as a rough calculation I subtract 25W from 360W then it lefts me with 335W. As I don't have Kill a watt like device I can't measure the actual watts it was drawing but still it was drawing a lot more than what it suppose to and that raises some serious question about it's efficiency. Note that this VS450 was a sealed RMAed unit ( Feb 2017 ). If  don't play games the PSU serves the pc just fine so naming it was the " *The Ugly* "

Anyway, to get rid all of these headaches now my search began for a decent PSU. Now the research part started. I not only want a good PSU but it should have some decent service center and some good reviews as I was sick and tired of the previous experience.

First I considered Seasonic S12II series but it's overpriced here. Also non availability of latest models, lack of proper warranty dismissed the idea.

Next gone headed for Coolermaster, Antec and Thermaltake

Antec had only 2 years warranty which I did not like a bit. Read about their models from 450W - 600W.

The model of theramaltake 700W PSU available was not very great either ( as per reviews ) and I could not locate who offers RMA service for Thermaltake.

Next comes CM and I very much liked the GX 650 storm Ed. - got only one review of the same but there was no mention of the manufacturer of the primary cap. On the plus side the PSU has 5 years warranty and was locally available for around 6.5k.

Tried getting EVGA PSus from amzon.com but the shipping charge was almost equal of the product price.

Next looked for Corsair VS650, CX, CXM,CS, VX - finally considered models :

CS550M ( too short warranty though it's an excellent unit ), RM550X - RM550X was listed @ 6.5k on a computer shops website of Chadney Chowk area - when I called them they quote RS. 8.2k - I thought WTH ! you show something on website, even have an option for buying at that price and later you are saying something else. Anyway, not many stores in Chadni Chawk area ( kolkata ) keeps corsair higher line PSUs.

So finally ordered Corsair RM650X from Amazon.in @ 9.59K - got it delivered, connected it with PC. Checked +12V rail and it was showing exact 12V. Was happy about it. Launched MEA and when the game loaded the UPS started crying it overload song. Ignored it and the PC suddenly turned off ( not restarted ). Felt heart broken and then again turned on pc, entered bios and turned on surge protection feature.

Launched  MEA - on load voltage was showing 11.9v. The UPS did not throw any overload beep or light - tested and played MEA at-leat 14 days now with averaging 2 - 3 hours a day and the PSU is going strong.
So RM650X is sure going to be the " *The Good* " here.

Excellent power draw and really a gold unit with 10 years warranty and good reviews -  though some mentioned short cables but for me it's good enough.


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## ssb1551 (Jul 15, 2017)

Excellent review and the description of the personal experience @topgear .
RM series is one of the best by Corsair for consumer users. Sure HX, AX and HXi series are its high end offerings but RM series is definitely the top dog under 10k.


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## ezio16 (Jul 16, 2017)

Thanks for the detailed review.
I have been checking now to buy a 650 W psu. So have any idea about Corsair CX650M model ?

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## gta5 (Jul 16, 2017)

great post ...


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## bssunilreddy (Jul 16, 2017)

Even though it's a good post I think you left out Seasonic PSU's which are the best ones out there.


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## topgear (Jul 19, 2017)

I tried buying Seasonic but their high pricing low warranty duration made me change my mind.

If you see it from a per year cost for warranty then the deal I got on corsair is the best.


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## bssunilreddy (Jul 19, 2017)

topgear said:


> I tried buying Seasonic but their high pricing low warranty duration made me change my mind.
> 
> If you see it from a per year cost for warranty then the deal I got on corsair is the best.


I think almost all OEM PSUs for top brands top tiers are made by Seasonic right.

Ex: Corsair, Thermaltake, Cooler Master, FSP, EVGA etc

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## thatsashok (Jul 19, 2017)

Seasonic is top notch quality in baseline and in their 80% plus efficiency ones. Next time make Good , Better & Best review with them


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## chimera201 (Jul 19, 2017)

ssb1551 said:


> Excellent review and the description of the personal experience @topgear .
> RM series is one of the best by Corsair for consumer users. Sure HX, AX and HXi series are its high end offerings but RM series is definitely the top dog under 10k.



It's RM*X *not RM !
Big difference between RM and RMX.

RMX is actually pretty good. It is better than Seasonic S12 II and M12 II series. The only problem with it is that it's expensive.


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## ssb1551 (Jul 19, 2017)

There is also RMi - so included all 3.
750i
CORSAIR SMPS RM750I - 750 WATT 80 PLUS GOLD CERTIFICATION FULLY MODULAR PSU
850i
CORSAIR SMPS RM850I - 850 WATT 80 PLUS GOLD CERTIFICATION FULLY MODULAR PSU
1000i
CORSAIR SMPS RM1000I - 1000 WATT 80 PLUS GOLD CERTIFICATION FULLY MODULAR PSU


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## topgear (Jul 22, 2017)

Update :

Never seen the PSU fan to spin even on Full Load - Playing MEA and The PSU never heats up. It remains at room temperature ( may be 3 - 4 C more ) at all times even after 2 - 3 hours of gaming.

So I think it's not a temperature controlled fan but rather it spins based on load - I may be wrong here so more information on this is welcome.

Anyway, it at-least ensures me that the PSU is drawing less than 360W ( saying this because as per spec sheet the PSU fans starts to spin at 360W load ) for the PSU which the previous PSUs never did and my monitor is also hooked up with the UPS. So all I can say is it's one of the best power efficient PSU I've ever seen.


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