New Corsair VX550 power supply, my impressions.

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BillParrish

Supreme [H]ardness
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OK, the 420W (yes it was stressed, I had it laying around and it was fine until I added another drive not listed in sig that apparently took it over the edge) I was using developed "issues" and I finally was forced to crack open the wallet and buy a new supply. I decided on the Corsair VX550 as it (despite the wattage rating, provides almost 200 more watts on the +12V rails while maintaining higher +5 and 3.3v wattages than the old one. This is a new supply they are offering as a "value" supply currently $79 (after rebate) at the egg.

My impressions, short story - very very good and IMO the best value/dollar deal for anyone not looking for a super high output supply.

Case/housing is very well made, fits together very well and looks like it was made to last with a flawless finish. You might not be into the industrial matte black look but to me it is just sexy as all getout. Abrasion protection/grommet where the main bundle of wires exits the housing. Heave guage wires with thick insulation well sleeved although the sleeving does not extend all the way into the housing. Sleeving job is also high workmanship with excellent quality heatsink applied properly and all sleeving is tight. Good to excellent quality connectors, plenty of them and plenty long enough to reach the bottom front drive cage in my big Themaltake armor case. A major reason I went with this supply was the six SATA connectors allow me to hook up all my drives with no adapters needed. In summary all external appearances show a well made, good workmanship, no corners cut to "go cheap".

I will not go into voltages suffice to say they are all very good etc. etc. plenty of reviews. Its HEAVY, you cant transform/filter voltage with good current capability without a decent hunk of iron to prevent core flux saturation, so either this thing has good solid chokes and decent heatsinks or they made it out of painted lead.

Whisper quiet, absolutely damn quiet, even with my OC, I do have excellent case airflow/temps so that might be a contributor as internal case temps are very low and helps keeps the power supply fan from spinning up, but its damn quiet and I run the OC in my sig all the time. I actually cannot hear it over my low speed case fans, note to me, 7V those fans.

Nice little things that made me happy. Corsair even includes black screws to mount the supply with. I had fancy thumbscrews (for no good reason, how often DO you change a supply anyway :D) but instead found myself looking for the exact right size screwdriver so I did not mar the finish on the sexy black screws. Apparently I need professional mental health help.

Came with 10 or so black tie wraps, did not appreciate it at first until I grabbed one of my own tie wraps and started to bundle a couple of the cables, whoa, don't want to put that ugly clear/whitish tie wrap on, lookie lookie some nice black ones and I do not have to run to town or search the garage. Small thing but nice touch. A few black "twisty ties/wires" included as well.

Now the kicker, A CASE BADGE !!!!! Powered by Corsair, Black with white sails logo, OMFG !!!! I am Intel Inside, Based on Gigabyte, Fueled by Sapphire, and now, now boys and girls, I am Powered by Corsair. YaY !!

Wait a damn minute, $100 for a power supply ($80 after rebate) and I get a badge, where the hell is my memory badge ? I have $400 worth of Corsair memory (got another 2 GB when I bought the supply but thats another story) and I get no stinking Memory by Corsair badge ? Hell that rates a T-shirt IMO. The nice cozy bag the supply is in is OK, actually very nice too, but it looks funny hanging from the computer and people keep putting trash in it thinking its a litter bag.

So in summary, I am totally impressed with the form fit and function, absolutely satisfied and my expectations were exceeded. A very very rare thing. But if MIke reads this I want a damn memory badge !

Worth every penny and I count them twice.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139004

Good (as in technically accurate) review;
http://www.jonnyguru.com/review_details.php?id=135

What I did not like, there is a yellow capacitor visible thru the black mesh on the rear of the supply that if I could get it open without voiding the warranty I would put a piece of electricians tape on to it so the yellow showing throught the grill does not spoil the "stealth" black look, but how often does one stare at the rear of their PC, told ya I need help.
 
Lol sounds nice my brother just picked up the 520 version yesterday, I'm getting the 550 this month.
 
these corsairs are among the best psu's available, i am hoping they come out with something bigger than the 620 ...
 
Rattle said:
these corsairs are among the best psu's available, i am hoping they come out with something bigger than the 620 ...
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Oh its safe to say they will be TC ran abit about a new line they have coming out soonish.
 
Rattle said:
these corsairs are among the best psu's available, i am hoping they come out with something bigger than the 620 ...
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I heard they underrate them big time. The 620 should be able to handle anything pretty much.

I've got the 520 and it really is awesome.
 
With the 520 and 620 it's not necessarily that they underrated the values, its that they were advertised as having 3 rails when in truth they have just one beefy rail. And a single rail PSU at that price w/ build quality that good is very hard to come by.

I eagerly await their new high end line!
 
chewietobbacca said:
With the 520 and 620 it's not necessarily that they underrated the values.
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I would say our power supplies are rated exactly at what they are rated to put out.

When we say 520W or 620W or whatever, we mean that it will provide that amount of power at 50C for at least 24 hours straight. We test this with a Chroma 8000 tester and an industrial oven (not for cookies) at Corsair headquarters. Maybe I will take some pictures and post them here if you guys want to see.

So no, I don't think our supplies are under-rated. If you read our reviews, you'll see they do exactly what they're rated to do.

We could drop the temperature rating to 40C, or even 25C, some other power supplies are rated down there. This would allow us to basically rebadge our HX620 as an HX750.

But then again, 50C is where most high-end PSUs should be rated, it's where a lot of server-grade components and industrial grade PSUs are rated, and we feel it's more honest to do it that way.

Inside your case, it's not 50C, it's probably closer to 35C-40C. Which means that the HX620 can output significantly more power, since the temperature is lower.

I'm glad you like the VX550. Keep your eyes peeled this month, the VX's big brother might be showing up.
 
It would be great if you can post up some pictures.
We all love pictures very much.

lol, cookies.
 
The difference between HX and VX is that only the HX are modular, right?

My HX520 is sexy btw... nice black wires, that are modular. :)
 
Timbowens said:
I heard they underrate them big time.
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Had other PSU companies built this PSU I believe we see something like... (using the HX520 ratings)

40A 12V rail = 480W
24A 5V rail = 120W
24A 3V rail = 72W

So I could definitely see some other PSU makers say that adds up to something like 600W continuous load at X temperature... while the really cheap PSU makers would rate it at all 672W. :p

By the way - did the VX550 just come out? I'm surprised to see it only has 1 review.
 
By the way - did the VX550 just come out? I'm surprised to see it only has 1 review.
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I beleive so, I had been kinda looking at supplies knowing I would need one and it just kinda popped up last month.

Been living with it now for about 2 weeks and my impression has not changed. It does it job well runing my E6300 at 7 x 472FSB, 6 Sata2 drive, DVD burner, floppy, watercooling pump, x1900GT video card OCed, 2GB or 4GB ram (still having trouble getting 4GB to work, its not the supply) and a butt load of low speed fans, the supply does not even get warm and its still not audible. What I really appreciate is the feeling that I have a very dependable and high quality piece of equipement I can rely on for many years. This is a feeling only based on what I know about the supply so that kind of thing is hard to justify BUT one thing I forgot to mention and I think it applies to all Corsair supplies.

5 YEAR Warranty !!!!​


hmm another thought, Redbeard is being modest when he says,
So no, I don't think our supplies are under-rated. If you read our reviews, you'll see they do exactly what they're rated to do.
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This is true, HOWEVER one does not have to go far, (power supply reviews on [H] main site for instance) to find a plethora of power supplies that do NOT do what they say they will do, or are at the ragged edge of stability when they do manage, or use very, IMO, deceptive ratings. Corsair apparently has realized "if you build it right, they will come" . Top of the line quality at a fair price and no BS. Hard to beat. Oh and the sticker on top so as to not spoil the looks when installed in a case with a window, see, simple thing, didnt cost a dime, but someone somewhere was actually thinking about the end user, /gasp.
 
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