Corsair CX-400 400W Power Supply Review @ bit-tech.net

[J.O]

introduction:
Buying a budget PSU can be something of a minefield. Many of us don't want to spend a fortune on a PC, but at the same time we don't want to be lumbered with some unreliable bit of kit dishing out sketchy power to your beloved hardware. Corsair has already made a video showing really what we already know about cheap PSUs: at best they aren't worth the money, and at worse they are potentially dangerous.
Corsair has chiselled out a great reputation for build quality, even though it has no expressed manufacturing itself, it employs quality manufacturers like CWT or Seasonic, with tweaks and elements of its own design to make its own PSUs unique. The CX400W represents the most inexpensive of Corsair's line-up for really cheap PCs, however we were keen to find out if Corsair has broken its own rules, or it really has made a solid foundation to a bargain build.

>> Read More @ bit-tech.net

Efficiency:


Conclusions:
The Corsair CX400W PSU is a quality bit of kit. It consistently remained above 80 percent efficiency, closer to 85 percent at higher loads and even survived our full load stress test, not to mention the consistent set of green results across the board in the voltage department. Technically though, it was the least efficient of the low wattage PSUs we've seen but only by a very small small margin and considering this is the cheapest PSU we've seen, this fact is forgiveable.
It's a shame that the ADDA fan isn't quieter under higher loads, but looking at the components used to manufacture the PSU and Seasonic's clear influence in the design (despite Corsair's insistence it's "its own" design) and Seasonic build quality. Given this, compared to the S12-II 500W which now costs about £25 more, you're getting a lot of PSU for your cash.
The CX400W would make an ideal power supply for a budget build, or a system that doesn't execute many demanding tasks such as a file server, low power media centre or a home office PC. That having been said, the lack modular cables will make it less suitable for a small form factor chassis. If your next build project only requires a little oomph to get the job done, then you'd be hard pushed to make a better purchase for the same price.

>> Read More @ bit-tech.net

[mmx+]

It's an amazing PSU. I have one that has been powering my sig rig for the past couple weeks (don't have the Galaxy yet)

[anonemus]

I just bought a CX400W a couple of weeks ago and am very satisfied! Very stable, very quiet!

E5200 @ 3.5Ghz
Gigabyte G31M-S2C
2x2GB DDR2400
Palit 4850 Sonic 512MB

[brian c]

It uses OST e-caps... ? Are they good ?

[370forlife]

Meh. As long as they are kept cool they can last a while in psu's.

[anonemus]

Originally Posted by brian c

It uses OST e-caps... ? Are they good ?

Sorry, I'm not a techie. Don't know what OST means. I'm still trying to learn more about PSUs...

[Zero82z]

Originally Posted by anonemus

Sorry, I'm not a techie. Don't know what OST means. I'm still trying to learn more about PSUs...

OST is a company that manufactures capacitors.

[anonemus]

Thanks, Zero! I need a lot of catching up to do in terms of PSU terminologies

[Smirnoff]

If Seasonic deems them OK to use, and people think their PSUs are reliable, I'd think there wouldn't be a problem.

[anonemus]

I acutually sold my CX400W when I recently won an HD5850 card in an internet contest. I replaced it with an OCZ ModXStream-Pro 500W. Now I'm not so sure if I did a wise move after reading through the various posts about OCZ...