Legit Power Supply Reviews

Corsair Professional Series HX850 Power Supply Review

Manufacturer: Corsair
Product: HX850
Date: Wed, Sep 19, 2012 - 12:00 AM
Written By: Emmanouil Filladitakis -
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A look inside the Corsair HX850 PSU

The cooling fan

Strangely for Corsair, the company when with a Hong Hua fan for the cooling needs of the HX850 unit. The double ball bearing fan has a maximum speed of 2800RPM, which it will hopefully reach only if pushed beyond limits as the PSU would be insanely loud with a fan rotating anywhere near that speed.

Inside the Corsair HX850 unit

The Corsair HX850 is based on a Channel Well Technology (CWT) design, an OEM commonly used by the company to manufacture their medium and high performance units. CWT designs are known for their above average quality and performance, so no problems there. The heatsinks of the HX850 however are worryingly small for a unit with such a power output, with most being nothing more than a simple metallic slab with minimal heat exchange surface.

The filtering stage

CWT went with a "by the book" transient filter, which starts at the back of the A/C receptacle and continues onto the main PCB. In total, there are four Y capacitors, two X type capacitors, two chokes and a MOV.

Primary side

The base design of the HX850 is not exceedingly complex, which is refreshing for an 80Plus Gold certified unit. It does use a synchronous converter, which is more complicated than most other converter designs, but the rest of the design is pretty straightforward. Two Nippon Chemi-Con 420V/330uF capacitors can be found at the primary side of the unit, both rated for operation up to 105°C, next to two plain heatsinks holding the active PFC transistors. The primary switches of the power supply are on another, yet also very simple heatsink with minimum heat dissipation surface.

Secondary side

Each and every electrolytic capacitor on the secondary side is also being supplied by Nippon Chemi-Con; if not for the exception of a few solid-state capacitors, Nippon Chemi-Con is the manufacturer behind every capacitor in the HX850. The synchronous rectifier is built on a secondary vertical heatsink which, to our surprise, is not attached to a heatsink at all! The rectifier generates only a 12V rail. The minor lines are generated by DC to DC circuits which are situated on the PCB holding the modular cable plugs.

Next Page - PSU Test Setup


Review Index
Page 1 - Corsair HX850 Power Supply Review
Page 2 - Unboxing the HX850 power supply
Page 3 - Corsair HX850 External Design
Page 4 - A look inside the Corsair HX850 PSU
Page 5 - PSU Test Setup
Page 6 - HX850 Testing results (Regulation & Ripple)
Page 7 - HX850 Testing results (Efficiency, Noise & Thermal)
Page 8 - Corsair HX850 Final Thoughts & Conclusion