Installation & Use
I installed the Corsair HX 750W into my standard testing rig with an ASUS M3A32-MVP motherboard, Phenom II 940, 8 GB of DDR2 RAM, three SATA hard drives, a Creative X-Fi gamer, and a Foxconn-made nVidia 8800 GTX.
I used OCCT Perestroika in conjunction with Speedfan for benchmarking and monitoring. For comparison, I’ve included the graphs from my April 2008 review of the Corsair TX 750W. Note that the difference in graph style is due to upgrades in OCCT.
Spot checks at idle put the 3.3V, 5V, and 12V rails at 3.26V, 5.1V, and 12.1V, respectively.
The 3.3V rail held fairly tight, but rippled almost 1%. The maximum and minimum voltages were well within the 5% we like to see around here, but overall, the unit undervolted on this rail.
The 5V rail rippled more than 1%, a ripple I’ve not seen in a while. The voltage was still fairly stable, but the unit definitely showed that it was being used during the testing period (minute 1 through 26).
The 12V rail had only a slight dip, but was otherwise solid at 12.1V through the tests and idle.
Sound was no issue for the HX 750W.
Note that the unit in comparison was using an AMD Athlon X2 6000+ rated at 89W. This review was conducted using the same equipment except the processor, which was an 125W max AMD Phenom II 940.
Final Thoughts
Let’s talk efficiency for a moment. The HX 750W is certified 80PLUS Silver. This means that it has minimum 88% efficiency at 20% load. Corsair boasts that the unit is 90% efficient at 50% load. However, these rating are done at 230V @ 50Hz. The American power system is ~120V @ 60 Hz. You’re likely to hit that 88% at the most efficient point, but look for efficiency as low as 86%.
This is still excellent efficiency. Most of the other units I’ve reviewed in the past year are lucky to hit 80% efficiency, and not many have been certified as such.
Readers of the Corsair TX 750W review wished for a modular design. The HX is this and more.
The HX 750W has SATA connectors aplenty. This would be a perfect unit to power a home file server, as well as a high-storage-capacity gaming or video editing rig.
ThinkComputers gives the Corsair HX 750W Modular Power Supply a 9 out of 10 score.
Pros:
– SATA connectors galore
– Expensive for 750W
– SEVEN YEAR warranty
Cons:
– Not as stable as predecessor
– Velvet bag isn’t really necessary
[ad#review1026-bottom]
