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Today Corsair release two new SFX power supplies – the aptly named SF450 and SF600, in 450 watt and 600 watt capacities respectively. One of the talking points with these power supplies is the adoption of large 92mm fans, breaking the SFX trend of 80mm or smaller ‘noisemakers'. This should help reduce noise levels, while maintaining a high level of airflow. Both supplies are pure modular designs and are 80 Plus Gold Certified.
To help facilitate low noise conditions, Corsair have adopted a Zero RPM fan mode at low to moderate loads. Corsair claim the fan should be inactive at up to 30% of the PSU's maximum load.
Corsair say they are accepting no compromises in the design of these units, they have adopted 105c Japanese capacitors throughout to deliver clean, stable power. The all modular design helps ensure that neat, fast system builds are possible – Corsair have opted for flat ribbon style cables, for ease of routing.
SF450 and SF600 overview:
- Low Noise SF Series 92mm fan.
- Easy to Route Modular Cables.
- 105c Japanese Capacitors.
- careful selection of components to reduce coil whine.
- 80 Plus Gold Certified.
- 5 year warranty.
It would have been nice to have a direct comparison with the Silverstone versions. I have a SX600-G myself and sometimes I think I can hear the fan getting a bit noisier than I would like. It’s in a small case (Case: Fractal Design Core 500), so it’s not always easy to hear what is causing the noise. I also have a weird chirping echo after about 15 minutes from cold boot. I still haven’t figured out what that is. I can hear a slight squeaking noise that gets slightly louder (still all very quiet) and then it does the echoing noise. After that it stops making the sound. But I still haven’t figured out what is causing it. It doesn’t seem to cause any problems, so I’m not too fussed as it’s too much effort to keep taking it apart.
Were these tested at 115VAC input or 230VAC input? I noticed you listed a Variac in your list of test equipment so you can better sync with Ecova’s test results, but it doesn’t hurt to ask. 😉
it said 7 years warranty on the corsair web
The site SWEclockers seem to have gotten a better model, measuring only 23 mV max ripple on the 12 Volt rail.. I guess that could be manufacturing variance or a different approach to taking measurements. :p
Either way, I’m glad I found this PSU. There’s some PSU test site that tests in far more detail than Kitguru, but I couldn’t remember the site’s name. That’s not to say Kitguru’s test was insufficient – they make a lot more effort than most other sites that “test” PSU’s.
My Sharkoon 600W SFX-L wasn’t bad, but it ran hotter and its modular connectors were pushing hard against the back of the GPU in my NCase M1. A little too close for NCase’s claim that SFX-L PSUs will “fit”.
I never bought anything from Corsair before, but I might check out their coolers, since my Noctua cooler refused to fit into my case as well…
Silverstone has some brilliant engineering for case layout and airflow. But the company has a bad habit of building things as cheaply as possible. Granted, I’m used to Lian Li, which is at about the opposite end of the quality spectrum, but Lian Li too often bumbles space optimization and cooling concepts instead. Its anyone’s guess what’s worse in the end.
But after having built in some of Silverstone’s cases, I stopped well short of wanting to gamble on one of their PSUs, especially because I couldn’t find any thorough test at the time. Too many sites call something “test” and then just paraphrase the corporate press release for the product.
At any rate, if your PC is running and never has random crashes, your’s must be good enough. The only way to reduce the noise from your SX600G would be to put in a better and/or larger fan, voiding the warranty in the process.
If I was you and the noise got on my nerves, I’d buy the Corsair PSU and ebay the other one, while its still a current model.