I've used a number of CS450M and CS550M PSUs for budget builds, since they can both regularly be found <$50 (and sometimes <$40, in the case of the reviewed model).
I've been relying on the Corsair name and warranty as a proxy for actual PSU quality, and I'm quite happy to hear that the quality I'd been assuming actually exists.
Thanks for prodding manufacturers to provide reasonable-wattage PSUs for review, Fyll!
You've been relying on the wrong company then as Corsair are known to release lots of dodgy PSU's in the past. Their "I" series PSUs are hot garbage and usually a complete waste of money compared to the standard series. Their RM series beyond 550 watts suffers from horrible ripple voltage issues. Their CX series (one of the most popular PSU lines due to their extremely cheap price) are not something that should ever be paired with a "high end" setup (like a 4790k/GTX 980) and yet we see this all the time.
Never trust a single brand of PSUs and always check the OEM of the unit you are buying first. The only real exception to this is Seasonic as they make most of their own PSUs.
What is this "horrible ripple" that you speak of? Does it not stay within ATX specifications and manufacturer claims? Or does it just not measure up to "enthusiast" expectations?
I did a quick search and found "Why you might not want to buy a Corsair RM PSU" on overclock.net which referenced a TechPowerUp review of the RM1000 as showing the worst performance. The review mentioned a few places where it "failed" such as exceeding ATX specifications for 3.3v ripple at 110% output and OTP triggered at 45°C. Note that both failures exceeds specifications (Corsair rates this PSU to only 40°C).
The only real fail is in hold-up time, which failed to meet ATX specifications. This would be a good reason to not get this particular PSU, especially if power in your area fluctuates more than normal.
These PSUs are a far cry from the true "crap" units. Diablotek anyone? Deer? Apevia?
Diablotek units are just as likely to destroy your entire system as work properly so that's not a very good comparison. The previous poster has a point that Corsair's power supplies have a checkered history with certain series (like the CX) being notoriously poor. Maybe this new CS series is them trying to improve their low end offerings, but because Corsair sources power supplies from many, many companies you have to be careful buying from them. Some of their power supplies are great, some are not so great. It's not like Seasonic where they build all their own power supplies.
There is a link to 'how do we test', on that link page it says: "We should note that all testing is being performed with a 230V/50Hz input, delivered by a 3000VA VARIAC for the perfect adjustment of the input voltage. "
I understand that high end (i.e. reliable and consistent) equipment for electronics can be expensive, but PLEASE try to convince anandtech to foot the bill so we can get 120V and 230V!
One significant point that's missing is a comparison to competing PSUs. Something similar to the CPU or SSD comparisons is really needed to save time narrowing down our choices. Also, perhaps end with something like the SSD reviews where you mention which is still your recommended PSU for home/office and single GPU.
Either that or the Antec/Cooler Master variants made by Seasonic.
I have some pretty big problems with Corsair PSUs of late.. their builder series keep failing.. and I haven't heard a lot of good news about the CS---M series which is being priced fairly high here in Canada. (for instance.. this model at $95..)
I have The Seasonic G 360W version and the CS450. They are both fine. There is a difference with the G 450W. This version is longer then the CS450W. For me lenght is a problem (HTPC PSU).
I'd love to see the comparison to the Superflower Golden Green HX 450W.
Similar Specs (but 2 PCIe-cables), and in Europe at least its usually a good 10€ cheaper than the Corsair, Cooler Master and Sea Sonic options. Would be good to understand what you sacrifice for that price difference.
Thanks for reviewing more a more reasonable PSU! This sort of information is a lot more useful than the 1kw+ supplies that are a niche product with limited appeal. It's a pity that other companies aren't willing to send competing units. Does Anandtech ever purchase components as retail products directly from physical or digital shelves? If so, that opens up quite a lot more than potentially cherry picked units supplied from a vendor directly (not accusing Corsair or any other company of doing that, but without going directly to the shelves, there is a possibility of getting a sample that isn't representative of what an average person might be able to acquire).
"With the exception of the sleeved ATX cable, of the cables are "flat", ribbon-like, with black wires."
I've seen this in a number of other PSUs and it's always annoyed me. IMO the main functional advantage of flat cables is that they're easier to bend for routing purposes; but 6/8 wire round cables are still relatively easy to manage. The bloated dinosaur that's the 24pin ATX cable is another story entirely and getting it through tight spaces or sharp bends is a major pain.
I like ribbon cables, but I don't like the 90deg sata connectors found on some of them.
The bending and stress on the cables ends up being worse than straight connectors, as the distances between connector vs. the distance between drives is never a perfect match.
Thanks, E., for your review of a decently-sized PSU for a regular budget build! It's really nice to see a review that I can actually use.
I would second the comment that it would be nice if you were able to get a retail unit or two to see if it scores similarly to the review unit you were provided. Perhaps Purch can provide a monthly allowance for the retail purchase of units to ensure review units aren't just cherry-picked for the reviewer.
I purchased one earlier this year for a home server for $40 after rebates ($60 with $20 mail in rebate). This model is always on sale with mail in rebates from newegg. I have seen it as low as $35. I was skeptical about the performance, but after the review it looks like great value. Thanks for the very useful review.
Just get an adapter to convert a 4-pin Molex to another PCI power connector. From the specs: ""For a system using a single Radeon R9 270 graphics card AMD specifies a minimum of a 500 Watt or greater system power supply. The power supply should also have a maximum combined +12 Volt continuous current rating of 28 Amps or greater and have at least one 6-pin PCI Express supplementary power connectors"
So it's not 500W, but does have the recommended amount of current available on the 12V line, and I'm sure will be fine due to the quality components inside this PSU.
Just want to add my voice to the chorus of readers thanking AnandTech for listening to us and reviewing more realistic, less "halo-y" power supplies. Keep up the great work!
I'm sure I speak for many people when I say great review and thank you for listening to the AT readers who have requested reviews covering non-1KW+ models.
The CS450M represents a PSU I think most people here would end up buying for PC's they build for family, friends or even businesses.
So glad to see this review! I've bought 2 of these PSU's (for 27 bucks each after rebates), one in a HTPC I built for my parents and one that's sitting in my closet as a spare. I figured this review might not turn out so well for me since I was able to pick them up for so little, but wow am I pleasantly surprised! I hope you guys manage cover a lot more of these mid-range items that are likely to show up in your typical sub-$1000 PC's. I have no interest in 700+ watt PSU's, and I don't even know anyone who uses one. Hope to see more like this!
I would have bought this unit a month ago when it was on sale for $27 if it came with CS550M's cable set. The larger unit has 2x 3-SATA cables and 2x 6+2-pin PCI Express cables.
" Even those of secondary importance are supplied by known manufacturers and are rated for operation at 105°C, a figure that it is next to impossible to be reached inside a 450W unit as efficient as this one. "
This isn't entirely accurate. The ambient temps around the caps especially the ones near the bridge rectifiers can be significantly higher than your average ambient temp of 25C. Sure, they won't really hit 105C ambient but temperature has a significant impact on the performance of electrolytic capacitors.
I know there's already a huge number of comments saying this, but as someone who clamored for sane-wattage PSU reviews, I want to add my voice to the chorus saying "Thank you for listening to the readers and reviewing a <500W PSU!" I will definitely be considering this PSU in future builds - we need a new HTPC in the living room, and this might be a perfect fit!
Seasonic's SSR-450RM is also in the running. It looks like it does have a few more cable options, including the 2x PCIe 8/6 pin power cables, but I'm not sure if it has the efficient rectification or quiet operation demonstrated in this review.
Seasonic - if someone is listening, thinks your product is better than Corsair's, and wants to make a (bunch of) sale(s), send an SSR-450RM to E. Fylladitakis!
I love anandtech but PLEASE can you stop this graph crap. Start it at zero and end at 100, otherwise it makes the results seem different than they are.
0 to 100 Watts? Degrees? Decibels? Efficiency? The graphs are perfectly fine as they are, why would anybody want to scale any single graph to 0 to 100 Units? Even on efficiency, scaling them to the proposed range would just make all graphs in all reviews look the same. Whats the point in that?
When adding "age" to a word it means the rate at which something is attained. For Example "mileage" means the number of miles per gallon that a car attains. The term "watts" is the term for power, which already measures the flow of energy, or joules per second. Proper electrical terminology: power, current, Voltage, Energy, charge, wattage is redundant, please use "power", power already means the rate at which energy is being delivered, watts are the units amperage is redundant, please use "current", current means the rate at which charge is being delivered, amperes (amps) are the units voltage is proper because the correct term is elector-motive-force or emf, and no one understands this.
Great to see more reasonable power supply reviews from you. Now go and pester Super Flower, Seasonic and EVGA for review samples. For example the Seasonic G-360, G-550. Super Flower Leadex or just EVGA's G2 lineup, the 550W G2 would be nice to see.
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Black Obsidian - Wednesday, June 10, 2015 - link
I've used a number of CS450M and CS550M PSUs for budget builds, since they can both regularly be found <$50 (and sometimes <$40, in the case of the reviewed model).I've been relying on the Corsair name and warranty as a proxy for actual PSU quality, and I'm quite happy to hear that the quality I'd been assuming actually exists.
Thanks for prodding manufacturers to provide reasonable-wattage PSUs for review, Fyll!
Computer Bottleneck - Wednesday, June 10, 2015 - link
It actually drops to $26.99 after rebate on a fairly regular basis at Newegg.MapRef41N93W - Thursday, June 11, 2015 - link
You've been relying on the wrong company then as Corsair are known to release lots of dodgy PSU's in the past. Their "I" series PSUs are hot garbage and usually a complete waste of money compared to the standard series. Their RM series beyond 550 watts suffers from horrible ripple voltage issues. Their CX series (one of the most popular PSU lines due to their extremely cheap price) are not something that should ever be paired with a "high end" setup (like a 4790k/GTX 980) and yet we see this all the time.Never trust a single brand of PSUs and always check the OEM of the unit you are buying first. The only real exception to this is Seasonic as they make most of their own PSUs.
Zap - Thursday, June 11, 2015 - link
What is this "horrible ripple" that you speak of? Does it not stay within ATX specifications and manufacturer claims? Or does it just not measure up to "enthusiast" expectations?I did a quick search and found "Why you might not want to buy a Corsair RM PSU" on overclock.net which referenced a TechPowerUp review of the RM1000 as showing the worst performance. The review mentioned a few places where it "failed" such as exceeding ATX specifications for 3.3v ripple at 110% output and OTP triggered at 45°C. Note that both failures exceeds specifications (Corsair rates this PSU to only 40°C).
The only real fail is in hold-up time, which failed to meet ATX specifications. This would be a good reason to not get this particular PSU, especially if power in your area fluctuates more than normal.
These PSUs are a far cry from the true "crap" units. Diablotek anyone? Deer? Apevia?
Flunk - Thursday, June 11, 2015 - link
Diablotek units are just as likely to destroy your entire system as work properly so that's not a very good comparison. The previous poster has a point that Corsair's power supplies have a checkered history with certain series (like the CX) being notoriously poor. Maybe this new CS series is them trying to improve their low end offerings, but because Corsair sources power supplies from many, many companies you have to be careful buying from them. Some of their power supplies are great, some are not so great. It's not like Seasonic where they build all their own power supplies.Zap - Friday, June 12, 2015 - link
My point was that there is a difference between "will destroy your computer" and "horrible ripple but still in spec."PICman - Wednesday, June 10, 2015 - link
Your reviews are excellent, thanks! For the power efficiency tests, was your mains voltage 220V? Maybe it is listed, but I missed it.Wwhat - Wednesday, June 10, 2015 - link
There is a link to 'how do we test', on that link page it says:"We should note that all testing is being performed with a 230V/50Hz input, delivered by a 3000VA VARIAC for the perfect adjustment of the input voltage. "
Incidentally 230V is the EU standard.
ATC9001 - Wednesday, June 10, 2015 - link
I understand that high end (i.e. reliable and consistent) equipment for electronics can be expensive, but PLEASE try to convince anandtech to foot the bill so we can get 120V and 230V!Great review though, thank you!
leexgx - Saturday, June 13, 2015 - link
230v is optimal for PSUs , where as USA it can be as low as 90V or as high as 120V (why HardOCP tests there PSUs at low voltage as well)pvdw - Wednesday, June 10, 2015 - link
Thanks for the good details in the review.One significant point that's missing is a comparison to competing PSUs. Something similar to the CPU or SSD comparisons is really needed to save time narrowing down our choices. Also, perhaps end with something like the SSD reviews where you mention which is still your recommended PSU for home/office and single GPU.
Murloc - Wednesday, June 10, 2015 - link
you can't really compare PSUs like that imho....djw39 - Wednesday, June 10, 2015 - link
Would like to see a comparison vs seasonic g series 450w, or even the 360whans_ober - Wednesday, June 10, 2015 - link
+1YoloPascual - Wednesday, June 10, 2015 - link
Seasonic, unanimous decision.just4U - Wednesday, June 10, 2015 - link
Either that or the Antec/Cooler Master variants made by Seasonic.I have some pretty big problems with Corsair PSUs of late.. their builder series keep failing.. and I haven't heard a lot of good news about the CS---M series which is being priced fairly high here in Canada. (for instance.. this model at $95..)
sparks.nl - Thursday, June 11, 2015 - link
I have The Seasonic G 360W version and the CS450. They are both fine.There is a difference with the G 450W. This version is longer then the CS450W.
For me lenght is a problem (HTPC PSU).
ShieTar - Thursday, June 11, 2015 - link
I'd love to see the comparison to the Superflower Golden Green HX 450W.Similar Specs (but 2 PCIe-cables), and in Europe at least its usually a good 10€ cheaper than the Corsair, Cooler Master and Sea Sonic options. Would be good to understand what you sacrifice for that price difference.
lagittaja - Sunday, June 14, 2015 - link
You sacrifice a lot. Golden Green =/= Golden Green HX.Super Flower went Corsair and the quality we all loved in GG lineup is gone in the GG HX.
BrokenCrayons - Wednesday, June 10, 2015 - link
Thanks for reviewing more a more reasonable PSU! This sort of information is a lot more useful than the 1kw+ supplies that are a niche product with limited appeal. It's a pity that other companies aren't willing to send competing units. Does Anandtech ever purchase components as retail products directly from physical or digital shelves? If so, that opens up quite a lot more than potentially cherry picked units supplied from a vendor directly (not accusing Corsair or any other company of doing that, but without going directly to the shelves, there is a possibility of getting a sample that isn't representative of what an average person might be able to acquire).jann5s - Wednesday, June 10, 2015 - link
+1 on "Thanks for reviewing more a more reasonable PSU!"alin - Wednesday, June 10, 2015 - link
I agree!!! Thank you for this review and others like this.DanNeely - Wednesday, June 10, 2015 - link
"With the exception of the sleeved ATX cable, of the cables are "flat", ribbon-like, with black wires."I've seen this in a number of other PSUs and it's always annoyed me. IMO the main functional advantage of flat cables is that they're easier to bend for routing purposes; but 6/8 wire round cables are still relatively easy to manage. The bloated dinosaur that's the 24pin ATX cable is another story entirely and getting it through tight spaces or sharp bends is a major pain.
meacupla - Thursday, June 11, 2015 - link
I like ribbon cables, but I don't like the 90deg sata connectors found on some of them.The bending and stress on the cables ends up being worse than straight connectors, as the distances between connector vs. the distance between drives is never a perfect match.
romrunning - Wednesday, June 10, 2015 - link
Thanks, E., for your review of a decently-sized PSU for a regular budget build! It's really nice to see a review that I can actually use.I would second the comment that it would be nice if you were able to get a retail unit or two to see if it scores similarly to the review unit you were provided. Perhaps Purch can provide a monthly allowance for the retail purchase of units to ensure review units aren't just cherry-picked for the reviewer.
romrunning - Wednesday, June 10, 2015 - link
Typos - the conclusion erroneously calls this model the "CM450M" a lot.hans_ober - Wednesday, June 10, 2015 - link
Nice review!Would be nice if you could do a roundup of cheap 300-500W PSU's
Antec, EVGA, Seasonic, Corsair + a crappy one (for fun).
A roundup of competing products would be nice
YoloPascual - Wednesday, June 10, 2015 - link
Corsair should sell this at 50-60$, at 80$ it is eaten by the competition.rocktober13 - Wednesday, June 10, 2015 - link
I purchased one earlier this year for a home server for $40 after rebates ($60 with $20 mail in rebate). This model is always on sale with mail in rebates from newegg. I have seen it as low as $35. I was skeptical about the performance, but after the review it looks like great value. Thanks for the very useful review.JesusVanDam - Wednesday, June 10, 2015 - link
The CS450M only provides 1 6+2 pin PCI-E cable? That's really disappointing. I'm running an R9 270 and it requires 2 6 pin cables.kmmatney - Wednesday, June 10, 2015 - link
Just get an adapter to convert a 4-pin Molex to another PCI power connector. From the specs: ""For a system using a single Radeon R9 270 graphics card AMD specifies a minimum of a 500 Watt or greater system power supply. The power supply should also have a maximum combined +12 Volt continuous current rating of 28 Amps or greater and have at least one 6-pin PCI Express supplementary power connectors"So it's not 500W, but does have the recommended amount of current available on the 12V line, and I'm sure will be fine due to the quality components inside this PSU.
der - Wednesday, June 10, 2015 - link
Will this replace the legendary Corsair 430W tho?meacupla - Thursday, June 11, 2015 - link
Why do you think it wouldn't be able to?Or any other decent PSU for that matter?
Ashinjuka - Wednesday, June 10, 2015 - link
Just want to add my voice to the chorus of readers thanking AnandTech for listening to us and reviewing more realistic, less "halo-y" power supplies. Keep up the great work!Samus - Wednesday, June 10, 2015 - link
I'm sure I speak for many people when I say great review and thank you for listening to the AT readers who have requested reviews covering non-1KW+ models.The CS450M represents a PSU I think most people here would end up buying for PC's they build for family, friends or even businesses.
Keep'em coming.
Xanavi - Wednesday, June 10, 2015 - link
Built a Z97/4690K/GTX960 powered by the CX430 v3, it's been great so far!ImSpartacus - Wednesday, June 10, 2015 - link
What an awesome review.It's nice to see Anandtech vet a psu that goes on sale a ton.
I know I would consider this psu for any future gaming builds that used single 6/8 pin gpus.
Keep it up. I'd love to hear more about the awesome psus in the ~500w range that most people shop for.
haukionkannel - Wednesday, June 10, 2015 - link
Well, even to HTPC usage would be ok with this card. Quite nice!nmm - Wednesday, June 10, 2015 - link
So glad to see this review! I've bought 2 of these PSU's (for 27 bucks each after rebates), one in a HTPC I built for my parents and one that's sitting in my closet as a spare. I figured this review might not turn out so well for me since I was able to pick them up for so little, but wow am I pleasantly surprised! I hope you guys manage cover a lot more of these mid-range items that are likely to show up in your typical sub-$1000 PC's. I have no interest in 700+ watt PSU's, and I don't even know anyone who uses one. Hope to see more like this!Peichen - Thursday, June 11, 2015 - link
I would have bought this unit a month ago when it was on sale for $27 if it came with CS550M's cable set. The larger unit has 2x 3-SATA cables and 2x 6+2-pin PCI Express cables.Shadow7037932 - Thursday, June 11, 2015 - link
" Even those of secondary importance are supplied by known manufacturers and are rated for operation at 105°C, a figure that it is next to impossible to be reached inside a 450W unit as efficient as this one. "This isn't entirely accurate. The ambient temps around the caps especially the ones near the bridge rectifiers can be significantly higher than your average ambient temp of 25C. Sure, they won't really hit 105C ambient but temperature has a significant impact on the performance of electrolytic capacitors.
TurboTastic - Thursday, June 11, 2015 - link
I know there's already a huge number of comments saying this, but as someone who clamored for sane-wattage PSU reviews, I want to add my voice to the chorus saying "Thank you for listening to the readers and reviewing a <500W PSU!" I will definitely be considering this PSU in future builds - we need a new HTPC in the living room, and this might be a perfect fit!Seasonic's SSR-450RM is also in the running. It looks like it does have a few more cable options, including the 2x PCIe 8/6 pin power cables, but I'm not sure if it has the efficient rectification or quiet operation demonstrated in this review.
Seasonic - if someone is listening, thinks your product is better than Corsair's, and wants to make a (bunch of) sale(s), send an SSR-450RM to E. Fylladitakis!
Pissedoffyouth - Friday, June 12, 2015 - link
I love anandtech but PLEASE can you stop this graph crap. Start it at zero and end at 100, otherwise it makes the results seem different than they are.I expect more from this site.
ShieTar - Friday, June 12, 2015 - link
0 to 100 Watts? Degrees? Decibels? Efficiency? The graphs are perfectly fine as they are, why would anybody want to scale any single graph to 0 to 100 Units? Even on efficiency, scaling them to the proposed range would just make all graphs in all reviews look the same. Whats the point in that?FredAZ - Saturday, June 13, 2015 - link
When adding "age" to a word it means the rate at which something is attained. For Example "mileage" means the number of miles per gallon that a car attains. The term "watts" is the term for power, which already measures the flow of energy, or joules per second. Proper electrical terminology: power, current, Voltage, Energy, charge,wattage is redundant, please use "power", power already means the rate at which energy is being delivered, watts are the units
amperage is redundant, please use "current", current means the rate at which charge is being delivered, amperes (amps) are the units
voltage is proper because the correct term is elector-motive-force or emf, and no one understands this.
lagittaja - Sunday, June 14, 2015 - link
Great to see more reasonable power supply reviews from you.Now go and pester Super Flower, Seasonic and EVGA for review samples.
For example the Seasonic G-360, G-550. Super Flower Leadex or just EVGA's G2 lineup, the 550W G2 would be nice to see.