Corsair TX850w ATX PSU
Introduction
Corsair have certainly made quite a name for themselves in the PSUÂ market over the past few years, with models such as the HX520 and HX620 being immensely popular among enthusiasts for their sturdy power output, sexy modular design and affordable pricing. This reputation was further reinforced with the release of the HX1000 that took all of these features, added some heavily over-specced internal components and conservatively-labeled the power output as 1000W on a unit that could easily push out so much more.
However, today we’re going to be taking a look at one of the PSU’s from Corsair’s newer TX family. Aimed at the budget-conscious enthusiast, the TX is essentially the HX’s hard-wired brother and is available in many of the wattage output ranges that the HX series negated to fill. Here’s what Corsair have to say:
The Corsair TX power supplies are engineered using advanced technology and components typically found with high performance power supplies. With design features such as a dedicated, single +12V rail offer the maximum compatibility with the latest system components. Energy efficient circuitry capable of delivering greater than 80% efficiency ratings across 20%, 50%, and 100% load conditions make the TX family of PSUs ideal for the value/quality conscious enthusiast. With a large 140mm (120mm on TX650W) diameter temperature-controlled fan that is ultra quiet, yet still more than sufficient to cool the internals of the system, reliability and stability are no longer worries for the gamer, overclocker or enthusiast and high-end system builder.
Corsair TX Series Features
* Supports ATX12V v2.2 standard and older ATX12V 2.01 spec
* Ultra-quiet 120mm (140mm on TX750W) double ball-bearing fan delivers excellent airflow
* 80%+ energy efficiency at 20%, 50% and 100% load condition for less heat generation and lower energy bill
* 99% Active Power Factor Correction provides clean and reliable power to your system
* Universal AC input 90~264V automatically scans and detects the correct voltage
* Dedicated single +12V rail offers maximum compatibility with latest components
* Over Current/Voltage/Power Protection, Under Voltage Protection, and Short Circuit Protection provide maximum safety to your critical system components.
* High quality Japanese capacitors provide uncompromised performance and reliability.
* Extra long cables support full tower size chassis.
* TX850W Dimension: 5.9″(W) x 3.4″(H) X 6.3″(L);â€
* TX750W Dimension: 5.9″(W) x 3.4″(H) X 6.3″(L);
* TX650W Dimension: 5.9″(W) x 3.4″(H) X 5.9″(L);
* MTBF: 100,000 Hours
* NVIDIA SLIâ„¢-ready certified.
At first glance, the TX850 doesn’t really look anything overly special, with features such as 80%+ Efficiency, 0.99 Power Factor Correction and an ‘ultra-quiet’ fan all being things that we’ve come to expect from any modern PSU. But fear not enthusiasts, the mention of Japanese capacitors and a single +12v rail turns everything around. Obviously, we’ll get a chance to take a look inside the unit over the next few pages to see if Corsair have performed any money-saving exercises anywhere else, but for the moment let’s take a look at the rail output chart:
| AC INPUT | 1000-240V ~ 12A 50/60Hz | ||||||
| DC OUTPUT | +5V | +3.3V | +12V | -12V | +5Vsb | ||
| MAX LOAD | 30A | 30A | 70A | 0.8A | 3A | ||
| MAX COMBINED WATTAGE | 180W | 840W | 9.6W | 15W | |||
| Â | TOTAL POWER: 850W | ||||||
Starting off with the single +12v rail, we can see that its 70A (840w) output equates to almost 99% of the unit’s total power. This will obviously decrease as load is applied to the +3.3v and +5.0v rails and based on a 10A load on each of these rails, you can expect the +12v output to drop to around 760w. Of course, if the history of Corsair’s previous units is anything to go by, there is a chance that the TX850 is capable of delivering a bit more than what is printed on the label, so it will certainly be interesting to see how it performs in the testing over on the next few pages.
