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- Date:
- Friday , December 19, 2008
- Author:
- Paul Johnson
- Editor:
- Kyle Bennett
- Google +1
Corsair TX850W Power Supply
Corsair reaches out to grab the part of the power supply market that could easily be thought of as the enthusiast "sweet spot." 600 watts too little...1000 watts too much....ah, 850 watts, just right. Can Goldilocks stand up to [H] PSU testing?
Build Quality
The Corsair TX850W features a single 140mm fan design. 140mm fans are in the same vein as 120mm fans in that they can provide for quiet cooling environments due to the ability to move a larger volume of air at slower speeds than a smaller diameter fan. The 140mm fan is the almost the largest diameter fan we are likely to see in ATX power supplies given the physical constraints of the form factor. While great for quiet computing environments, the key criteria in our evaluation is whether or not the cooling solution is sufficient; not necessarily its sound level or form factor.
External Build Quality
Externally the Corsair TX850W is almost identical to every other Corsair unit we have reviewed to date. The top of the unit is dominated by the large 140mm fan, and the rear is mostly clear as the unit is well perforated to allow air to vent. The finish is the same textured black that we have come to know and love as it is smart looking while being heavy duty and resistant to scratching. The unit features a fixed cable design, like the TX750W, with all the cables being well sleeved except for the stereotypical CWT unfinished housing end look. Will someone please fix this already?
(Editor’s Note: I have to somewhat disagree with Paul on this point that he is often critical of. While the sheathing not terminating inside the PSU housing may look “unfinished” to him, it is certainly not left hanging loose but rather nicely shrink-wrapped at the ends. Other than aesthetics, I think this allows much easier cable routing since you do not have all the added resistance of sheathing at the PSU housing. I think this is a good function over form decision on design.)
The TX850W comes in at a length of 6 1/4 inches while the cables provide a serviceable length of ~18 inches to the first (or only) connector and are sheathed in black mesh. However as stated above, the sheathing is not run completely into the housing as usual from CWT PSH builds.
Internal Build Quality
Once we open the Corsair TX850W we find ourselves looking at yet another CWT PSH power supply that someone has taken care not leave part numbers on the components used in this unit. Interestingly though, the last time we saw a PSH-850 was in the guise of the Xigmatek NRP-MC851. This particular PSH-850 however is supposed to have corrected the issues we saw with that unit due to Corsair’s requested improvements to the unit’s design. The TX850W uses a Yate Loon fan rated at 0.70A at 12v to cool this particular incarnation of the PSH-850. When we flip over the main PCB we find that the soldering is generally well done; it could use some improvements but it doesn't look like some other units we have seen. We also see screened here that the 850w is the highest output PSH unit built on this PCB and that this PCB has the additional 82+ added to the model number along with the "for Corsair" screening.
As we move over to the primary side we see the typical CWT PSH primary design once more. The APFC circuitry is housed on the card next to the primary capacitor while the APFC coil is situated behind the primary filtering capacitor. In this particular build the primary filtering capacitor is a Nippon Chemi-con rated at 450v 470uF 105c. This is part of the Japanese capacitor selection that Corsair advertised previously and is a common choice among Corsair units.
On the secondary side we see an add-in PCB that houses the fan controller, OCP, OVP, and other protection circuitry taking up much of the frame as is typical. Along with this we see that the wiring is all bound with zip ties and the wiring exits the housing through a wire guard but as previously stated the sleeving does not extend into the housing. Lastly, the unit is outfitted with Nippon Chemi-con capacitors throughout the secondary with one interesting twist. We see that the 12v output has a lone solid polymer capacitor worked into its design in place of a standard electrolytic. While solid capacitors are generally a better choice for various reasons (including heat) let’s hope that during the rework required to use this design Corsair also had the filtering on the 12v cleaned up a bit as well.
Build Quality Summary
The Corsair TX850W is yet another example of a well built CWT PSH. However, this particular unit has a couple of surprises under the hood. The exterior of this unit is all Corsair and fits with all their previous designs and even clones the color of the HX520W. Once we move to the interior we see all the usual fit and finish of a well constructed CWT PSH. The TX850W is advertised as having all Japanese capacitors and that is true as all the capacitors are provided by Nippon Chemi-con, with one on the secondary even being a solid polymer capacitor. The other change we see here from other PSH units is a new PCB that has some different part numbers and is silk screened with Corsair's name, on the bottom. Overall, the unit looks well built and is supposed to be improved over the bone stock PSH-850 so let's go kick the sails, shall we?