Review

Corsair RM650x Power Supply Review

After announcing the new RMi series of PSUs, a variant of its popular RM Series of power supply unit, Corsair recently released another RM series of PSUs with 80 PLUS Gold efficiency, but this time a budget variant of the RMi Series. The RMx Series of power supply unit and we have the opportunity of reviewing the Corsair RM650x PSU. Based on same RMi platform , the RMx series offer fully-modular cable management along with silent operation and full Japanese capacitors offering long life with good performance, and importantly backed with a 7 year warranty too.

Now let's see what this Corsair RM650X PSU has for us.

Features

Premium components for great performance with very low noise
Corsair RMx series power supplies give you extremely tight voltage control, quiet operation, Gold-certified efficiency, and a fully modular cable set. Built with all Japanese 105°C capacitors, they're a great choice for high performance PCs where reliability is essential. 80 PLUS Gold efficiency reduces operating cost and excess heat, and Zero RPM fan mode ensures virtual silence at low and medium loads. And, the fully modular DC cables make builds and upgrades easy, with clean, great-looking results.

Zero RPM Fan Mode
The superior energy efficiency of the RMx Series allows for the fan to remain off at low to medium loads for virtually silent operation. And when you're pushing it hard, the thermally controlled fan adjusts its speed to provide optimal cooling with minimal noise.

Seven year warranty
Your guarantee of reliable operation that will last across several system builds.

Fully modular cable set
Installation is faster, since you can mount the power supply in the case first, and then attach only the cables you need.

• 80 PLUS® Gold efficiency, delivering 90% energy efficiency at real world load conditions.
• ZeroRPM mode for fanless operation at low loads and outstanding noise reduction.
• 135mm thermally controlled fluid dynamic bearing fan spins up as needed.
• Fully modular cables for easy installation, less clutter, and helps maximize airflow through your computer's chassis.
• Engineered to meet maximum power output at a server-grade 50°C temperature rating.
• Over-voltage protection, under-voltage protection, short circuit protection, over power protection, and over temperature protection provide maximum safety to your critical system components.
• Safety and Agency Approvals: FCC, ICES, CE, UL / CUL, CSA, C-Tick/RCM, TUV, CB, CU, KC Mark, RoHS, WEEE, RoHS (China), REACH

Specifications

Package

Corsair RM650x comes in a securely packaged yellow / Black coloured box with PSU graphics, Model name and features highlights on front and the back of the box.

Inside the box

Outer box contains a cardboard box includes RM650X within velvet drawstring bag, Module cables within a pouch, Power cable, cable-ties and User manual

Looks

Comparing with earlier RMi Series Corsair has made little changes with RMx series. The body shell remained largely the same but the Corsair Link / Digital part is missing.

Inside

Corsair RM650x power supply board is a CWT design and the build quality is actually very high and uses all Japanese capacitors in the primary and secondary stage.

Corsair are uses their NR135L fan (135 mm, 12 V, 0.22 A) inside this power supply. According to Corsair, the fan blades are properly balanced to help reduce resonance at higher speeds. To reduce the cost Corsair used the rifle bearing type fan in their RMx series where as RMi series have a fluid dynamic bearing fan.

A closer look at components used in Corsair RM650x power supply.

Testing

Test system configuration -

Custom made DC Active dummy load PSU tester.

Load Test

To test the PSU on my Active load test, I have manually increased the load in Amps on 12v first rail, 12v second rail, 5v and 3.3v rail to simulate 100%, 80% 50% and 20% load. Since this PSU is having only single 12v rail, so divided the load in half on both 12v loads on my tester.

5V stand-by and -12V supply was left at a constant 0.5amp load throughout the test run.

Maximum theoretical load handling capacity of my tester is somewhat around 1500W, but due to MOSFETs safe operating area (SOA) characteristics and thermal load handling capacity of the heatsinks, this tester can handle Max 1300W.. For safety reasons I have also installed a thermal controller which turn OFF the attached PSU if temperature exceeds SOA specifications.

During test the tester turned OFF the PSU after approx 12 sec at 100% load.

Pros

• ALL Japanese capacitors
• Fully Modular
• Zero fan movement at moderate loads
• High build quality
• 7 years warranty
• Low price

Cons

• Rifle bearing type fan

Conclusion

Corsair RM650x PSU in our test showed good voltage stability and 80 PLUS Gold efficiency. PSU fan was idle at low and moderate load, and was silent under full load too. The protection circuit OCP worked perfect and PSU turned itself off when tried to pull over 700 watts.

Finally at a price tag of Rs.8200 approx. Corsair New RM650x PSU is low price and one of the best performance power supply unit under 650 watts category. During our test the Corsair RM650x stood strong when powering AMD HD7990 GFX at max gaming performance. So with full- modular cables, all Japanese capacitors and a 7 year warranty the Corsair RM650x is a great option for single GPU gaming builds.

Manufacturers Info

Thanks.

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