Corsair's recently announced HX750W and HX850W modular power supply units have bagged the elusive 80 Plus Gold efficiency rating, a title enjoyed only by a few high-end enterprise-grade PSUs. To qualify for this rating, a PSU must provide an output efficiency of at least 87% at 20% load, 90% at 50% load, and 87% at 100% load. At these levels of load, the efficiency of HX750W was measured 88.04%, 90.02%, and 87.04% respectively, while those of the HX850W were 89.14%, 90.38%, and 87.06%. These are Corsair's first PSUs to get the 80 Plus Gold rating, above the 80 Plus Silver which were expected of them, when the two were announced.

Following a recent exposé of the modular HX750W, another PSU from Corsair caught us by surprise: the HX850W. This one comes near-identical to the HX750W, in terms of its built, and the cable connectivity on offer, except for that it offers a higher DC output at 850W continuous. Its standard features include compliance with ATX12V v2.3 and EPS12V 2.91 standards, double forward switching circuitry that offers stellar efficiency of up to 90%, 105 °C industrial-grade capacitors, and flat-modular cables. This model also fills that little gap that existed between the HX750W and HX1000W, by offering nearly the same features as its cousin from the TX series (TX850W), with the advantage of modularity. TechConnect Magazine also disclosed its price to be £140 (around US $210) in the UK.