Corsair CX-M Series 650 W

[crmaris]

The Corsair CX-M Series 650 W is one best available budget PSUs. It performed very well in our tests and runs reasonably quiet. Given the affordable positioning it shouldn't be an issue that it lacks the 12+4 pin PCIe connector for future GPUs, most budget PSUs won't meet the strict ATX 3.0 requirements anyway.

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[Shrek]

Thumbs down: Vampire power slightly above 0.1 W with 230 V

That would cost about 10c a year in electricity; I'd say that merits a thumbs up

 

[ZoneDymo]

pfff what do you think you are going to power with that? maybe a rtx4050 with an 13100F?

 

[crmaris]

Imagine thousands of PSUs with above 0.1W. That is double the amount of normal PSUs, which are around 0.05W. It doesn't only has to do with the cost of electricity, but about a greener environment, too. The lower the vampire power, the better, and I set a line at 0,1W. I don't want to see anything going above that. Most recent PSUs don't.

 

[Assimilator]

Two EPS cables and connectors, but only two PCIe connectors? What a bizarre choice; far more likely that people will run a GPU requiring triple 8-pin power connectors on this PSU, than they will run a system that actually needs dual EPS connectors plugged in.

Interestingly enough the product page states "Multi-GPU ready: NO" which I'd assume means this unit doesn't perform well with transient loads... except that's contradicted by this very review. Most strange! Is Corsair simply looking to end the pain of us tech enthusiasts tired of seeing "do I need to plug in both EPS connectors on my low-end motherboard that has two EPS connectors anyway because fuck logic" posts?

 

[dirtyferret]

Honda: Here's the new 2023 Civic
Idiots: Does it come with leather heated seats and noise cancelling insulation?
Honda: It's a 20k car
Idiots: Does it have third row seating?
Honda: It's a compact sedan
Idiots: Can I tow my 20ft boat with it?
Honda: You think a 20k sedan comes with a V8 engine?...No, it's a V4
Idiots: Does it come standard with steel rims, sun roof, and eight cup holders?
Honda: If you want all that why don't you buy one of our SUVs, trucks or Acura sedans?
Idiots: Nah, we only have 20k to spend and were looking for a compact sedan.

 

[Garrus]

pfff what do you think you are going to power with that? maybe a rtx4050 with an 13100F?

Ryzen 5600 and RTX 3090 at stock would be no problem. Don't be silly. A Reasonable CPU opens a lot of stress headroom for a GPU.

 

[mechtech]

Would I be correct in assuming the inrush current would be half if the input voltage was 120VAC??

 

[Assimilator]

Honda: Here's the new 2023 Civic
Idiots: Does it come with leather heated seats and noise cancelling insulation?
Honda: It's a 20k car
Idiots: Does it have third row seating?
Honda: It's a compact sedan
Idiots: Can I tow my 20ft boat with it?
Honda: You think a 20k sedan comes with a V8 engine?...No, it's a V4
Idiots: Does it come standard with steel rims, sun roof, and eight cup holders?
Honda: If you want all that why don't you buy one of our SUVs, trucks or Acura sedans?
Idiots: Nah, we only have 20k to spend and were looking for a compact sedan.

A PSU isn't a car, and crmaris is welcome to hold PSUs to whatever standards he sees fit. The fact that his standards are so high is why he is so trusted in the industry, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Is there anywhere the part number, maybe I missed it?
Is it CP-9020221-XX or a newer model?
Always helpful to have the part number as a reference, especially when we talking about Corsair I think!

Yup, CP-9020221-XX - it's right there on the image of the side label on page 2. I just call it the "CX650M 2021 model" though, as do most retailers.

 

[dirtyferret]

A PSU isn't a car, and crmaris is welcome to hold PSUs to whatever standards he sees fit. The fact that his standards are so high is why he is so trusted in the industry, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

My post had nothing to do with crmaris or the review, I have no issue with either.

 

[truehighroller1]

This a separate GPU PSU for the new 4090's coming out? No wait, that wouldn't be enough power would it???

 

[ModEl4]

Yup, CP-9020221-XX - it's right there on the image of the side label on page 2. I just call it the "CX650M 2021 model" though, as do most retailers.

Yeah, I saw it also seconds after I posted that's why I deleted the post.
The previous model was 2015 if I'm not mistaken? I wonder now with the new ATX spec in how many years Corsair will refresh it?

 

[mechtech]

Yeah, I saw it also seconds after I posted that's why I deleted the post.
The previous model was 2015 if I'm not mistaken? I wonder now with the new ATX spec in how many years Corsair will refresh it?

indeed
"The ATX12V 2.4 specifications were published in April 2013. It is specified in Revision 1.31 of the 'Design Guide for Desktop Platform Form Factors', which names this as ATX12V version 2.4"

Just starting to see some v2.52 spec ones starting to come out now and "The specifications for ATXV12 2.52 were released in June 2018"

Seems common in the PC world, whether it's DP specs or anything else, it's year before it's implemented.....

 

[docnorth]

Honda: You think a 20k sedan comes with a V8 engine?...No, it's a V4

Absolutely out of topic. I’d love to hear the VFR 1237cc (or bigger) engine screaming on a compact sedan or hatchback, but I think the Civic still comes with 4 in a row.. Just joking.

 

[Mussels]

Thumbs down: Vampire power slightly above 0.1 W with 230 V

That would cost about 10c a year in electricity; I'd say that merits a thumbs up

I thought the same thing - but if other units do it better in the same price range, it's a negative

 

[Space Lynx]

@crmaris Since you are the PSU reviever for TPU, can you please confirm for me that it is safe to use a UPS with my PS5 and OLED tv, to protect it from blackout outages and give me 5-10 minutes to safely turn it off until the power is restored?

The one I own is the CyberPower 1500 True Sine Wave

Will you be reviewing UPS in the future, or is that a different ball game than PSU's?

 

[Mussels]

@crmaris Since you are the PSU reviever for TPU, can you please confirm for me that it is safe to use a UPS with my PS5 and OLED tv, to protect it from blackout outages and give me 5-10 minutes to safely turn it off until the power is restored?

The one I own is the CyberPower 1500 True Sine Wave

Will you be reviewing UPS in the future, or is that a different ball game than PSU's?

Why would you think it would be unsafe? It's literally their purpose in life.
As to how long a UPS lasts at any given time, that's down to the load and the UPS itself.

 

[Space Lynx]

Why would you think it would be unsafe? It's literally their purpose in life.
As to how long a UPS lasts at any given time, that's down to the load and the UPS itself.

someone in another thread said that certain power supplies react differently to True Sine Wave and Simulated Sine Wave

 

[Shrek]

Some guy did some testing, but I really don't want to get into an argument again (this is not aimed at you)

 

[Mussels]

someone in another thread said that certain power supplies react differently to True Sine Wave and Simulated Sine Wave

That sort of thing isn't an issue these days
modern PSU's handle it better, and modern UPS output better

When they werent compatible, it basically lost some power to efficiency and you needed a higher output unit to compensate.

I went for the highest capacity cheap unit i could afford (price difference was small to go up in capacity) and i get anywhere from 3 minutes to 55 minutes, according to my UPS
(That surge to 684W is unexpected, as my CPU and GPU used <400W combined - I may have done something dumb and plugged something like my speakers into the UPS by accident)

(4K 140FPS gaming, vs web browser on desktop)
You can also set it so that when on battery windows power plan changes, for example locking your CPU to 50% on the power saver plan with short timers for screen power off and HDD power down - that'll instantly extend the runtime.

 

[matangk]

A question - There's a comparison here to Corsair CV650 performance - wise, but I can't find this unit's review..?
Interesting B/C the CV650 is another extremely popular unit with Active-Froward topology in this price segment.
Thanks!

 

[Kapone33]

If you have a 5900X with a 6500XT, with 5 ARGB fans and 2 NVME 3.0 drives./ According to HWinfo it consumes about 212-250 Watts. If you upgrade to a 6650XT the system may consume a another 50 watts. In truth only the flagship cards need high wattage PSUs. It is crazy that I needed a PSU for testing and I was able to get the 550 Watt version of this for $50 Canadian or $36 US it is white too. With white PSU cables.

 

[dirtyferret]

A question - There's a comparison here to Corsair CV650 performance - wise, but I can't find this unit's review..?
Interesting B/C the CV650 is another extremely popular unit with Active-Froward topology in this price segment.
Thanks!

Aris probably pulled the info from his Cybenetics test on the CV650 for comparison purposes

 

[Mussels]

If you have a 5900X with a 6500XT, with 5 ARGB fans and 2 NVME 3.0 drives./ According to HWinfo it consumes about 212-250 Watts. If you upgrade to a 6650XT the system may consume a another 50 watts. In truth only the flagship cards need high wattage PSUs. It is crazy that I needed a PSU for testing and I was able to get the 550 Watt version of this for $50 Canadian or $36 US it is white too. With white PSU cables.

high end GPU's only have issues due to very brief (<20ms) power spikes.

The 4090's show this well, where reviewers not paying attention claim they're more power efficient than the 3090Ti, missing the fact these spikes are even higher


Gaming power consumption:

Vs spikes:

346W -> 499W?

3090 was 355W to 464W, which while a large gap is nothing like the 4090 or 6900XT
Or the 6900XT and its 302W -> 619W madness

That is why you can't run these modern high-end GPU's on weaker PSU's - they simply need big enough primary capacitors to handle a brief surge of power, and all your wiring too.