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Bottom Line

The CX550F is one of the few Corsair PSUs with RGB lighting. Besides that, it achieves good overall performance, which could be even higher if ripple at 12V stayed below 40mV in all cases and load regulation was tighter on all rails. The two-color option, with matching modular cables and the ability to control its RGB lighting through a compatible mainboard, through iCUE, or manually are strong advantages. Since the CX550F uses a modern platform, it isn't very affordable, but don't let its Bronze 80 PLUS rating fool you. It is highly efficient, meeting the Cybenetics Gold criteria borderline.

If you want an RGB PSU with good build quality and high performance and don't want to power a high-end gaming station, the Corsair CX550F will fit the bill. There isn't any strong competition in this category with RGB lighting and the RGB control options this unit offers. On the other hand, suppose you don't care much about RGB lighting and need a mid-level PSU for your system. In that case, other good alternative options are the Corsair CX550M and the XPG Pylon 550. Both offer slightly higher performance than the CX550F and cost less since they use less modern platforms provided by Channel Well Technology.

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Disclaimer: Aris Mpitziopoulos is Tom's Hardware's PSU reviewer. He is also the Chief Testing Engineer of Cybenetics and developed the Cybenetics certification methodologies apart from his role on Tom's Hardware. Neither Tom's Hardware nor its parent company, Future PLC, are financially involved with Cybenetics. Aris does not perform the actual certifications for Cybenetics.