Corsair CX750M PSU Review
Corsair's CX line is aimed at users with limited budgets who still want a branded, reliable, and well-supported PSU. Today we're reviewing the second-strongest member of the family, the CX750M.
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Pros, Cons, And Final Verdict
The CX750M offers decent performance and thanks to its affordable price it is able to achieve a solid value score. Still, it's not as efficient as the CX650M, which also offers tighter voltage regulation. Given that both units come equipped with the same number of EPS and PCIe connectors, we see no reason to pay more for the CX750M over the CX650M. Really, you should only consider the higher-capacity model if you need more SATA and four-pin Molex connectors.
Compared to the competition in this category, we unfortunately don't have a clear recommendation since we haven't evaluated another Bronze-rated 750W PSU for quite some time now. However, the platform Corsair uses appears reliable enough. After all, it's backed by a five-year warranty. The semi-modular design with only two native cables should make installation easier, while the fan's noise under light and moderate loads is kept low.
We think that the CX750M should be equipped with a couple of EPS connectors to establish an advantage over Corsair's own CX650M. The larger number of peripheral connectors isn't enough to make someone spend more on this unit. Moreover, the hold-up time is one of the lowest we've ever measured. The only comfort is that the power-good signal is accurate, dropping before the rails go out of spec. The 3.3V rail needs some tuning to better handle transient loads. We pushed this rail pretty hard during our Advanced Transient Load tests and it didn't pass the last of them. Finally, the minimum fan speed should be lower (around 500 RPM, perhaps), allowing quieter operation under light and moderate loads.
To wrap up, the CX750M is a decent power supply. However, it faces tough competition from a smaller model of the CX-M family that clearly outperforms it. As mentioned, if you don't need the CX750M's extra SATA and peripheral connectors Corsair's CX650M is more efficient, it has tighter load regulation, and it's less expensive. We'd like to see Corsair add a second EPS connector to a subsequent revision of the CX750M, creating a bit of differentiation. At the same time, it could add a larger bulk cap for increased hold-up time. Speaking of bulk caps we should note here that the CX650M sample that we evaluated a while ago proved to belong to a small production batch equipped with larger bulk caps. This means that the majority of CX650M units don't come with a 470uF bulk cap but use instead a 330uF one, which naturally offers a notably reduced hold-up time. Based on this fact we avoided any mention to the CX650M unit's hold-up time in this review since we expect it to be at the same low levels with the CX750M. Once we have in our hands the CX650M sample with the 330uF bulk cap that Corsair has already shipped, we will measure again its hold-up time and update the corresponding entries in our database.
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Aris Mpitziopoulos is a contributing editor at Tom's Hardware, covering PSUs.
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Bit early for a review,but just installed mine to replace my old one that was power surging.Reply
Very easy to install and only use the extra cables you need.
Piece of mind knowing the 3 year warranty that comes with it. -
turkey3_scratch Funny how it doesn't have OTP, when as a matter of fact, OTP was the very thing that saved the original CX750M's butt in Jonnyguru's testing; but the majority of people, rather than realizing that was a good safety measure, took it instead as "the CX750M can't do more than 650W" when in fact it was just Oklahomawolf's hot box. So maybe to avoid another mishap like this altogether they just removed OTP and cheered over the money savings at the same time?Reply
I don't care for this PSU too much anyway. It seems to be a power supply that likes to focus on good ripple (as every modern PSU does these days) and decent voltage regulation but falls short in nearly every other aspect. I don't see it being much of any improvement over the original CX750M, the whole purpose of was probably just to cut costs. I'd happily take 60mv of ripple on my 12V rail in turn for some better holdup time, a higher quality fan and perhaps caps (if those Suscons aren't the best), and OTP. -
jonnyguru It does have OTP. There's something wrong with Aris's unit and I'm going to investigate it.Reply -
JackNaylorPE I keep reading posts referencing the new CXM series, but the conclusions section which most readers skip to seem to follow Mom's advice ... "if ya don't have anything good to say, don't say anything" ... anything negative is left out. If the CX750M is going to be competitive, it has to address the elephant in the room that is the EVGA 750 B2 that sells for $50.Reply -
RCFProd 18929743 said:I keep reading posts referencing the new CXM series
Aren't those usually either the 450w, 550w and 650 watts? Those are different units compared to the 750 watts I think.
18929743 said:If the CX750M is going to be competitive, it has to address the elephant in the room that is the EVGA 750 B2 that sells for $50.
Plenty of better options for power supplies around CX750M's price range, must be said. Isn't the EVGA B2 750w 65 dollars? -
turkey3_scratch Ya B2 is well priced http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817438028&cm_re=evga_750_b2%5c-_-17-438-028-_-ProductReply -
JackNaylorPE The CX450M, CX550M and CX650M were redesigned last year and manufactured by CWT using a custom Corsair design, while the CX750M (and I think the 850 model) was based upon CWTs PUQ B patform. This latest revision seems to be even newer .. and even beyond that, it appears to have changed yet again after the review samples went out as noted in the article the newer 650M's use a "470uF bulk cap but use instead a 330uF one".Reply
Note that the CXM series is reported as the lowest quality Corsair PSU available in the US.... yet several VS models remain available thru US e-tailers. One thing I have always observed, specifically with regard to PSUs and coolers is that forum posters, even when referencing an article that says the reviewed item was a "good budget model" or "good for the money, tend to drop the words "budget" and "for the money" when recommending it. So while it may be a logical choice for a G3258 or GTX 1050 build w/ no overclocking, I don't quite understand why a Hyper 212 or a CX series PSU gets recommended for a 6700k / 1070 build especially where OP states an interest in overclocking the bejeezes out of everything.
Here's the only reviews I have seen besides this one:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/corsair-cx650m-psu,4770.html
http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story&reid=486
18929767 said:
Aren't those usually either the 450w, 550w and 650 watts? Those are different units compared to the 750 watts I think.
Plenty of better options for power supplies around CX750M's price range, must be said. Isn't the EVGA B2 750w 65 dollars?
NCIX almost always has it for $50 in conjunction w/ Corsair MIR and instant savings... sometimes others like newegg
NCIX = $45 (Savings Code 97531-1714. SAVE $25.00 off our regular price of $89.99 Special price ends 11/30/2016 + Save $20.00 USD with manufacturer's mail-in rebate!)
http://www.ncixus.com/products/?usaffiliateid=1000031504&sku=97531&promoid=1714
newegg = $89.99 - $20 instant savings - $20.00 rebate card = $49.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817438028 -
powernod If i was short on budget i wouldn't hesitate to use Corsair's CX-M line of PSUs.Reply
Solid units for that kind of price.
I don't expect to have Seasonic PRIME 750's performance with 80$ !! -
turkey3_scratch 18930459 said:If i was short on budget i wouldn't hesitate to use Corsair's CX-M line of PSUs.
Solid units for that kind of price.
I don't expect to have Seasonic PRIME 750's performance with 80$ !!
If I needed 750W and it was between the EVGA 750 B2 and the CX750M, I'd probably take the former.