Corsair RM650 Power Supply Review: Silent and Efficient

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Tom's Hardware Verdict

The Corsair RM650 is a very good choice in the mid-wattage market, but its slightly-superior sibling costs only a little bit more.

Pros

  • +

    Full power at 47 degrees Celsius

  • +

    High performance

  • +

    Quiet operation

  • +

    Fully modular

  • +

    Supports Modern Standby mode

  • +

    Efficient under light loads

  • +

    Ten-year warranty

Cons

  • -

    Only a few bucks/pounds less expensive than the RM650x

  • -

    No option to deactivate semi-passive operation

  • -

    The top-notch NR135L fan has been replaced by a Hong Hua one

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Specifications and Part Analysis

Aris Mpitziopoulos
Aris Mpitziopoulos
Contributing Editor

Aris Mpitziopoulos is a contributing editor at Tom's Hardware, covering PSUs.

8 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Dark Lord of Tech
    Thanks Aris , greatr review as usual.
    Reply
  • jonnyguru
    Some background:

    The new Intel specification requires better efficiency at 2%-10% load and new timings (T1 and T3 to support modern standby mode). This was not easy/cheap to achieve, so Corsair couldn't just replace the current RMx in the market with a new, more expensive version without tangible differences. So the capacitors and fan was "down graded" (though Hong Hua is a fantastic fan manufacturer) to allow this "new version" of the RM to meet an acceptable price point.

    Fun fact: Removing the caps from the cables saved A LOT of money. As you can see, it didn't have much impact. The caps in the cables in other models are only there to appease reviewers (like Aris) that compare ripple from one model to the next within mV of each other.
    Reply
  • Aris_Mp
    jonnyguru said:
    Some background:

    The new Intel specification requires better efficiency at 2%-10% load and new timings (T1 and T3 to support modern standby mode). This was not easy/cheap to achieve, so Corsair couldn't just replace the current RMx in the market with a new, more expensive version without tangible differences. So the capacitors and fan was "down graded" (though Hong Hua is a fantastic fan manufacturer) to allow this "new version" of the RM to meet an acceptable price point.

    Fun fact: Removing the caps from the cables saved A LOT of money. As you can see, it didn't have much impact. The caps in the cables in other models are only there to appease reviewers (like Aris) that compare ripple from one model to the next within mV of each other.

    Thank you Jon for the explanation on why the price had to drop so little compared to the RMx. Every time there is an ATX change, the production cost goes higher :(

    the in-cable caps provide the wow factor he he.
    Reply
  • refillable
    Aris_Mp said:
    Thank you Jon for the explanation on why the price had to drop so little compared to the RMx.

    Wait, saw this review earlier but I realized that it has Su'scon caps. Su'scon is the "avoid" tier in your own capacitor tier list. Red flag? Makes me think that this series is even more useless than I previously thought especially that the RM650X can be bought for so cheap these days.
    Reply
  • jonnyguru
    refillable said:
    Wait, saw this review earlier but I realized that it has Su'scon caps. Su'scon is the "avoid" tier in your own capacitor tier list. Red flag? Makes me think that this series is even more useless than I previously thought especially that the RM650X can be bought for so cheap these days.

    Aris has yet to visit a capacitor factory.
    Reply
  • refillable
    jonnyguru said:
    Aris has yet to visit a capacitor factory.
    I don't get it, but I pretended I do :LOL:
    Reply
  • jonnyguru
    refillable said:
    I don't get it, but I pretended I do :LOL:

    Since moving from being a reviewer to someone working in the industry, I've learned that 75% of what is said in reviews, including a lot of the stuff I have said in reviews, is total B.S.
    Reply
  • refillable
    jonnyguru said:
    Since moving from being a reviewer to someone working in the industry, I've learned that 75% of what is said in reviews, including a lot of the stuff I have said in reviews, is total B.S.

    Thanks for clearing that up.
    Reply