Corsair VS450 Power Supply Review: Affordable and Reliable

Specifications and Part Analysis

For mainstream systems and users on very tight budgets, the Corsair VS450 looks to be a good choice at $40 (£31). It managed to survive all of our tough tests and its overall performance is at decent levels. We would like to see higher efficiency levels, but at this price point you cannot be extra picky. A strong opponent of the VS450 is the EVGA 450 BT which has a higher price tag, but from time to time there are rebates and offerings that bring its price to the same levels as the VS450.

Corsair's entry-level PSU line is called VS and consists of highly affordable models, suitable for mainstream systems with low power requirements. Those units meet the 80 PLUS white standard's requirements and are certified as ETA-S by Cybenetics. For today's standards, those efficiency levels are low, but Corsair wanted to keep the price tags as low as possible and a more efficient platform would increase the production cost.

Despite its budget orientation, the VS450 promises reliable operation with a rated mean time between failures (MTBF) of 100,000 hours. We usually see such high MTBFs in more expensive products. Moreover, the provided warranty is three years long, showing that Corsair has faith in this product. Finally, the temperature for continuous full power delivery is lower than what the ATX spec recommends, at 30°C, but this is normal for a mainstream PSU destined for normal operating conditions. If you need something to cope with higher temperatures, you should invest (much) more.

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There are no modular cables of course, since those ones are the first to go, in order to keep the cost low. The 120mm diameter fan uses a sleeve bearing which is the most popular type of bearing in the entry-level PSU category.

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Specifications

Power Specifications

Cables and Connectors

All cables are fixed and have sufficient length. It is nice to see a couple of PCIe connectors in a super-budget 450W unit, while the number of peripheral connectors is satisfactory. The FDD connector could be replaced though, with a 4-pin Molex one. Finally, the distance between the SATA and 4-pin Molex connectors should be a little longer, at 150mm.

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Component Analysis

We strongly encourage you to have a look at our PSUs 101 article, which provides valuable information about PSUs and their operation, allowing you to better understand the components we're about to discuss.

HEC is the manufacturer of this platform. This OEM is mostly known for its budget-oriented designs and this is why Corsair chose it for the VS line. As expected, a single-sided PCB was used to keep the cost down. The design is outdated, since on the primary side, we see a double forward topology, while on the secondary side a passive rectification scheme is used along with group regulation, where the 12V and 5V rails are generated by the same circuit.

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All capacitors are provided by Teapo, which is considered a reliable manufacturer. The 85 degrees Celsius bulk cap won't have a problem under normal operating temperatures, close to 30 degrees Celsius, and the same goes for the Teapo SC filtering caps on the secondary side. If you expose the PSU to higher than 40°C temperatures for prolonged periods, then most likely it won't be able to outlast the three-year warranty. This is why Corsair set 30 degrees Celsius as the max temperature, for continuous full power output.

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The soldering quality is at good levels, especially if we take into account the restricted cost of this platform. We have seen better soldering jobs, of course, but in much more expensive products.

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