Why you can trust Tom's Hardware Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test.
Performance, Performance Per Dollar And Noise Ratings
This graph shows the PSU's total performance rating as it compares to other units we have tested in the past. The tested unit is shown as 100 percent, and every other unit's performance is shown relative to the tested model. Click on the chart to see a more in-depth comparison.
The overall performance of Corsair’s CS850M comes close to the same company's RM850, which costs $20 dollars more. The next comparable 850W PSU is an EVGA offering priced around $35 dollars more. As you can see, though, it achieves a significantly higher performance score.
The chart above may be the most interesting to many readers because it depicts the unit's performance per dollar score. We looked up the current price of each PSU on popular online shopping sites and used those figures and all relative performance numbers to calculate this index. If the specific unit isn't available in the United States, we found it over in Europe, converting the listed price to USD. Note that all the numbers in the following graph are normalized by the rated power of each PSU. You can click on the chart to see more PSUs in the comparison.
Corsair's CS850M improves in the performance per dollar chart, though a price reduction of at least $10 dollars would help it even more.
Finally, this chart illustrates the cooling fan's average noise over the PSU's entire operating range with an ambient temperature between 28 and 30 °C.
The CS850M is definitely not the quietest PSU available. In general, though, it's subtle enough for a majority of power users. If you are extra sensitive to noise, consider spending a bit more on Corsair's RM850 or something comparable.
