Corsair CX450 PSU Review: Two Flavors, Tested and Compared

Cross-Load Tests & Infrared Images

Our cross-load tests are described in detail here.

To generate the following charts, we set our loaders to auto mode through our custom-made software before trying more than 25,000 possible load combinations with the +12V, 5V and 3.3V rails. The load regulation deviations in each of the charts below were calculated by taking the nominal values of the rails (12V, 5V and 3.3V) as point zero. The ambient temperature was between at 30°C (86°F) and 32°C (89.6°F).

Load Regulation Charts (CX450 - Great Wall)

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Efficiency Chart (CX450 - Great Wall)

Efficiency Chart (CX450 - CWT)

Ripple Charts (CX450 - Great Wall)

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Infrared Images

We applied half-load for 10 minutes with the PSU's top cover and cooling fan removed before taking photos with our modified FLIR E4 camera, which delivers 320 x 240 IR resolution (76,800 pixels).

CX450 - Great Wall

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The Great Wall unit's minor rails heated up more than CWT's implementation. That's probably why it's armed with a more aggressive fan profile.

CX450 - Channel Well Technology

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We measured normal temperatures inside of the CWT-manufactured CX450, given the operating conditions.

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