Having mastered every aspect of the memory market and ventured successfully into the water cooling sector, Corsair has turned their attention towards power supplies. That's good news for buyers, because rest assured that anytime you see the Corsair logo, you can bet it's a high quality product backed by both a fantastic warranty and support system.

Today HardwareLogic looks at Corsair's HX620W Modular Power Supply. Will Corsair continue its slow march toward complete desktop domination? What's next? Processors? Motherboards? Robot servants?

Before we get ahead of ourselves, let's take a close look at Corsair's initial power supply offering.

"From the manufacturer of the "World's Most Awarded Memory" comes the Corsair HX Series Power Supply. With that same legendary focus on the performance and reliability, Corsair has engineered the HX Series to support even the most demanding of systems. The Corsair HX Series incorporates the most advanced technology to deliver reliable, continuous, and efficient power to all critical system components. The HX Series is the ideal power supply for high performance and gaming PCs, Audio/Video workstations, and file servers." - Corsair

Specs

• Supports the latest ATX12V v2.2 and EPS12V 2.91 standards and is backwards compatible with ATX12V 2.01 systems.
• Guaranteed compatibility with dual-GPU configurations.
• Double forward switching circuitry design offers high efficiency, up to 80% under wide load range.
• Active Power Factor Correction with PF value=0.99 provides clean and reliable power to your system
• Universal AC input 90~264V automatically scans and detects the correct voltage. No more hassle of flipping that tiny red switch!
• Ultra quiet 120mm double ball-bearing fan delivers excellent airflow at an exceptionally low noise level by varying the RPM in response to temperature.
• Guaranteed to deliver rated specifications at 50ºC.
• Triple 12V Rails provide independent reliable power to the CPU, video card and other components with a combined rating of 50A (40A on 520W) maximum! Advanced circuitry design that automatically enables power sharing between the triple +12V rails in an event of overload on any single +12V rail.
• Powerful +5Vsb rail with 3A rating.
• Over Current/Voltage/Power Protection, Under Voltage Protection, and Short Circuit Protection provide maximum safety for your critical system components.
• 105ºC rated industrial grade capacitors provide uncompromised performance and reliability, delivering 4 times the lifespan of conventional 85ºC rated capacitors.
• Enhanced modular flexible cables enable easier cable routing and increased airflow in the system.
• Gold Plated connectors provide oxide free ultra low-resistance contact between the power supply and your critical components.
• 8 Serial ATA connectors (4 on 520W).
• Dimension: 5.9"(W) x 3.4"(H) X 5.9"(L) 150mm(W) x 86mm(H) x 150mm(L)
• MTBF: 100,000 Hours
• Safety Approvals: UL, CUL, CE, CB, FCC Class B, TÜV, CCC, C-tick.

The Features

Powerful
The HX Series efficently delivers continuous full rated putput with solid triple + 12V rails for combined maximun output rating of 50A (40A on 520W), and is engineered to exceed the requirements for even the most power hungry of computers.

DC Output:	+3.3V	+5V		+12V1	+12V2	+12V3	-12V	+5Vsb
Max Output Current:	24A	30A		18A	18A	18A	.8A	3A
Regulation	+/-5%	+/-5%		+/-3%	+/-3%	+/-3%	+/-10%	+/-5%
Ripple (mV)0	50	50		120	120	120	120	50
Max Combined Power:	170W		600W				9.6W	15W
	Total Power:	620W

How special is this? First of all, this PSU includes every major feature enthusiasts look for, simply browsing the specs you'll see Corsair covered everything. Maybe the most important aspect of the HX620 is the auto-adjusting for the 12V rails. This technology allows for power sharing between the three rails, with the PSU autmatically sensing overloads on any rail, and adjusting the power from the other two rails to compensate for the overload.

Efficent
Utilizing advanced double-forward switching circuitry design, the HX series provides 80% + high efficiency and Active Power Factor Correction (PFC), ensuring the PSU generates minimal heat during operation and uses less electricity.

Customizable
The enhanced modular cable solution provides flexible cables for superior cable routing. This eliminates cable clusters and optimizes the airflow inside your case.

Unpacking the Corsair HX620W, you're greeted by the PSU itself, a nylon pouch containing the modular cables, the power cable, mounting screws, nylon zip ties, and an instruction manual.

Those looking for a flashy PSU will be disappointed with the simple exterior, but the HX620W's subdued color would actually look nice...if it weren't covered with bright red Corsair labeling. Thankfully, we value performance over looks (or Paul would be in trouble).

20+4 pin Main Power	One
4-pin / 8-pin CPU	One each
4-pin FDD	Two (By way of a "Y" 4-pin molex adapter)
4-pin Molex	Ten (2 x 3 and 2 x 2) Also includes a "Y" 4-pin molex adapter for two fans
SATA	Eight (2 x 3 and 1 x 2)
6-pin PCI-Express	Two

For the power cables, Corsair did a fantastic job of sleeving the wiring, which makes for both an easier wire routing experience as well as a cleaner case with improved airflow. I would have preferred to see these implemented as either modular cables, or a single split 8-pin cable for the 4/8 pin 12V power cables, as both won't be used at the same time.

I was impressed to see that Corsair offered a good variety of cable options with the HX620W. Don't need three SATA connectors? Use the cable with two SATA connectors instead. Corsair took this approach with all of its cables, and not having to stash extra plugs makes cable management a snap. My only gripe when it came to the cabling was a fairly small one. The FDD connectors included were simply a "Y" split adapter with two extremely short cables. This could be a problem on some boards that use that connector for additional power (DFI 975X for example) and a FDD.

The modular cables included with the HX620 are the most unique I've ever seen. Instead of individual wires secured together by zip ties or sleeving, corsair arranged the wires together in one flat plastic sleeve. This concept should prove extremely popular for those working in small cases or whom value clean wiring.

One other issue that I see as slightly problematic is the modular connections themselves, Though I'm a big fan of modular PSUs, I worry that the connectors Corsair chose are a tad on the flimsy side. I could see these broken fairly easily if too much stress is placed on the cables.

Overall, the Corsair HX620W is a nice looking PSU with lots of potential. Let's pull the cover off it and check out the internal layout.

Look familiar? It should, as opening up the Corsair HX620W brought back some memories of the Seasonic M12 PSU we reviewed awhile back. A lot of people comment about products brought to market by one company, while actually being fabricated by another. This isn't a new practice, several companies take this approach. What people should focus on is the fact that the Corsair name on this PSU means that they believe in the product enough to slap their label on it, support it, and back it up with a generous 5 yr warranty.

The HX620W features an extremely clean and well designed layout. While the sharp eye may notice no large heatsinks, the HX620 is cooled by several thin metal sinks which wick heat away from the unit. Coupled with the clean layout and large high quality 120mm fan, the HX620 should have no trouble maintaining its high efficiency rating.

Quiet and Cool
The high quality thermally controlled double ball-bearing ADDA 120mm fan delivers excellent air flow with whisper quiet operation.
The ADDA 120mm fan used to cool the HX620W offers up to 85.2 CFM of air flow at 2200RPM, generating 39.1dBA of noise. During our testing at load with a stock and overclocked system, the Corsair HX620 was relatively quiet when compared to the 120mm fans cooling the systems components.

Overall, the HX620W looks to be yet another outstanding product from Corsair. Obviously a lot of time and effort went into engineering this PSU, and it shows in the details. From a unique and highly useful modular cable setup, to a super clean interior that maximizes cooling, all without sacrificing noise management.

We tested the Corsair HX620W at stock speeds (2.4GHz) as well as the max stable OC we could achieve (3.37GHz). All voltages were recorded using our ExTech Instruments Multimeter, with readings taken at idle as well as load.

CPU	INTEL E6600 Core 2 Duo
Motherboards	ECS PN2 SLI2+
Memory	Corsair XMS TWIN2X2048-8500 (800Mhz @ 5-5-5-15)
Video Card	eVGA 7900 GTX
Hard Drive	Seagate Barracude 7200.10 750GB HDD Seagate SATA II 80GB HDD
Power Supply	Corsair HX620W
Cooling	Thermaltake Big Typhoon 3 x 120mm system fans 1 x 200mm exhaust fan
Operating System	Microsoft Windows XP Professional W/ SP2

A lot has been made lately of benchmarking methodology. Almost every power supply review on the web (ours included) is simple, to say the least. Like everyone else (except for the awesome people at SilentPCReview.com) we focus on a unit's features, its overall power, the 12V rails, cabling and cable length, and when it comes to benchmarking, voltages at idle and load

When testing a power supply, we focus our attention on the +3.3V, +5V, and +12V rails. The ATX specification allows a 5% variance in either direction, but the closer these rails stay to their voltage rating, the better. Equally important, if not more so, is whether or not these rails remain stable or have a tendency to jump around. For example, we'd much rather have a power supply whose +12V rail remains at a constant 11.90V (well within the 5% variance allowed) over one that measures +12V on the nose but fluctuates.

Stock (2.4GHz @ 1.3V)	3.3V	5V	12V
Idle	3.4	5.02	12.21
Load	3.3	5.01	12.18
Max OC (3.37GHz @ 1.5V)
Idle	3.4	5.0	12.17
Stock	3.3	4.97	12.14

As you can see, the Corsair HX620W easily powered our system without any issues. All in all a pretty damned sweet power supply.

Segment	Score	Comments
Feature-set	9/10	Active PFC, 80% efficiency, three 12V rails, modular...too much stuff to really list here
Cables & Connections	18/20	Modular PSUs are fantastic for those who suffer from OCD when wiring their systems Flat cables are great Modular end of cable connectors are a bit flimsy
Power	20/20	620W of total power with over 80% efficiency Three 12V rails with 18A on each
Performance	20/20	Handled our test system without breaking a sweat
Cooling & Noise	10/10	Excellent internal layout Super quiet 120mm cooling fan
Warranty & Support	10/10	A 5yr warranty, combined with Corsair's incredible support, should put this PSU near the top of a short list.
Price / Value	6/10	Pricey for a 620W PSU, but considering the feature set and Corsair name, you get what you pay for.