jonnyGURU:

There are no "design problems" with Corsair PSUs. Maybe you should school yourself on how power supplies are engineered before making such claims.

There are plenty of design flaws with corsair psu's, especially at the cheap ass end where your bosses are banking on buyer ignorance to buy $15 manufacturing cost units for $50 Units that go out of ATX tolerances within a few months of operations, The only thing Corsair hasn't done wrong is it hasn't put spindoctors out into forums claiming their $150 units that failed after 6 months were meant to be used in light-usage configurations *cough*antec*cough*

I do not have bad experiences with Corsair PSU's. Have owned two. Not heard bad things about those from people I know. Corsair PSU design flaws. Please post examples, I'm not familiar with this subject. $15 manufacturing cost unit for $50 sounds about right. R&D, testing, marketing and other expenses... Recalls do happen, not that long ago SeaSonic had to recall their products.

Most PSU manufacturers have budget units that are far from the quality of their top tier units. But one would think should at least be better than the generics out there. And yeah pls links as to "Units that go out of ATX tolerances within a few months of operations". Out of the +/- 5% acceptable tolerances or more?

alanm:

Most PSU manufacturers have budget units that are far from the quality of their top tier units. But one would think should at least be better than the generics out there. And yeah pls links as to "Units that go out of ATX tolerances within a few months of operations". Out of the +/- 5% acceptable tolerances or more?

every VS unit is below 11.5v before 6 months are out, at 80% load from brand new they are already 11.7, and keep in mind that people are often ill informed enough to put a 450w psu into a system pulling 400w at load. It's the norm to see a vs550w going to 11.3v during a firestrike run with a 2070S The ATX spec is already out of date and needs to ratify 12v to 3% tolerances as even when that firestrike might have passed, the next dx12 or vulkan game run on the system crashes out due to unstable power flow. I'm sick of it, the VS series should be discontinued and disposed of in a fire chamber, the CX units are equivalent price and far better performing.

Tat3:

You dont know who this JonnyGURU is?

I do know who he is. He was once one of the best sources for in-depth PSU reviews. Now he works for Corsair. It's no wonder he's biased to the point that he's acting like a stereotypical fanboy. His kind of behavior here is quite frankly, unprofessional. You start acting like that and I'm going to treat you like the person you behave as: an uninformed zealot.

schmidtbag:

I do know who he is. He was once one of the best sources for in-depth PSU reviews. Now he works for Corsair. It's no wonder he's biased to the point that he's acting like a stereotypical fanboy. His kind of behavior here is quite frankly, unprofessional. You start acting like that and I'm going to treat you like the person you behave as: an uninformed zealot.

Only Corsair product I have in use is a HS70 headset which I got from work as we were told to start working from home. I'm not a Corsair fan, but I think they are a respectable company with good products. Cheap Corsair and voltages dropping (and what kind of load?), how does this compare to other PSU's with similar price? Just curious.

Tat3:

Only Corsair product I have in use is a HS70 headset which I got from work as we were told to start working from home. I'm not a Corsair fan, but I think they are a respectable company with good products.

As you'll see from my original post, you'll find that I have no problem with Corsair's other products. I'm well aware they do make good products (including PSUs), but my issue comes down to the fact their PSUs are a mixed bag of good and bad, and you have no way of knowing which is what because it isn't correlated with price or specs. Most brands are consistent in their quality; you see a brand name and have a general idea of what you get regardless of price. That being said, there are brands out there with a significantly worse track record than Corsair, but the difference is those other brands are consistently low quality. Predictability is crucial when it comes to PSUs, and in my opinion, I'd rather buy a crappy PSU knowing it won't last long or keep up with its advertised specs, than to buy an ostensibly good one and hope that it is what it says. So - because Corsair isn't synonymous with cheap and low quality, that means people who shop them are seeking something good. Maybe not great, but something solid and reliable. Most of the time, that is what you'll get - I acknowledge that most of their PSUs are built well with intelligent designs by engineers who know what they're doing. But not all of them.

Cheap Corsair and voltages dropping (and what kind of load?), how does this compare to other PSU's with similar price? Just curious.

Not sure; haven't checked. That isn't why I avoid their units though. The problems I've encountered with their units had more to do with brand new systems with plenty sufficient wattage that would just simply fail to turn on, when other units worked fine.

schmidtbag:

Why, because you don't like my opinion? Your said yourself "Corsair is generally good, but not always". The fact you mentioned "playing Corsair Russian roulette" is entirely the reason I don't recommend them. Yes, sometimes you'll get a great product. Sometimes. That's not something I can recommend. It's not easy to determine which Corsair products will repeatedly fail RMA after RMA and which ones will last you for 10 years. You should recant that statement, it's hypocritical.

My comment was just meant to say that people should research what they buy first. If you don't do this, you're not doing it right. Brand names alone don't always tell the full story. They are so many PC component companies that rebrand OEM gear. You're entitled to an opinion, but blanket statements aren't something I tend to get behind. Sorry if I upset you. That was not my intention. Just wanted to say that PSU buyers shouldn't discount Corsair entirely as you have. They still make good ones, but know what you're getting with a little google action.

NCC1701D:

My comment was just meant to say that people should research what they buy first. If you don't do this, you're not doing it right. Brand names alone don't always tell the full story. They are so many PC component companies that rebrand OEM gear. You're entitled to an opinion, but blanket statements aren't something I tend to get behind. Sorry if I upset you. That was not my intention. Just wanted to say that PSU buyers shouldn't discount Corsair entirely as you have. They still make good ones, but know what you're getting with a little google action.

I completely agree you should do your research, regardless of what brand it is, because like you said, brand names alone don't tell the whole story, and no one company is flawless. But I didn't accuse all of Corsair of making questionable products and I acknowledge they have many good PSUs. The fact they do have good ones and do make good products is the premise behind me being wary. Not everyone has the time to investigate where a part was manufactured, how it handles under full load, or how well it holds up over time. Brand image as a whole matters, and is often what allows people to blindly support one worry-free. Take Toyota for example - that whole company revolves around the idea of reliability. People buy them without doing any research because they just want something that works, and mechanics blindly recommend them too. That makes sense to me (even though I wouldn't buy one myself). Meanwhile if someone does their research and buys a Fiat, I think "ok, well you clearly know what you're getting into - enjoy your purchase". Corsair is like BMW: an overall good brand, with a decent history, and a "sufficient" price point for what you get. But whether it's something real fancy or something that's just mediocre (in their lineup), every once in a while, they seem to have these odd duds in design and it isn't so obvious until enough people get their hands on them. As a result, you never hear anyone recommend BMW because even though you could find every penny worth spending, there's a large enough possibility you would have been better off if you opted for something else. If you want BMW level performance and luxury, there are alternatives that ought to give you more reliable results. So, why recommend BMW? Same goes for Corsair, in my eyes.

schmidtbag:

I do know who he is. He was once one of the best sources for in-depth PSU reviews. Now he works for Corsair. It's no wonder he's biased to the point that he's acting like a stereotypical fanboy. His kind of behavior here is quite frankly, unprofessional. You start acting like that and I'm going to treat you like the person you behave as: an uninformed zealot.

Not sure why you want to perpetuate this impression that you have no idea what you're talking about and this has nothing to do with "fan boy" and "brand shilling" and how engineering a product works before and after it goes into production. You think that a cheaper brand (Logisys or Apevia), would be more likely to see this kind of a recall, when in fact it was top tier investigation realizing what the problem was that initiated the recall ahead of time before the situation got out of hand. The key is to be PROACTIVE. Not REACTIVE. You get ahead of the problem. Not freak out after it's already occured. I should read the article? I did. The "article" is an "editorial". Nobody gave guru3D a PR that said "Corsair is recalling PSUs due to a design flaw". That is COMPLETELY editorialized. Maybe YOU should read the OFFICIAL notice posted on the Corsair forum link provided and understand the wording. And until YOU understand the circumstances that lead up to the failure and YOU understand the QA process used by ANY power supply factory, you cannot claim to know that the QA process should have caught the problem before it left the factory. You can say that "Seasonic actually does proper QA testing before releasing a product" and therefore would catch this issue in advance, but I can tell you that you are completely wrong and that this could have happened to them as well. If there's a contaminant that enters the factory through a third party vendor (which, even if the OEM is a 1st tier, only the PCBA and magnetics are produced in house) and the circumstances of the contaminant only manifests itself when humidity hits 90% R.H. plus and you think that every unit is tested at 90% R.H. before it leaves the factory (though this is tested during EVT and DVT to make sure product meets PRD requirements for R.H. and temperature range of storage and operating conditions), then you need to go back to all of these factories you apparently know so much about and ask them what R.H. the burn in process is. So unless you actually KNOW how the sausage is made... which clearly you don't... you shouldn't be spouting all of the fallacies you're using to denigrate Corsair. Because to me, someone who actually knows "how the sausage is made", you just look like a fool and I'm going to call you out on it.

jonnyGURU:

So unless you actually KNOW how the sausage is made... which clearly you don't... you shouldn't be spouting all of the fallacies you're using to denigrate Corsair. Because to me, someone who actually knows "how the sausage is made", you just look like a fool and I'm going to call you out on it.

Oh please, you might be head of something at corsair but that doesn't imply you have any deeper understanding of electrical engineering than someone who doesn't work there. Anyone who has an EE background and the time to strip down and analyze under a EMS could replace you. Get back to us when corsair actually builds the unit from start to finish. Frickin sound like Andrew Lee in the late 2000's when he was defending the use of defective electrolytic capacitors instead of taking it on the chin and saying "we hear you, we'll do better"

jonnyGURU:

Not sure why you want to perpetuate this impression that you have no idea what you're talking about and this has nothing to do with "fan boy" and "brand shilling" and how engineering a product works before and after it goes into production.

I could say the same about you. I may be a nobody but it's a bit ironic how the "professional" here is acting the most childish and irrational. Others here disagree with me (which is fine; they're entitled to) but at least they are well-composed.

You think that a cheaper brand (Logisys or Apevia), would be more likely to see this kind of a recall, when in fact it was top tier investigation realizing what the problem was that initiated the recall ahead of time before the situation got out of hand.

No, I think a cheaper brand is more likely to have such issues, regardless of a recall. In other words, it's not really a surprise for them. I get it - mistakes happen, but the better the brand image is, the less acceptable it becomes for such flaws. Corsair isn't known for making garbage.

The key is to be PROACTIVE. Not REACTIVE. You get ahead of the problem. Not freak out after it's already occured.

Right... so you fix the problem before you start mass producing the product and packaging it. That is being proactive. If a recall was necessary, someone wasn't doing their job properly.

I should read the article? I did. The "article" is an "editorial". Nobody gave guru3D a PR that said "Corsair is recalling PSUs due to a design flaw". That is COMPLETELY editorialized. Maybe YOU should read the OFFICIAL notice posted on the Corsair forum link provided and understand the wording.

Are you serious right now? You're telling me to use a forum post, which you didn't even link to, as something I should have read? Your credibility is tanking right now.

And until YOU understand the circumstances that lead up to the failure and YOU understand the QA process used by ANY power supply factory, you cannot claim to know that the QA process should have caught the problem before it left the factory.

Seeing as you have an immense bias, why should I take your word for it? Perhaps you're the one responsible for Corsair's QA, in which case, obviously you're going to defend your own work in whatever means necessary.

If there's a contaminant that enters the factory through a third party vendor (which, even if the OEM is a 1st tier, only the PCBA and magnetics are produced in house) and the circumstances of the contaminant only manifests itself when humidity hits 90% R.H. plus and you think that every unit is tested at 90% R.H. before it leaves the factory (though this is tested during EVT and DVT to make sure product meets PRD requirements for R.H. and temperature range of storage and operating conditions), then you need to go back to all of these factories you apparently know so much about and ask them what R.H. the burn in process is.

I take it you don't follow IPC guidelines? http://www.ipc.org/4.0_Knowledge/4.1_Standards/PCBA-Checklist.pdf Following those guidelines are intended to prevent the very thing that happened. I am not an expert in electronics manufacturing and don't pretend to be, but at the bare minimum, you don't need to test every single unit; that's not cost or time effective. Inspecting and testing 1 unit per batch ought to be sufficient.

So unless you actually KNOW how the sausage is made... which clearly you don't... you shouldn't be spouting all of the fallacies you're using to denigrate Corsair. Because to me, someone who actually knows "how the sausage is made", you just look like a fool and I'm going to call you out on it.

If you're apart of Corsair's QA team and don't follow IPC guidelines, I'd argue you're the fool.