7-Way 550-600 Watt Power Supply Roundup Review
Corsair CX600M
Having been a big player in the power supply market for several years, Corsair is not a company which requires recommendations. Their CX power supply series consists of units designed with high value in mind but which still pack a few advanced features and are not stripped down to the core.
The CX600M arrived in a relatively small bright black and white box with green theme accents. Inside the box the power supply is protected only by a bubble bag. Data about the unit and its features can be found printed onto the sides and rear of the box.
The bundle of the CX600M is typical for a value-oriented product. In the box there is only a typical A/C power cable, normal mounting screws, a few cable ties and the modular cables. There is no bag or box for the modular cables, which however we should mention that they are not normal sleeved cables with color-coded wires but black flat cables.
As expected, the CX600M sports a rudimentary design with very few aesthetic enhancements. The chassis has been sprayed with a satin black paint and decorative stickers can be seen on the sides of the unit, sporting the company and product logos. A typical circular fan guard has been installed but with a crest of the company’s logo on it. The chassis is only 150mm deep, which is well within the ATX design guidelines.
There is also a third sticker, found at the top of the chassis, with the electrical specifications and certifications of the unit. The M at the end of the product code denotes that the CX600M sports a modular design. As such, there are four connectors for the four modular cables at the rear side of the unit. The legend might be a little confusing, denoting the left connectors to be for Molex/SATA cables and the right connectors for PCI-E/EPS cables; in reality, the top right connector also is for a third Molex/SATA power cable. Two cables are hardwired, that of the common 24-pin ATX cable and the 4+4 pin EPS cable. The EPS cable is a black flat cable but the thick 24-pin ATX cable is a typical sleeved cable with color-coded wires.
A typical Yate Loon 120mm fan takes care of the cooling needs of the CX600M. It is a basic model with a sleeve bearing motor, a maximum speed of 1650RPM and a noise rating of 33 dB(A).
Channel Well Technology (CWT) is the OEM responsible for the CX600M. The build quality of the CX600M is not flawless, with a few mediocre soldering joints here and there, but it certainly is well above acceptable for a value-oriented product. The heatsinks are crude and remind us of very low budget designs but are sufficiently large. The A/C filtering stage is excellent, with four Y capacitors, two X capacitors, two chokes and a MOV.
The heatsink at the far edge of the unit holds two transistors and a diode, the active components of the APFC circuit. The passive components are a single Matsushita 270uF/450V capacitor and a large coil. The heatsink next to the main transistor holds two inversion transistors, forming a half-bridge configuration. Several active components are present on the heatsink on the secondary side of the transformer, handling the generation of all three voltage lines, as this power supply has no DC to DC conversion circuits. The electrolytic capacitors are CapXon and Teapo products.
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