Well after spending £109.99 on a Corsair TX 850 PSU I was disappointed with the fact that it had a fault so it's being rma'd for a full refund. Now I wasn't going to rma it until I found out if the fault I had was a one off but turns out it isn't! So after some deliberating and after reading several reviews on Jonnyguru's website on several Corsair PSU's (as I was still going to go for another Corsair psu) I changed my mind after reading in the following reviews Jonnyguru did on Corsair psu's about loose heatsink screws, because for me in power supplies costing over £100 their should be no excuse for even one heatsink screw being loose, so I won't be purchasing a Corsair psu if I ever read that there is an issue with heatsink screws being loose, that said I read the Jonny guru review of the TX 950 and it says the heatsink loose screw issue is fixed! Because there are NO heatsink screws lol, Corsair obviously realised they weren't capable of screwing them in properly so they used an alternative method. What gets me so mad though is the fact that Jonny or any customer wouldn't actually know they were loose as obviously loose doesn't mean you will here rattling around it just means loose! And he only found out because he disassembles the psu's to see what components are used, which most consumers won't do as it voids the warranty. The links to a couple of the reviews I read regarding the loose heatsink screws are below. This is a link to the final page of the Corsair TX850 review @ Jonnyguru where under "The Mediocre" he lists "heatsink screws loose again... this time, all of them" Corsair HX850 psu review @ Jonnyguru This is a link to the final page of the review where he sums up the psu listing "The good" "The bad" and "The Mediocre", which says the following where he lists "The bad" things about the psu he found "loose heatsink screws yet again" Anyway i've now gone for a Modular psu that being the XFX 850W Black Edition Modular PSU as I didn't really want to go for the 950W Corsair TX psu (even though the heatsink screw issue is now fixed, apparently) but because I didn't need a 950W psu, I mean I don't need an 850 watt psu right now but I might do in the future so that's why I went for the XFX psu. One thing I never realised is even though I know you need to do research on getting the best psu for a pc and not some cheap generic crap but I never realised it could be so tough choosing a psu and getting it right. Anyone else here got an XFX psu?
Anyone have any info on this please? I'm not having any look whatsoever with psu's, and that's down to no fault of my own, turns out after doing yet more research that the XFX 850 blew up when tested by Overclock3d and that problem has also been discussed on Jonnyguru forums, see both links below. http://forum.overclock3d.net/showthread.php?p=354173#post354173 http://www.jonnyguru.com/forums/showthread.php?p=56816#post56816 I've had a reply over on the oc3D forum off tinytomlogan saying this "We have heard nothing back from eitherside yet, I will try and get some information next week for you dude. All we know for now is it was a big concern, and XFX had decided to do their own testing with Seasonic the OEM manufacturer." And one from Jim from oc3D saying this "In addition to what Tom said, various sources have told me that this PSU (and indeed a lot of other single rail PSU's) do not have OCP on the +12v rail at all. To break it down, OCP is what is often used to split the output of the 12v transformer in PSU's that have more than one rail. For example, say you have a PSU that has a single 12v transformer, but on the spec shets it says that it has 4x 12v rails all rated at 18A. This is the manufacturer using Over Current Protection to 'virtually' split that single transformer into four rails. However, even if a PSU doesn't have OCP it will also have OPP (Over Power Protection). OPP performs a very similar function in that it is supposed to shut down the PSU before an overload occurs. The only caveat is that it is often on the primary side (mains voltage) side of the PSU and therefore isn't as accurate as OCP in measuring just how overloaded the PSU is. So basically to summarise, the XFX 850w DOES NOT have OCP on the +12v rail AT ALL. What killed the PSU in our testing was poorly implimented OPP protection and components (schottky diode in this case) that just couldnt take the additional load. The reason it hasn't happened to any single rail PSU's we've tested before is that they have all had more finely tuned OPP protection, better components and better OTP (Over Temperature Protection) on the components that are likely to overheat and exploded. " But no reply from Jonnyguru forums yet. See the links to both forums for more info on the XFX 850 problem I only found out about after I spent £145 on it including delivery!
Your not gonna find many who have XFX PSUs because as far as I know this is XFXs first real stab at the mainstream PSU market
well, did you read the review? have you read any of the reviews they do? unless you're a moron (not saying you are, so don't get upset) who can't figure out how much load a rig is going to put on his psu, then you should be ok. but to break it down... the psu blew AFTER he put an extra 120 watt load (970 total) on it and it shut off, then restarted the process... not sure why they did this, as this doesn't conform to their normal testing procedures, maybe xfx didn't provide a free sample, or some other slight that gave him a reason to push for failure. or maybe they just thought about trying something different. either way, i'd buy this unit in a heartbeat if i ever came close to needing that much power. edit: felt like adding a few more things. guru and hard ocp are about the only sites i really trust with these types of reviews. they are consistent in what they do. for example, overclocked usually runs 2 tests, first at room temp, then one in the "hot box" apparently, they decided to go straight to the hot box with the xfx. additionally, if a unit powers off during a test, then it fails. or if it is their max output test, they state the results and move on. like i said earlier, on the xfx, they decided to max it out twice, and oh yeah, convieniently recorded it. another thing i noticed is when a unit fails in their higher load tests, they typically stress how a typical pc user will never put this much load on a psu. didn't really try to get that point across on the xfx. yeah, try to pull 970 watts off this psu rated at 850 because that happens all the time in the real world and bang! it's dead. i get that opp failed after working the first time. but since they haven't done that to other units before, how do we know the exact same thing doesn't happen on most units? in fact, it seems that he intentionally ran it slightly below the tripping point, which again makes me question his objectivity. so, again, unless you like powering your rig with psu's that are rated 14% lower than the load your system will put on it, then try again after the opp kicks in, i wouldn't worry about buying this unit. as far as cpc reviewing this unit, i know most of bit's reviews focus more on real-world usage, and i'm sure this unit would shine.
What a superb response, very well put together and as far as I have read spot on in every way. For some reason OC3D do have these problems when they can't get their own way, if they carry on OC3D will be no more in a few years there are only so many manufacturers out there and for sure if they don't get exactly what they want a less than favorable review is produced, very silly I used to trust them until I found this out a few months ago.
Yes or course I read the review, and yes I've read some of the reviews on their site but I usually go on the reviews Jonnyguru does. I know you're not saying I’m a moron (just to clarify though I’m not!) and I don't know how much load my rig is putting on my psu, but I would bet it's not anywhere near 850 watts, my spec is Case = Antec 300 (with both fans in that case running) Case fans = 2 120mm fans at the front of my case drawing air in Memory = 4gb Corsair XMS3 DDR3 1333 MHz ram Motherboard = Gigabyte P55-UD3 CPU = Intel Core i7 860 @ 2.80 GHz Graphics Card = NVIDIA gtx 275 896mb ram Hard Disks = 3 X HDD's, one is SATA, and the other two are SATA II (not sure if that makes any difference or not?) Optical Drives = Samsung DVD-Rom Drive and a Pioneer DVD-RW Drive both SATA According to the eXtreme power supply calculator at full load it claims that my rig would only use 391 watts @ full load, that can’t be right can it? And if so then I would have easily gotten away with having a 500 watt psu wouldn't I? Or am I missing something here? The only thing that bothers me is that they (OC3D) claim that the XFX shouldn't have blown up and that it doesn't have OCP on that psu, not sure if I believe that to be honest but I'm not too sure?, and I'm not sure what you're getting at when you said they probably didn't get their own way, apparently XFX gave them 2 of these psu's to test presumably for free as obviously they weren't going to go out and buy them (were they?) it's just that when it comes to buying a psu, when/if I ever read anywhere that a psu has blown up it just makes me think WHAT IF! But maybe they did do it deliberately? No one knows for sure though do they, which begs the question was there a fault or not with the xfx psu, xfx hasn't added anything to this argument to either admit a fault or dispel the rumour that there is a fault so I guess we won't ever know.
Nearly all review samples are free but a lot of manufacturers ask for them to be returned after the review, that can make a huge difference because it's a perk of the job to be able to keep the review sample.
That would be about right. I wouldn't recommend using more than 80% of the rated load. A 600W psu would give a bit of extra capacity for overclocking.
I built a computer last week with the XFX psu in it. It's been wonderful so far. Great build quality, feels like its made of lead. Runs pretty cool.
yeah, your usage sounds right. and yeah, 650 watts or so would more than cut it including future overclocking. single rail units may not have ocp. but they should have opp, which worked the first time the overloaded it. they may have had to buy them, or may have gotten them from xfx, or maybe sponsored. i doubt they had 2 units. and it's not to say that this isnt an issue that may need to be looked at. but as far as the general pc user needing to worry about it, no. and again, they seem to intentionally try to blow this unit, which if they tried on every unit, you could, whether there is ocp, opp, or nothing. @ kimandsally...thanks kim for the kind words.
Thanks for the info but just to put my mind at ease I contacted XFX regarding this "apparent issue" which I'm not so sure even an issue now, OC3D said they would be contacting XFX about this sometime this week after I posted in their forum but so far nothing has materialised so all of the below is the conversation between me and Shaun from XFX support over the course of yesterday and today, his responses are in bold. Well after wondering what to do regarding this PSU, I decided to contact XFX personally and this is the entire history from my conversation with one of there technicians, over the course of yesterday and today. [ 7/11/2009 8:02:39 PM] I have read that when tested this power supply blew up and that it was a major issue for you at the time of the review and that you were looking into it! The review was read on overclock3d.net and has been discussed at length here http://forum.overclock3d.net/showthread.php?p=354173#post354173 Can someone please get back to me and let me know what has been done about the stability of this psu (to stop further potential problems) and if the problem that caused the psu to blow up has now been rectified? [SHAUN_T 9/11/2009 11:38:10 AM] Hi, thanks for your messages. Please note, it was the weekend when you posted your support ticket, therefore there were no technicians available to answer your question at the time. There have been many XFX PSUs sold recently and the customers have had no issues whatsoever, so there are no known faults or issues with the product. Have you tried installing it into your system? If you have any problems with it, please do let us know. Kind regards, Shaun. [ 9/11/2009 1:28:23 PM] No I haven`t tried installing it in my system as yet because of the review I read, and i`m not sure whether or not to just rma it for a refund because, now I`m not sure if they deliberately overstressed the psu or not but they are claiming that the protection that`s supposed to be built into the psu to stop it blowing up or exploding only kicked in once and the 2nd time it blew up and they claim it happened to 2 out of 2 of the psu`s, can you do me a favour and read the review via the link I posted then report back to me what you make of it so I can have some sort of peace of mind and a genuine honest opinion from yourself. The review is located here http://forum.overclock3d.net/showthread.php?p=354173#post354173 Thank you [SHAUN_T 9/11/2009 2:54:49 PM] Hi, thanks for your message. Like I said, there are no common faults/batch issues etc with the XFX PSUs, we have had many customers using them without a problem. I have scanned over the review vaguely but we cannot pass much comment as we do not know the system setup etc etc. Why they had these problems I do not know, but there isnt much more I can do than to assure you there are no problems with the PSUs. Kind regards, Shaun. [ 9/11/2009 3:30:14 PM] So is it wrong to assume that you knew about this issue because they mentioned they had informed you (well not you personally) but XFX about this issue and that you knew about it, and that XFX were very concerned about this and were going to run some tests to verify there was no problem because you seem to be side stepping the issue completely instead of assuring me the units had been tested after that review and that those 2 out of 2 units must have had a fault. You have done nothing to ease my mind as you have clearly stated that there are no common faults with xfx psu`s, but how would you know if you hadn`t done some tests after that review quite clearly stated you had been informed and they had no response from xfx regarding the issue. Thanks for replying. [SHAUN_T 10/11/2009 11:36:55 AM] Hi, thanks for your message. If there was an issue with the PSUs, for example, a batch issue they would have been recalled. Obviously, other users have had no issues with this product, and we have not had any support tickets complaining about anything. Therefore, as far as we know there are no problems with these PSUs. If you do not wish to use the PSU, it may be best for you to return it to your reseller whilst you only bought it 4 days ago. Kind regards, Shaun. [ 10/11/2009 12:26:07 PM] I just figured if they did let you know then maybe you would have done your own tests to either substantiate there claims or prove them to be false, I haven`t made my mind up what I`m going to yet but I do appreciate your replies and you seem to have been fairly honest in your responses. Thank you. [SHAUN_T 10/11/2009 12:27:23 PM] Hi, thanks for your message. No problem, we`re not here to lie to you, so if you do have anymore questions or encounter any problems in the future, please let us know. Kind regards, Shaun. I may have seemed a bit harsh (or not) but I just wanted an answer and to see if XFX had actually done any testing of there own regarding the so called issue, but Shaun quite clearly stated that if their had been a batch issue with the psu's then they would have been recalled. By the way Triq, I echo kimandsallys words regarding your post/reply to me and I genuinely appreciate your response. Thank you.
You what? I've never reviewed a PSU "in a case". It's always been on a machine. I wish I had a hotbox and extra stuff but we're limited by what we have access to elsewhere Regardless of others testing procedure: OCP is essential (or OPP on single rail, it's the same thing). If you have a short on your motherboard (loose screw) or in your case it will melt your cables and potentially cause a fire, or, blow up your hardware. I've emailed Seasonic to ask their response on the 850Ws from XFX.
right, that's my point, you guys don't hotbox it, you don't push it beyond it's specs to see max achievable watts. like i said, more "real world" performance. never said you guys test in a case, maybe i guess that's what you thought i meant by real world performance, sorry! but since you're here, does opp, or ocp work once it's been tripped?
It's a good PSU: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-000-XF&groupid=701&catid=123&subcat=1497 but £160... =S other PSU's can preform just as well for £100. I wanted to get it tbh.
