Corsair cx650m power supply making noise

[mikeespino]

Yes I know Corsair cx series are crap power supplies because they are meant for budget, but it’s way better than a insignia 450watt power supply which blew my motherboard when swapping cpus. Okay so back to my cx650m I’ve bought a month ago brand new from eBay, it was unopened cause the seller also sent pictures of the box, and yet these usually sell for 60$ but gave me a better offer of 35$ great! So back when I installed it a month ago paired with a gtx 980 a core i7 870 8gigs of ram and 6 white vetroo led 120mm fans, with a cpu cooler of a cryorig h7. Many had this problem on cx series on making noise due to crappy caps and such, my psu is making this buzzing sound even on idle it’s not that loud, but when I lean my ear towards the air vent you can obviously hear it. Do I have to get a better one or am I okay with it? Because I don’t want this thing dying on my taking my entire motherboard again with it and waiting for 3 weeks from Hong Kong to get a new mono again. Also the game I play is gta 5 for about 3 hours online and story mode. Fortnite for 30mins, and Minecraft a few minutes. Now do I have to get a better quality series from Corsair or is it okay?

 

[Roland Of Gilead]

Given it's buzzing, I would not risk it. The CX650m isn't a bad PSU. It's just not great. In this case your getting roughly what you've paid for. For parts like a PSU, i would never buy from anywhere other than a reputable store.

It's not like you can RMA it, or return to the seller as it's still functioning. I'd be getting something decent if i were in your shoes.

Something like this would be perfect for your system:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Power Supply: EVGA - SuperNOVA G3 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($59.89 @ OutletPC)
Total: $59.89
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-07-27 09:42 EDT-0400

 

[zyh1987]

it's difficult to tell if the noise are legitimate issue or just minor annoyance, i would check the voltages on the 12v,5v and 3.3 during game session (assume the sensors are working properly) and see if the number looks okay or not. if you noticed anything wrong, stop using the power supply and get yourself a new one.

also sometime i find that the issue could be coming from the wall socket, if that's the case, you would need to install a conditioner or ups.

 

[Rexper]

The power supply isn't crap. Quite good performance, build quality, and working protections.

What you're hearing is probably coil whine. It's more common on the CXM series due to the design.
It doesn't harm the power supply, or mean the PSU is crap/failing, it may just be annoying.
An explanation of coil whine in PSUs

 

[derekullo]

The CX650m is a step above the worst tier of power supplies that Corsair sells.

It is for all intensive purposes crap.

Corsair may be better than Insignia but at the end of the day you still have a 650 Watt 80 PLUS Bronze power supply.

The only certification worse than 80 PLUS Bronze is 80 Plus White or better known as plain "80 Plus".

The only power supplies you should ever use for computers that you care about are 80 PLUS Gold or higher rated.

 

[Rexper]

The CX650m is a step above the worst tier of power supplies that Corsair sells

That Corsair currently sells? Maybe. But the CXM is still a good power supply, much better than most units at the price.

Please do some research before spreading complete bull sh*t.
https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/corsair-cx650m-psu,4770.html

And you know what a certification is? It is efficiency, and efficiency only. It has no correlation to a PSUs quality (electrical performance, build quality, protections).
The CX650M is better than many gold power supplies.
And for most people, efficiency between gold and bronze is almost negligible to their power bill.

 

[mikeespino]

Hello everyone I really appreciate the advice you guys are giving me, I will keep it for now and I’m pretty sure the noise is crowning from the psu, I wanted to RMA it but I needed the receipt for it. So if I were to get a gold rates 80 plus which is the best and cheapest I can get. Because I don’t work and I earn money by selling my old computer parts.

 

[mikeespino]

Kieth12 wow that’s a really good EVGA psu I really am a buy it but many say that EVGA is crap and won’t last for a while. I saw that same model the supernova one and one person had a picture of that psu melted all the the plugs that were connected. That’s why I never look on EVGA

 

[derekullo]

The CX650m is a step above the worst tier of power supplies that Corsair sells

That Corsair currently sells? Maybe. But the CXM is still a good power supply, much better than most units at the price.

Please do some research before spreading complete bull sh*t.
https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/corsair-cx650m-psu,4770.html

And you know what a certification is? It is efficiency, and efficiency only. It has no correlation to a PSUs quality (electrical performance, build quality, protections).
The CX650M is better than many gold power supplies.
And for most people, efficiency between gold and bronze is almost negligible to their power bill.

Highly efficient power supplies tend to use higher quality parts than lower efficiency power supplies in order to achieve those higher efficiencies.

If what you say is true, "It is efficiency, and efficiency only. It has no correlation to a PSUs quality"

Then why does the RM650i , an 80 Plus Gold rated power supply, have a 10 year warranty and the CX650M have a 5 year warranty?

If it what you said was true I would expect to see both having a 10 year warranty or both having a 5 year warranty.

Corsair themselves expects the RM650i to last twice as long, 5 years longer, before breaking.

Corsair also certifies the RM650i to run at a Continuous output rated temperature of 50 °C versus 40 °C for the CX650M.

https://www.corsair.com/ca/en/Power/rmi-series-config/p/CP-9020081-NA
https://www.corsair.com/ca/en/Power/txm-series-2017-config/p/CP-9020132-NA
https://www.corsair.com/ca/en/Power/cx-series-config/p/CP-9020122-NA



"The CX650M is better than many gold power supplies."

Better can mean a lot of things, personally only 3 important factors come to mind.
Price, Efficiency and Reliability


Price. Well you got me there.

80 Plus Gold and higher rated power supplies are more expensive than 80 Plus Bronze because they are more efficient, allowing the power supply to run cooler and last longer.

The RM650i, 80 Plus Gold, is a bit on the pricey side at $180 with its 10 year warranty.
The TX650M, another 80 Plus Gold, is $120 with a 7 year warranty.
The CX650, 80 Plus Bronze as we are well aware, is $90 with a 5 year warranty.
A difference of only $30 separates the TX650M and the CX650.
I can't imagine any rational person not spending the extra $30 on such an important component on their computer.
Prices pulled directly from Corsair's website.


If by better you meant the CX650M is more efficient than many other gold power supplies then you are making the entire 80 Plus certification system irrelevant.

If the CX650M was more efficient than ANY certified 80 Plus Gold power supply then Corsair would be more than happy to erase the Bronze tag and replace it with a Gold tag.

I'm assuming by "many gold power supplies" you don't mean counterfeit/offbrand that just slap "80 Plus Gold" on the package when that company knows their power supply does not have the certification / their power supply can't perform up to the certification.

 

[Roland Of Gilead]

Hello everyone I really appreciate the advice you guys are giving me, I will keep it for now and I’m pretty sure the noise is crowning from the psu, I wanted to RMA it but I needed the receipt for it. So if I were to get a gold rates 80 plus which is the best and cheapest I can get. Because I don’t work and I earn money by selling my old computer parts.

Kieth12 wow that’s a really good EVGA psu I really am a buy it but many say that EVGA is crap and won’t last for a while. I saw that same model the supernova one and one person had a picture of that psu melted all the the plugs that were connected. That’s why I never look on EVGA

It's an excellent PSU, and is highly rated in whatever review you'd like to look up. My personal guide is jonnyguru. This series is rated 9.8 out of 10 which is excellent. Here is the review of the 750w: http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story6&reid=500

I can't find the 550w review just yet.

Getting a good PSU will serve you well down the line. A decent PSU will have a 5-10 warranty, this is because the manufacturers have tested the units to last that length of time and stand by it.

 

[Rexper]

There’s much more to a power supply than just efficiency. This is why professional reviews can take months for power supplies.

Electrical performance: line regulation, voltage regulation, crossload, transients, inrush current, hold you time, ripple. Aspects like these affect every components lifespan in your system, and is arguable the most important feature of a PSU.

Protections: A full set of working protections to protect your components / power supply from further damage in a fault.

Noise: Self-explanatory. No one wants a roaring power supply. Noise can be produced by the electronics or fan/fan bearing.

Build quality: Design, component choices, solder quality. These mostly determines the power supply’s lifespan

Gold rated power supplies are usually more efficient than bronze, obviously. That doesn’t make them better. You don’t need high quality parts, or great electrical performance to be efficient.
Look at the CX650M compared to the group regulated EVGA G1 (NEX), for example.