Power Supply Corsair SF600 - 600W SFX PSU

[Purple_Skies]

I thought it was a well written review; all the key points were there and it has in fact made me confident enough to buy this psu for my sff build.
In so far as improvements, I'd definitely say go for noise testing intruments over temperature. But keep the subjective review of noise as well! That's one thing I think many reviews miss out on.
All in all a great review, thanks for posting it.

 

[Runamok81]

Solid review. I'm surprised that SFF had the first complete review of this Corsair's SF600 unit, bravo! It's definitely encouraging to see another manufacture challenging Silverstone in the SFX PSU market. Hopefully, we all win.

I also agree with Phuncz that acoustics are a top priority. How do the acoustics of this SF600 compare to the Silverstone's 500W SFX-L with 120mm fan? Better? Worse? I'd be really interested in an objective review between these two units. Anyone else have opinion on that comparison?

 

[jeshikat]

Ok, I'm a big noise freak too so I'll focus on that first. I've been doing some research though and now I know why most sites only measure down to 30dBA, it gets much more expensive under that.

I'm surprised that SFF had the first complete review of this Corsair's SF600 unit, bravo!

To be fair, the other reviewers are still under embargo. I wanted the SF600 for my own rig so I purchased it, hence the early review

How do the acoustics of this SF600 compare to the Silverstone's 500W SFX-L with 120mm fan?

My SX500-LG exhibits the "clacking" noise that others have complained about, so I feel that the Corsair is better at idle/low load since the fan is well behaved at low speeds and during the transition from passive to on. At load the 92mm definitely isn't quiet though.

This weekend I'm planning to do a subjective comparison between the SX600-G, SX500-LG, and the SF600. And maybe in the not too distant future I can do an objective test if I can find a low-noise mic for a good price.

 

[antifocus]

The fan in my SF600 seems to be faulty, it will give noise like a hard drive reading/writing like noise in high RPM.
I really hope this is an isolated case and wont indicate anything in the quality of the fan they used.

 

[jeshikat]

Haha, I just replied to your post over on HardForum.

I'll ask here too, do you have an estimate of what the temp/wattage/fan RPM of the unit is when it starts making that noise?

 

[antifocus]

Hey replied you there.
As for wattage I guess it was around 300W when gaming. 6700k oc 4.5G, GTX970 oc 1.4g. 1 m.2 SSD.

 

[Phuncz]

To be fair, the other reviewers are still under embargo. I wanted the SF600 for my own rig so I purchased it, hence the early review

Well, you seemingly were one of the first people to get a retail model, so grats on your connections
When I worked in retail, I managed to buy stuff that wasn't officially launched for days. It was a nice perk !

 

[jeshikat]

As for wattage I guess it was around 300W when gaming. 6700k oc 4.5G, GTX970 oc 1.4g. 1 m.2 SSD.

Thanks.

Well, you seemingly were one of the first people to get a retail model, so grats on your connections

No special connections, I just put the order in on the Corsair webstore and selected 2-day shipping and apparently got in on the first batch shipped

 

[jeshikat]

SF600 vs SX600-G vs SX500-LG subjective noise comparison

Ok, so I did some comparative testing of the Corsair SF600 (SFX), SilverStone SX600-G (SFX), and SilverStone SX500-LG (SFX-L). Wattage numbers are from the wall. Tests were done in open air at about 19-20°C.

~watt | SF600 fan | SX600-G fan | SX500-LG fan
200 | 1050 RPM* | 1015 RPM | 450 RPM
365 | 1385 RPM | 1530 RPM | 930 RPM
500 | 2040 RPM | 2150 RPM | 1240 RPM**

*As mentioned in the review, the SF600 fan at low loads can cycle down to ~500 RPM but it doesn't happen for long

**This is at around 470W AC, the SX500-LG would shut off if I tried to load it much more than that.

Analysis:

As is apparent from the table, the larger the fan, the slower it has to spin at similar loads. Comparing them side by side though, I think the SF600 is a bit aggressive on it's fan profile. The RPMs are lower than the SX600-G but not by that much considering it's a larger fan, it has a less restrictive wire grill, and the inside of the unit is much less cramped compared to the SilverStone.

The bearings on the Corsair fan are very noticeably better than either of the SilverStone PSUs, I could make out no bearing noise in any of the tests. The SX600-G has a slight rasping noise but it's not terrible and it's mostly overshadowed by the general air noise at the higher RPMs. The SX500-LG has an annoying grinding/clacking bearing noise that's noticeable in all 3 tests but especially at the low load one, I suspect it's a ball-bearing fan.

In terms of overall noise level, the SX500-LG is quietest but to me it has the most annoying bearing noise. The SF600 is quieter than the SX600-G but not by a huge margin since the fan doesn't spin all that much slower.

One of the big advantages of the Corsair though is the semi-fanless feature works much more consistently than the SX600-G. My SX600-G will run passively for the first few minutes after power on but once it starts it usually stays on until the computer is shut off. The Corsair on the other hand is much better about staying off.

The SX500-LG is a bit better about staying off compared to the SilverStone SFX but it could use improvement too, my main complaint is the "clacking" noise the fan makes at low RPMs. This doesn't seem to be an issue for everyone though.

Which unit should you get?

So overall, I guess which unit is best from a noise perspective will depend on your needs and priorities:

If it has to be SFX and not SFX-L then get the Corsair. Much better at low loads and at high loads it's not hugely better than the SilverStone but it's better.

If idle/low-load has to be silent/quiet and more noise is acceptable at high loads, then get the Corsair.

If the bearing noise isn't a big deal, low noise is a priority at all loads, and 500W is enough, then get the SX500-LG (or one of the other SFX-L units if it's available where you live).

If you're not in a hurry and low noise is a priority both at low and high loads, then I'd wait and see how the SilverStone SX700-LPT performs.

Note:

Keep in mind though that these tests were done in open air. This was done to keep it consistent. Depending on the case layout, ventilation, and hardware, you may see quite a bit higher RPMs at equivalent wattages than I've demonstrated here.

 

[jeshikat]

Correction: According to Corsair’s Jon Gerow, the fan controller takes into account both the internal temperature and the current load. In theory this lets the unit run passively for longer or run the fan at lower RPMs when it’s at low load but higher temperatures compared to pure temperature control.

 

[iFreilicht]

Correction: According to Corsair’s Jon Gerow, the fan controller takes into account both the internal temperature and the current load. In theory this lets the unit run passively for longer or run the fan at lower RPMs when it’s at low load but higher temperatures compared to pure temperature control.

Bind-boggling that Silverstone didn't manage to do this yet, they've had years of head-start in the SFX market, and Corsair just nails it on their first try.

 

[Phuncz]

Silverstone didn't have any competition, so they didn't need to prove much. Now they'll have to. I'm hoping the SX700-LPT has been delayed because of this.

 

[CC Ricers]

People have been skeptical about Corsair's decision to source Great Wall as the OEM of these PSU's, but Corsair is behind the whole design process and so far things look promising with being very competent with Silverstone's products. Of course there are other SFX units from Be Quiet! etc but they have been... quiet for the most part and are mostly in the low end range in wattage.

 

[jtd871]

Review by Kitguru of both new models here : http://www.kitguru.net/components/power-supplies/zardon/corsair-sf-450-and-sf-600-psu-review/

 

[jtd871]

So I have a maybe dumb question: according to the review, both models come with 8-pin CPU power plugs. The noise levels are promising and I'm interested in getting the 450 for my scratch build later this year. I've never built a PC before, and I'm concerned about the plug not fitting as the mobos I'm looking at are H170 mITX and all have only a 4-pin CPU power socket. Will I have fitment issues because of this using these PSUs in my upcoming PC?

 

[jeshikat]

The CPU connector is a split 4+4 connector. So if your motherboard only needs the 4-pin connector then you can just leave the other 4-pin half unconnected.

 

[K888D]

I took the plunge with these new Corsair SFX units and have used the SF450 in 2 different builds, so far I am very impressed.

The first was for a build in a Silverstone RVZ02B, usually I use the Silverstone SX500-LG for these builds which is also meant to be a semi-fanless unit. What I have found with the SX500-LG (as have many other people), is that after about 10 minutes of idle use the fan starts in a very low on/off stop start mode resulting in a tapping sound. The fan itself is almost silent, but the tapping is quite audible from a few metres away in a quiet room and can be annoying.

As the RVZ02B does not have any case fans the system temperature does rise a little more than normal cases when idle, I think this contributes towards the SX500-LG fan kicking in when the system is idle, it may fair better in cases with more airflow.

Due to this tapping sound I decided to see if the (same priced) Corsair SF450 would perform any better, as the systems I build are HTPC's the average user will spend 95% of the time under very low power draw, so a silent when idle system is very important.

The first system included the following components:

- Silverstone RVZ02B
- Corsair SF450 PSU
- MSI B150i AC
- Intel i5-6400
- Silverstone AR06 cooler
- GTX 970, EVGA SC
- 8Gb (2x4Gb) DDR4 2133Mhz (Corsair LPX)
- 256Gb SM951 PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD
- 2Tb 2.5" Samsung HDD

The Corsair SF450 worked very well indeed, the fan did not spin up at all during prolonged everyday type usage (web browsing, 4K video, etc). This resulted in a pretty much silent system, the only audible component being the 2Tb HDD. The extra space saved over the larger SX500-LG also helped with neater cable management.

The second build is for a scratch build case that I am currently working on, I am hoping to start a thread about it soon. So far I have built a prototype out of wood, I needed a modular SFX power supply with an 8Pin PCIe connector and will also be silent when idle/low load, the SF450 is currently the lowest cost option available in the UK as far as I am aware.

The custom case is a 6.5l shoe box style case that does not require any special fittings and can house an ITX graphics card, SFX power supply, 2x 2.5" drives and a 140mm case fan. An important part of the case design is to remain as quiet as possible during low - moderate usage.

For this build I used the following components:

- Custom 6.5l case
- Corsair SF450 PSU
- 140mm Thermaltake slim fan
- Gigabyte B150N Pheonix
- Intel i5-6500
- Silverstone AR05 cooler
- GTX 960, EVGA SC ITX
- 8Gb (2x4Gb) DDR4 2133Mhz (Corsair LPX)
- 128Gb SM951 PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD

Once again I am very impressed with the SF450, the fan remained off during all the testing, which included an hour of Unigine Valley benchmarking. I will be carrying out further testing soon.

I was also impressed with the EVGA GTX 960, this remained fanless under normal usage. The GPU fan started spinning about 1 minute into the Unigine testing after it hit 66C. Although the GPU fan was the loudest component in the build it was still suprisingly quiet, I could barely hear it about 4 metres across my living room. Very successful build!

To summarise - the Corsair SF450 is a great choice for powerful living room based computers that need to stay silent under low to moderate usage.

 

[iFreilicht]

Thank you so much for the detailed write-up, that was really interesting!

Once again I am very impressed with the SF450, the fan remained off during all the testing, which included an hour of Unigine Valley benchmarking. I will be carrying out further testing soon.

That seems a bit odd, during Valley the GPU should be at full tilt, I can't imagine the PSU being able to cool itself completely passively. Maybe I overestimate the power draw of your system though.
Are you absolutely sure that the PSUs fan didn't spin at all, or could it be that the GPU was too loud to hear it?

 

[K888D]

I checked a few times and it wasn't spinning. The case I put it into has the PSU fan intake facing upwards, so any heat from the PSU vents straight up and out of the case.

The Unigine test doesn't stress the cpu though so I expect the draw was around 150w max.

Corsair quote that the fan will remain off for low to moderate usage.

I will do some more tests including some games in a few days and let you know the results.

 

[K888D]

I've just fired it up and it's been running for about 15 minutes with Unigine Valley benchmark, so far the fan is not spinning.

Here is a quick picture, it's a bit of a crap picture but I'm in a rush as off out to watch Batman vs Superman in a minute!

As you can see the fan is stationary and that's Unigine on the TV