Corsair GS800 (800W) Non-Modular Power Supply Review

Introduction Today we take a look at another power supply from Corsair and we have the GS800 (V2) "Gaming Series" power supply in for testing. The GS800 boasts 80 Plus Bronze Certification, a bucket load of connectors, a 3 year warranty and more uniquely customisable LEDs and plastic strips (though the strips are sold separately). The GS800 is in this regard one of the most unique PSUs on the market in that it allows you to customise its colour scheme. Though by default it comes with a blue LED and blue strip to match the blue sticker. The Corsair GS800 uses blue, white and red LEDs which you can see below. These are switched between by using the LED switch on the rear of the power supply, accessible from outside the case. Other than that there isn't that much else to discuss because this is pretty much an 80 Plus Bronze non-modular PSU with some extra bells and whistles. Let's proceed with the testing and see how good the GS800 (V2) from Corsair performs. Packaging and Contents The packaging reveals to us the updated customisation and lighting system on the PSU as well as that this is the 2013 Edition GS800 not the older model that was discontinued a while back. The back has all the key details such as the protections, efficiency, cable layout and so on. Included is a power plug, four black screws, some cable ties, a warranty book and a user manual. A Closer Look - Exterior The top of the unit is uniquely styled and the changeable plastic colour rings are an interesting addition. I've yet to find anywhere that actually sells them, other than the official Corsair store where you can buy the red and white rings together for $9.99. The cable end is textured and has blue accents thanks to the blue colour ring. The side has the Corsair logo and GS branding. The other side features the same branding in reverse depending on which way you prefer to mount the PSU. The bottom features the power sticker with all the key details. The rear has long rectangular ventilation, a kettle lead input, on/off switch and the LED button to change the LEDs between white, blue, red and off. The huge lump of modular cables include one 24 pin, one 8 pin EPS, four PCIe 6+2 pin, 8 SATAs, 8 Molex and 2 FDD connectors. A Closer Look - Interior Corsair's choice of OEM is Channel Well Technology (CWT) who also make the CX series of power supplies by Corsair. The used 140mm fan is made by Ong Hua and has the model number HA1425H12B-Z which is a seven bladed fan managing up to 2800RPM. The AC transient filtering starts with two Y caps at the receptacle. There is further line filtering on the main PCB using two pairs of X and Y caps. The main hold up cap is rated for 470uF, 400V and 105 degrees and is made by Matsushita/Panasonic. The majority of the secondary side caps are provided by Teapo and are rated for 105 degrees. There is a lonesome Nippon Chemi-Con cap which regulates the 5VSB rail. Test Procedure At eTeknix we take the power supply testing procedure very seriously. For all power supply reviews we used a variety of Chroma machines and other digital power machinery provided by Enermax in their European test labs. We would like to say a huge thank you to Enermax for making this power supply testing possible. The test machinery included the following: A Chroma 6314A power supply load tester with two add on 6314 modules to support up to six 12 volt rails. A Chroma Digital Power Meter Model 66202 A Custom-made Enermax PCB circuit board to connect all the appropriate power supply cables A Tektronix TDS 3014C Digital Phosphor Oscilloscope A Voltcraft DT-10L Laser Tachometer The eTeknix test procedure involves: Testing each power supply at 20/40/60/80/100% load (with balanced load across all rails) and measuring PFC (power factor correction), efficiency (actual power divided by power "pulled at the wall") and voltage regulation (deviance from expected voltages of 3.3/5/12). Measuring ripple and noise with an oscilloscope at 20/40/60/80/100% load. Measuring voltage regulation and ripple/noise at Maximum 12v loads and maximum 3.3/5v loads while keeping the -12v and 5vsb consistently at 0.1A and 1A on the rail(s) not being tested. For example under 12v crossload we would load the 12v rail to its maximum and place 0.1A on the -12v and 5vsb as well as 1A on the 3.3v and 5v rails. Measuring fan speed after a stabilisation period of five minutes at each load scenario using the Voltcraft DT-10L laser tachometer and a reflective strip on the fan. Other things to consider are that We recognise that a single yellow 12 volt cable can provide only 6 Amps before overheating (which corrupts voltage regulation and efficiency) and so we used an adequate number of cables for each power supply. Our power supply tester was capable of only 50 Amps on the 12 volt 1 rail, 50 Amps on the 12 volt 2 rail and 25 Amps on rails 3-6. This meant that for single 12 volt power supplies with rail Amps above 50 we had to split them virtually over two rails to maximise their load. There are no power supplies that we tested that have more than 50 Amps over two rails so this was only an issue for single 12 volt rail power supplies. We use the same time scale and horizontal millivolt scale on our oscilloscope for all noise and ripple tests. Deviance is the terminology used to represent the way voltages diverge from their expected values. Voltage Regulation To test voltage regulation we load the power supply to five different load scenarios that give an equal spread of load across every single rail. So that means 20% on all rails, 40% on all rails and so on. We then calculate the average deviance of each rail from its expected voltage. Power Efficiency Power efficiency is measured by calculating actual supplied wattage divided by the wattage drawn at the wall/plug, multiplied by 100 to give a percentage. We then compare that to the particular 80 Plus certification the company claims to see if it meets that. You can see the 80 Plus certifications below, we always test 230v power supplies. Power Factor Correction Power Factor Correction is the ratio of the real power flowing to the load, to the apparent power in the circuit. The aim of PFC is to make the load circuitry that is power factor corrected appear purely resistive (apparent power equal to real power). In this case, the voltage and current are in phase and the reactive power consumption is zero. The closer the number to one the better as this allows the most efficient delivery of electrical power (Source - Wikipedia). Noise and Ripple Noise and Ripple can easily be measured by an oscilloscope. These show how much voltage fluctuation there is on a particular rail. We tested the rail stability of the 3.3 volt, 5 volt and 12 volt rails using an identical time and millivolt scale for all graphs. The latest ATX 12 volt version 2.3 specifications state that ripple from peak to peak must be no higher than 50 millivolts for the 3.3 volt and 5 volt rails, while the 12 volt rail is allowed up to 120 millivolts peak to peak to stay within specifications. Load (%) 3.3V Ripple 5V Ripple 12V Ripple 20 40 60 80 100 Cross Loading Our cross loading procedure is designed to rigorously test the stability of the main two rail combinations. We push the maximum rated current and wattage through the 12 volt rail(s), and then through the 3.3 and 5 volt rails combined, and see if the power supply is capable of delivering its specification for those. However, meeting the specification is not enough, the power supply must also maintain strong voltage regulation and noise/ripple to have "passed the cross load test. The cross load test is a "worst case scenario" for the two main power delivery rail mechanisms (12v and 3.3+5v) and so the power supply will always deliver slightly lower than realistic/expected results. However, this is not necessarily a realistic test and it is just a case of pushing a power supply's rails right to their rated limits to see how well they can hold up. 12 Volt Cross Loading 5 and 3.3 Volt Cross Loading Fan Speed When testing in a power supply laboratory it is difficult to take fan noise readings as the noise from the Chroma corrupts everything. The next best thing in our circumstances was reading off the fan speed with a tachometer to get an idea for the noise. In the Enermax Europe PSU lab we had to do exactly that and we recorded the fan speed at each load scenario. The ambient temperature during testing held constant at 26 degrees, with 1 degree of variation. Each power supply had a consistent time period of 5 minutes to stabilise between each load scenario. In my experience the following general relationships apply between noise levels and fan speeds, though it can vary greatly between the type of fan used. Below 800 RPM - Inaudible/Silent 800 to 1000 RPM - Barely audible 1000 - 1200 RPM - Audible but still quiet 1200 - 1400 RPM - Moderately noisy 1400 - 1800 RPM - Noisy 1800 RPM or higher - Intolerable Conclusion Pricing In the UK the Corsair GS800 costs £87.36 and £89.99 from our preferred retailers. In the USA the Corsair GS800 costs $129.99~$139.99. Conclusion Corsair's GS800 (V2) power supply finds itself priced quite a lot higher than much cheaper 750W 80 Plus Bronze units but it stands alone as one of very few 800W PSUs on the market as 750W seems to be the standard. Even if we factor in for the additional 50W it has over similar units the Corsair GS800 is still about 10-15% more expensive than than units from Cooler Master, XFX, Be Quiet and OCZ, it's also quite a lot more expensive than Corsair's own CX750 PSU which is also made by CWT. However, what you've got to consider is what extra do you get for that extra cost. Well it is quite simple, you've got a PSU that has more concern with aesthetics and functionality. If you're looking to theme up a gaming system in one of the chosen colours (blue, red or white) then this PSU is invaluable thanks to its range of LED colours and replacement plastic shrouds. Sure the PSU itself is very nice in terms of performance - we've got great voltage regulation of within 1.75% on all rails, there's great efficiency which was more or less 80 Plus Silver not 80 Plus Bronze like Corsair state, high PFC and solid ripple & noise suppression. Even the fan performance was pretty stellar at 0-60% load (where your PC will spend 99% of its time) though at 80/100% it did get noisy. Of course its level of performance isn't exactly uncommon and we do see similar things from XFX's Seasonic based units and even Corsair's own CX series, both of which are priced much lower, so if its just performance you're interested in then the GS800 might not be a sensible solution for you. However, if the customisable LEDs and changeable plastic strip tickle your fancy - and I've got to admit they certainly do it for me - then I think the GS800 is a refreshing PSU. It adds a little sparkle to a market segment that can often be a bit dull. Kudos to Corsair for going that little bit further than everyone else and offering a solid PSU with some nifty customisations. Pros Customisable LEDs and plastic strips Solid Performer - Very good PFC, voltage regulation and noise/ripple suppression Higher than certified efficiency 3 year warranty Cons Non-modular Loud at 80/100% load Plastic strips have to be purchased separately Pricey if you don't need/want the customisations it offers "Corsair's GS800 power supply is another solid-performer to add to Corsair's extensive range of high quality PSUs. While it may not offer the value for money that the CX series does, the GS800 still serves the market well by being probably the only customisable PSU at an affordable price point. The GS800's design will not appeal to everyone but if it does appeal to you then Corsair's innovative styling is definitely worth paying extra for. The Corsair GS800 offers rock solid power delivery with some great customisable aesthetics." Thank you to Corsair for providing this review sample.