CORSAIR CX Series 550 Watt 80+ Bronze Certified Non-Modular Power Supply

I waited to write a review, because I wanted to see just how long these hold up. I replaced a couple of other supplies with these after the big flood back in May 2020 here in Michigan. So far, they have been working fine, it's now nearly October 2020. The only complaint I have is that the Molex style ends for some of the peripherals are very tight and don't line up well with the pins on some of the drives in the hot-plug cage. Fortunately, most of those styles are disappearing, but I do need them for the older style server cages where the drives are removable. I guess I could get SATA to Molex adapters, but that just adds extra depth to already-deep cages. Anyway, the supplies provide plenty of power and connection options and have about all you need for the average mobo. I do know that power connectors are about to change, and this Molex style will probably be obsolete by the end of 2021. So you might want to stock up with a few of these supplies just to keep your older stock mobos and drives running. I hope Corsair continues to make these long after the change over in power supply standards to a uni-volt system. The multi-volt supplies are going away, which makes total sense to me. The old IBM architecture is gradually becoming less recognizable in modern PCs. I guess it was only a matter of time before the power supplies followed suit. Overall, I give this PS high marks for reliability, no startup issues or "voltage lockups" after a power failure. I've had a few of the old Ultras do that with AMD mobos, and I hate 'em. Corsair seems to do well in those situations. I've not had the supply lock up yet or not start when given the button command. This seems to be a problem on some of my older supplies. Good value for the money and an attractive chassis that will blend with all black cases quite nicely. Nylon covered wires hide all the multi-colored wires effectively enough to use in see-through cases.

I had some problems upgrading the power supply in a dell refurb. The dell power supply mount area has a fin that will keep the power supply from seating flush to the chassis. If the power supply case does not have sharp, accurate edged bends in the power supply case that fin will keep the power supply screws holes from aligning with the case holes. This Corsair CX 550 watt supply was made accurately enough to fit in the dell case. Thank you Corsair. The power supply also has a split-able CPU 8 pin into a 4 so you can use it on a dell motherboard.The power supply has been performing very well. The only thing I could criticize is that they had heat shrink all the way up to the split-able 8 pin CPU connector. I had to take a razor blade and do a little creative carving to get it to split far enough to fit right.Not that I am complaining as that was much easier than carving on the steel fin of the case. All the other connectors fit very well. I am very pleased with the end result and now have a great 550w power supply instead of the useless 240w that came with the PC. Despite the heat shrink issue I had to give them 5 stars for turning a hassle PC upgrade into an easy one.

I build a lot of PCs.Things I like about this power supply:* Cosair name: They have never let me down. EVGA and Rosewill have. I can tell you Rosewill has good customer service, but only because I have needed. I can't tell you how Corsair's customer service is because I have never needed it.* Price: I think $49.95 is a good price for a power supply of this quality, efficiency rating, and wattage.* The sleeving quality is excellent. Between the all black wires, the appropriately flexible all black wires, and the proper use of shrink tube, the parts that are visible in the final build look perfect.* I prefer having the ATX power connector be all 24 pins together as in this model rather than having a group of 20 and a group of 4 as many other power supplies have. This makes installation easier (especially when you have a tight case fight as in a mini-ITX or even some microATX builds) and makes one fewer things that can go wrong in the future. I have seen plenty of "dead": PCs that only have a lose 4 pin portion of the ATX portion.* Same as above for the CPU power connector, except it is all 8 pins here as opposed to the more common 4+4 configuration. Note: If you are going to use this power supply with a motherboard that only requires 4 of the pins, make sure there is clearance for the unused pins.* It can be hard to find a power supply in this wattage that has two 6+2 PCIe power connectors as this one has. Of course, if you are using both of these, add up your power budget carefully.* This power supply has two separate SATA power cables, each with three connectors along with a completely separate molex chain. Some power supplies have mixed SATA power and molex which I don't care for as much. This supply will power up to six drives; more than most power supplies in this range.* The 12V rail has plenty of amps; many to all cheaper ones don't.Corsair CX Series 550 Watt 80 Plus Bronze Certified Non-Modular Power Supply (CP-9020121-NA)Corsair CX Series 550 Watt 80 Plus Bronze Certified Non-Modular Power Supply (CP-9020121-NA)* Packaging quality was excellent.Things I don't like about this power supply:* It is not modular. This means that there will be excess cables that you need to tuck away at the end of your build. Not a big deal to me, but make sure you have the clearance for the unused cables in your build.* It does not use the highest quality capacitors available. This is also minor; it is not reasonable to expect at this price. Of course, in a low abuse, high endurance application at a modest price, this is the way to go. But, if you really want the longest lasting possible, pay more money and look elsewhere for your power supply choice.

Works great and havent had any issues so far.Just the upgrade i needed.

A good PSU which I used in a custom firewall appliance. I am a fan of Corsair and this is a well made, inexpensive unit. Knocking off one star because the fan doesn't fall to a slow enough speed to be silent when the computer is not under load. The sound is certainly tolerable, but it has returned my office to having constant white-noise where before it was completely silent despite my high-end desktop, which only make noise when I am playing games (and that noise level is rarely more than the firewall).