Corsair 400CX just went POP

[jaydee]

After about 5 months of mild use, my Corsair 400CX power supply (supposedly one of the best?) just made a loud pop sound and quit working. I don't know if I want to send it in or not. I paid $20 for it after rebate, and it's going to cost $11 just to ship it in and I assume I'd get a lower quality CX430 model.

It sucks that this was less than 24 hours after I spent two hours drilling holes in the side of my case (Lian Li Q11) to accomodate the side intake fan. My backup psu (Thermaltake TR2 430W) has a front fan, so those holes are now useless!

 

[Absolution75]

eeee i have one of those - jumped on the same deal

Consider shipping it in a USPS flat rate box. It will take a week+ to get to the RMA dept, but it will be cheaper (if it fits - that PSU box is rather odd shapped).

Most PSU's don't have free shipping anyway =/ so you're out about $7 regardless


Either way, its worth it. If you don't think so, i'll pay you to ship it and then they can send the new unit to me

 

[jaydee]

eeee i have one of those - jumped on the same deal

Consider shipping it in a USPS flat rate box. It will take a week+ to get to the RMA dept, but it will be cheaper (if it fits - that PSU box is rather odd shapped).

Most PSU's don't have free shipping anyway =/ so you're out about $7 regardless


Either way, its worth it. If you don't think so, i'll pay you to ship it and then they can send the new unit to me

Hopefully it's a rare flaw and yours (any many others) is/are fine. I was planning on shipping it flatrate box, but I need to step into the medium size (11" x 8-1/2" x 5-1/2") which is $10.70. The joys of online shopping.

Fortuanately, I got my spare TR2 430W for $18 after rebate before I even bought the Corsair unit. The airflow of the TR2 actually works a little better with my case anyway.

I wish someone would make a regular LxW ATX PSU at maybe 4.5" depth instead of the 5.5"+. 250-300W is plenty, 80+ cert for $35. Seems like a big potential market there for ITX'ers like me who could really use the space.

 

[Termie]

Bummer about that 400CX. First time I've heard of that happening. Did you have any overclocked gear running or a power-hungry GPU?

EDIT: you've already figured all of this out...

The USPS flatrate box that might fit is at least $10 or $11, and if your backup PSU works, you might just stick with that. I installed one of those TR2 units several years ago and it's still running fine.

By the way, Corsair probably has enough 400CX units laying around to send you one of those instead of the inferior CX430, but again, I'm not sure it's worth the trouble/cost if you have a working PSU.

 

[jaydee]

Bummer about that 400CX. First time I've heard of that happening. Did you have any overclocked gear running or a power-hungry GPU?

I threw the 400CX in an old Dell (P4 system from '03) when I bought it 6 months ago so it wouldn't get stale and it worked fine. I transported it to a brand new build with AMD Phenom II X2 555BE (95W TDP) at stock settings, with onboard video. I was still navigating the bios to install Windows on it, so at the time it popped the total power had to have been very close to idle, under 100W.

Edit: With the TR2, I was able to install WinXP + all mobo drivers and utilities then shut it down for the night, so I don't believe it was system related. Although if anyone has any thoughts on that, I'd be glad to hear them.

 

[Zap]

Hopefully it's a rare flaw and yours (any many others) is/are fine.

No "flaw" just a failure like all others. Yes, ALL others. ALL will have a failure rate, be it 5%, 1% or 0.0064%. Just get used to the fact that any computer component will have a failure rate of some kind, no matter which brand/model. After understanding that, comes acceptance. After acceptance comes true enlightenment. ()

I wish someone would make a regular LxW ATX PSU at maybe 4.5" depth instead of the 5.5"+. 250-300W is plenty, 80+ cert for $35. Seems like a big potential market there for ITX'ers like me who could really use the space.

You use a Lian Li Q series case? Lian Li makes a PSU extender that works with those cases.

There are also "short" ATX PSUs (sometimes called mATX or PS3) but none seem that great.

You can also use an SFX PSU with an adapter plate (rare, but can be found - FSP sells them direct for $5).

 

[jaydee]

No "flaw" just a failure like all others. Yes, ALL others. ALL will have a failure rate, be it 5%, 1% or 0.0064%. Just get used to the fact that any computer component will have a failure rate of some kind, no matter which brand/model. After understanding that, comes acceptance. After acceptance comes true enlightenment. ()

Well, it failed because there was some flaw in the psu, no? There has to be some sort of cause.

You use a Lian Li Q series case? Lian Li makes a PSU extender that works with those cases.

There are also "short" ATX PSUs (sometimes called mATX or PS3) but none seem that great.

You can also use an SFX PSU with an adapter plate (rare, but can be found - FSP sells them direct for $5).

I just looked up the PSU extender, and it could be nice for some people, but I'm not interested in extending the exterior dimensions of my computer.

The mATX and other psu's seem to reduce every dimension and require a bracket. Which is fine, but is (logically) more expensive to shrink all dimensions than just one, and the result is $50+ like this one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817104075

I guess Athena Power makes the PS3's and they seem to be what I'm looking for, but they don't have a stellar reputation, or 80+ cert. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...e=&srchInDesc=

 

[tomoyo]

Well first thing to say, you obviously know a $20 psu is not one of "the best". If you had gotten like a AX750, I'd say that's one of "the best". Now mind you, it should be good enough to last a few years running at a reasonable load, but even the best psu will fail sometimes. Even some high end seasonics will randomly fail I would guess about 1% of the time. Anyways I'd just rma it and see if the new one works out better.

 

[jaydee]

Well first thing to say, you obviously know a $20 psu is not one of "the best". If you had gotten like a AX750, I'd say that's one of "the best". Now mind you, it should be good enough to last a few years running at a reasonable load, but even the best psu will fail sometimes. Even some high end seasonics will randomly fail I would guess about 1% of the time. Anyways I'd just rma it and see if the new one works out better.

You do know that the Corsair 400CX is a SeaSonic unit, right?
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Corsair-CX400W-Power-Supply-Review/750

And the AX750 is way too long to fit in my case. Even if it did fit, I would never hit 1/3 of the max power draw of the psu which isn't good for it. And it's $170.

 

[Termie]

You do know that the Corsair 400CX is a SeaSonic unit, right?
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Corsair-CX400W-Power-Supply-Review/750

And the AX750 is way too long to fit in my case. Even if it did fit, I would never hit 1/3 of the max power draw of the psu which isn't good for it. And it's $170.

I don't think he literally meant that you should stick an AX750 in there.

Another way to look at is that any other $20 PSU on the market right now should be expected to go pop (see the review on Anandtech today, for example), whereas your unit, despite it's incredibly low price, is expected by its users to last forever. This, unfortunately, may not be a fair expectation. Despite it being Seasonic, it's still not an AX750, or any other high-end PSU. It's a $20 PSU, and while you didn't get quite as much use out of it as you probably deserved to, in the end, it's a minor loss. You do have the option of the RMA, which is confounded slightly by the incredibly low cost of the PSU. $11 to return it would be just a drop in the bucket if you'd paid $100 for it, but because you got it at a ridiculously low price, it seems like a rip-off to RMA it. Again, probably not a fair way to look at it.

Summary: It was a good PSU, you got it for next to nothing, you happened to get a bum unit, you can RMA it and get a new one, it will cost almost as much to RMA as you paid for it in the first place, that's not necessarily a ripoff, but you don't really need it.

Your call.

 

[tomoyo]

You do know that the Corsair 400CX is a SeaSonic unit, right?
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Corsair-CX400W-Power-Supply-Review/750

And the AX750 is way too long to fit in my case. Even if it did fit, I would never hit 1/3 of the max power draw of the psu which isn't good for it. And it's $170.

Uh yes and my point exactly is this. Low End Seasonic is not the same quality as High-end Seasonic. Anytime you reduce costs, you're likely to cut corners. Mind you I expect it'll still be a working psu, but it's obviously not a $100-150 psu.
Also anyone using a CX400 obviously shouldn't be buying a 750w psu, just saying there's a huge quality gap. To note as well, I assume the rest of your computer was fine after the pop. That's one advantage of a decent psu, it doesn't kill the rest of your components. You got unlucky, get it fixed and see if it works the second time.

 

[gorobei]

flaw implies a problem with the design.

failure in this case means a component didnt meet manufacturer specs and died.

The design can be perfectly fine (at least for the budget) but these lower market psu use lower rated spec parts. More variability in tolerances means these cheaper/fewer sub component can fail = dead psu. 99% of the rest can go on working just fine, so it isnt a design flaw.

 

[jaydee]

Eh... took me awhile to officially RMA and get it out in the mail. Received my replacement last week: A new-in-box Corsair "Builders Series" CX430. Do I have a right to feel let down? I feel this is no better than my spare Tt TR2 430W that I threw in there.

 

[Zap]

We're still waiting on a good review of the CX430 so we (enthusiasts) don't know if it is better, worse or the same as the Tt TR2 430W.

It does provide less +12v at lower temperatures, so...

 

[VirtualLarry]

As much as the TR2-430 is maligned in enthusiast circles, it's actually not a bad PSU for the price, as long as you don't expect too much out of it. At least it has two fans, and they last a while. I've junked one Antec Basiq 500W because the cheap sleeve-bearing fan failed in a year's time.

 

[Rifter]

I've junked one Antec Basiq 500W because the cheap sleeve-bearing fan failed in a year's time.

I've had this issue as well, but i replaced the fans with ball bearing fans. Was cheaper than buying a new PSU. I havent had this issue with the earthwatts series.

I think the new 430CX is worse than the old 400CX. I hate corsair for the new builders series PSU's

 

[thescreensavers]

^ I had a Forton PSU 120mm fan die out, the PSU was burning up causing the CPU fan to spin full speed. Have you ever heard the Stock Athlon 64 x2 Fan at full blast, I never did until then, and man that thing is loud lol.

 

[jaydee]

As much as the TR2-430 is maligned in enthusiast circles, it's actually not a bad PSU for the price, as long as you don't expect too much out of it. At least it has two fans, and they last a while. I've junked one Antec Basiq 500W because the cheap sleeve-bearing fan failed in a year's time.

Another thing I really like about the TR2, is that it has a 5 year parts/labor warranty, compared to just 2 years on the CX430 (though in my case, I would think I'd still be eligible for the 3 years listed on the 400CX from the date I purchased it orginally).

Of course it doesn't mean that the Tt TR2 WILL last longer, but Thermaltake does seem to have more confidence in their product than Corsair. Or Corsair is trying to save a few bucks on the ones that will fail between years 2-5, relying on their namebrand to invoke consumer confidence rather than a good warranty.

 

[Smartazz]

^ I had a Forton PSU 120mm fan die out, the PSU was burning up causing the CPU fan to spin full speed. Have you ever heard the Stock Athlon 64 x2 Fan at full blast, I never did until then, and man that thing is loud lol.

Yeah, I actually heard one a few weeks back and I was shocked by how loud they were. I had a fortron PSU in an old system, but it was acting funky, so I replaced it with a Corsair TX650 and I'm glad I did.

 

[RavenSEAL]

What specs were you running when it popped?

 

[SparkyJJO]

Hm, not so sure about the new Corsair series. I just used the 500CX in a build recently, for a customer, hope it lasts OK (mainly the fan). Makes me wonder now :hmm: