The "known" Corsair HX Series problems?

[Tangman85]

I was figuring to ask, these known problems - are they based solely on over clocking and such where you mess with voltage controls?

As I understand it, the problem seems to occur with the voltage protection circuits, not that the PSU itself is very faulty because as I stated earlier - I sincerely doubt Corsair is in the business of selling malfunctioning power supply units.

So, are the problems related to over clocking in general or just with everything? I still do think that forums mainly are used for problems, rather than actually having stuff work.
You don't see forum posts with the following nature:
Hey guys! Everything works perfectly fine, what can I do to break it down?

 

[jonnyGURU]

"Known" problems?

Interesting post. You're asking what the cause of a "known problem" is without eluding to what the "known problem" actually is.

I'm not aware of any "known problem" with Corsair PSU's except for the rumors spread by Antec shills.

 

[Tangman85]

oh, I'm sorry I missed that part out.
What I have been reading on general random places like the ABIT USA forums.

There seems to be some issues with saving BIOS settings is what I understand from the ABIT USA forums, there is some "over/under voltage protection circuits" that kick in and prevent BIOS savings. I can't find the links right now, sadly.

 

[SerpentRoyal]

Also similar posts at Asus forum. Can't post with Corsair. Switched to brand X and no problemo. Switched back to Corsair. Again, no post. Not sure if you can blame this on the user. Some also report repeated reboot after shutdown.

Some Antec PSUs are also affected by the no-post. It appears quite a few of these problem PSUs came out of the Seasonic factory. The Antec Earthwatts line is okay (also Seasonic). Go figure.

I believe the root cause of the problem is caused by the use of an un-proven startup/shutdown circuits within the PSU. The PSU may think that there exist too much or too little voltage and/or current from one or more sensors.

This would make sense since the current hot trend in PSU design is power and efficiency. Designers are trying hard to squeeze out higher efficiency. We're already pushing the 15A/120V breaker with some PSUs. Don't think folks will rewire their homes to run a PSU. So we're down to efficiency. PSU A is 3% more efficient than PSU B at 100 watts output. Wooopee. I just saved 3 watts!

 

[Tangman85]

Yeah, what serpent royal wrote!

I guess I'll have to wait and see what happens, if I get massive problems I'll go replace the PSUs and everyone should be happy.


Wich PSU is 110% guaranteed to POST with IP35-E in case my HX620 decides to break down?

 

[SparkyJJO]

I don't have these problems... first time I've ever heard of such a thing No problem with my old Antec TP2 550W (until the stupid thing blew up 9 months later :frown: ) and now nothing weird with my Corsair HX620.

 

[Yellowbeard]

Tangman, if you look at the ABIT forums and Hexus (UK) forums, you will count less than 10 total cases of our PSUs not working with the IP-35 series MOBOs. However, just in case, we are in contact with ABIT who is in contact with Seasonic etc etc. I have tested EVERY PSU we make with my IP-35 Pro (which I am typing on now) and they all work fine. This included the original B1W revs of the HX series and the newer B2 revs. We have sent PSUs to both ABIT and a random sampling back to Seasonic. No specific problem has been identified yet. Rest assured, if you have an issue, we'll happily replace your PSU.

 

[The-Noid]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...9002&Tpk=corsair%2b620

But, how can this happen it has 5 eggs? I was reading in another thread by Serpent that parts with 5 eggs were always the best!

I am currently running 6 of these psu's at work.

1 on Maximus Formula,
1 on Maximus Extreme,
3 on P5W64,
1 on IP35-E.

Now besides the IP35-E being the crappiest board of the 4, it works very well.

You should not experience any problems.

Serpent, what is it exactly you are trying to prove now days?

 

[Tangman85]

Alright, that's cool and very appreciated yellowbeard
I never meant this in ANY way to be negative feedback/influence on Corsair, I love the company and have been using your memory since day 1.
I was just worried after reading forums here and forums there about this particular problem, I really do hope it doesn't come to replacements and such, I live in Sweden and mailing USA back and forth may be a tad expensive

 

[SerpentRoyal]

Originally posted by: Tangman85
Yeah, what serpent royal wrote!

I guess I'll have to wait and see what happens, if I get massive problems I'll go replace the PSUs and everyone should be happy.


Wich PSU is 110% guaranteed to POST with IP35-E in case my HX620 decides to break down?

IP35-E works with Antec SP350, Ultra V400/V500/V600, Ultra X-Finity500/X-Finity600, Enermax 495P, and Earthwatts 500. I don't have Corsair or Antec Trio on hands for testing.

I believe in the _ _ _ _roach theory. If I'm going to spend $ on a sure thing, then I would go with the Antec Earthwatts 500. It's a quality 34A/12V single rail PSU with very good output voltage and a quality United-Chemicon main filter cap. PSU runs cool and quiet. You can often find this PSU on sale for $30 to $50. It will power anything that you can put on the IP35-E board.

 

[Yellowbeard]

Originally posted by: Tangman85
Alright, that's cool and very appreciated yellowbeard
I never meant this in ANY way to be negative feedback/influence on Corsair, I love the company and have been using your memory since day 1.
I was just worried after reading forums here and forums there about this particular problem, I really do hope it doesn't come to replacements and such, I live in Sweden and mailing USA back and forth may be a tad expensive

Since you are already a current Corsair customer you have a legitimate concern and are therefore welcomed and encouraged to express it. Please call on me any time you want and let me know if your PSU does have any issues. I certainly do not take it as negative although some other people may try to hijack this thread and try to turn it into their own personal ad campaign. You seem like a sharp and reasonable person. I am certain that you recognize a troll when you see one so, choose your sources of information carefully. If you get the ABIT board, please let me know how it does with your HX.

Thanks, YB.

 

[SerpentRoyal]

Originally posted by: Yellowbeard

Originally posted by: Tangman85
Alright, that's cool and very appreciated yellowbeard
I never meant this in ANY way to be negative feedback/influence on Corsair, I love the company and have been using your memory since day 1.
I was just worried after reading forums here and forums there about this particular problem, I really do hope it doesn't come to replacements and such, I live in Sweden and mailing USA back and forth may be a tad expensive

Since you are already a current Corsair customer you have a legitimate concern and are therefore welcomed and encouraged to express it. Please call on me any time you want and let me know if your PSU does have any issues. I certainly do not take it as negative although some other people may try to hijack this thread and try to turn it into their own personal ad campaign. You seem like a sharp and reasonable person. I am certain that you recognize a troll when you see one so, choose your sources of information carefully. If you get the ABIT board, please let me know how it does with your HX.

Thanks, YB.

Some folks are labeled as troll for speaking the truth. Have I not responded to the OP's questions with accurate information?

@ OP,
You have access to the internet. Feel free to PM those users at Abit/Asus forum for additional info. You'll get it straight from the source. I'm not sweating cause I'm not the one that's doing the "damage control".

 

[jonnyGURU]

Originally posted by: SerpentRoyal

@ OP,
You have access to the internet. Feel free to PM those users at Abit/Asus forum for additional info. You'll get it straight from the source. I'm not sweating cause I'm not the one that's doing the "damage control".

Shouldn't your input be considered redundant though since you're already voicing the same thoughts/ideas under a different handle over at the Abit forums?

I mean, it almost seems like trolling if you tell someone something in one forum using one handle, and then go to another forum and reinforce it using a different handle: http://forums.abit-usa.com/sho...&p=881898&postcount=20

 

[SerpentRoyal]

Originally posted by: jonnyGURU

Originally posted by: SerpentRoyal

@ OP,
You have access to the internet. Feel free to PM those users at Abit/Asus forum for additional info. You'll get it straight from the source. I'm not sweating cause I'm not the one that's doing the "damage control".

Shouldn't your input be considered redundant though since you're already voicing the same thoughts/ideas under a different handle over at the Abit forums?

I mean, it almost seems like trolling if you tell someone something in one forum using one handle, and then go to another forum and reinforce it using a different handle: http://forums.abit-usa.com/sho...&p=881898&postcount=20

Instead of worrying about my posts, why don't you admit that there may be an issue with those PSUs. This is not an isolated one-time incident. Dismissing these reports as "rumors spread by Antec shills" doesn't lend credibility to your name.

Remember, I don't claim to be an expert in PSU reviewing.

 

[jonnyGURU]

Originally posted by: SerpentRoyal
Instead of worrying about my posts, why don't you admit that there may be an issue with those PSUs. This is not an isolated one-time incident. Dismissing these reports as "rumors spread by Antec shills" doesn't lend credibility to your name.

Remember, I don't claim to be an expert in PSU reviewing.

I don't either.

And I didn't dismiss anything as rumor. I just haven't seen this for myself and haven't heard of a logical explaination for the problem. But I do think you do troll Yellowbeard quite a bit. Not that I'm trying to fight anyone's battles, but I think your random interjections are getting tiresome.

The problem could simply be "sum of parts" for all we know. I had a similar issue reported with a couple BFG 650W PSU (Topower OEM) and an Intel DP35DPM board. PC wouldn't warm boot. Tried to duplicate the problem with the same board and couldn't. Customer used a Q6600, I used a E6550, E6400 and Q6600. Not the CPU. We both used BFG 8800 GTS. Not the graphics card. Customer had Seagate 320's while I had Maxtor 320's. Is it the hard drive? Customer had Buffalo FireStix while I was using ADATA. Is it the RAM? Customer had a Lite-On optical while I had an Asus optical. Is it the optical? Could be something as simple as the USB keyboard and mouse. Never figured it out because the customer just opted to swap out the PSU and move on. My point is we can't assume that the problem is as cut and dry as a PSU vs. motherboard issue. Do we know that someone wouldn't have the same problem with an Antec? It's also a Seasonic OEM. The problem doesn't crop up 100% of the time and I'd venture to guess that there's probably more Corsair PSU's implemented in enthusiasts machines than Antecs (although over all Antec may sell more units via retail, etc.) so the sampling may be greater.

If you have some insight to the problem, I'd love to hear it. But from what I can tell you're just echoing what other users are reporting at another forum. Repeating the information twice doesn't make the occurence of the problem itself double.

 

[SerpentRoyal]

If I was working for Corsair, then I would offer to buy back that rig and bring it back to the factory for analysis. It shouldn't be that difficult to isolate this problem with a few digital storage scopes. The original design engineers should have access to the logic I/O startup/shutdown commands of the PSU. For example, if conditions A, B, and C are seen, then start circuit D. Based on those posts, I'm quite sure that the CPU, GPU, and RAMs are not to blame.

The three IP35-Es in the lab will post and overclock with anything I hook up to it, including the garbage Antec SP350.

 

[The-Noid]

Originally posted by: SerpentRoyal
If I was working for Corsair, then I would offer to buy back that rig and bring it back to the factory for analysis. It shouldn't be that difficult to isolate this problem with a few digital storage scopes. The original design engineers should have access to the logic I/O startup/shutdown commands of the PSU. For example, if conditions A, B, and C are seen, then start circuit D. Based on those posts, I'm quite sure that the CPU, GPU, and RAMs are not to blame.

The three IP35-Es in the lab will post and overclock with anything I hook up to it, including the garbage Antec SP350.

Wow, now you have a lab you are moving up in the world.

You have no idea how power supplies work do you? There are no logic I/O engines. They are quite simple apparatuses.

If every company offered to buy back things that were not working, there would be no computers.

Parts break. Things don't work together. For the vast majority of the world it works.

 

[jonnyGURU]

Originally posted by: SerpentRoyal
If I was working for Corsair, then I would offer to buy back that rig and bring it back to the factory for analysis. It shouldn't be that difficult to isolate this problem with a few digital storage scopes. The original design engineers should have access to the logic I/O startup/shutdown commands of the PSU. For example, if conditions A, B, and C are seen, then start circuit D. Based on those posts, I'm quite sure that the CPU, GPU, and RAMs are not to blame.

True.. but then there's no accounting for user error. Laugh if you will, but when I did RMA for TCWO, more than 75% of problems were un-replicable in the lab. Of course, I'm talking about testing a wider breathe of product than a motherboard/PSU combo, but say it has something to do with AC input or some USB device or some other device that might be using +5V instead of +5VSB for bus power on a USB device (I believe the Abit is one of the boards that uses +5VSB and has no option to toggle this.) I think it would be a bit far fetched to think a company should buy someone's rig in the name of R&D. I think it would be more advantageous for the end user to take the build to a comptuer shop so the unit is in a different environment and different variables can be thrown at it. Of course, once the problem is isolated, there's no saying that he'll report back the finding so the next guy with the problem can find some relief. But that's the nature of the typical customer. Bitch when things go wrong, but stay silent for the most part if things are working the way they should.

 

[SerpentRoyal]

No POST with Neo HE 550. Switched to Earthwatts 500. No problemo. Oh yes, I'm masquerading as HawkeyeGold. Time for the Troll Police to alert the mod.

http://forum.abit-usa.com/show...ad.php?t=129112&page=2

 

[jonnyGURU]

Originally posted by: Yoxxy

You have no idea how power supplies work do you? There are no logic I/O engines. They are quite simple apparatuses.

Actually, there is some logic in a PSU. A PSU is simple in terms of it's AC to DC regulation, but there is a PWM control circuit that controls the switching frequency of the PSU and can also handle protection modes and even APFC duties.

 

[jonnyGURU]

Originally posted by: SerpentRoyal
Oh yes, I'm masquerading as HawkeyeGold.

No you're not, but he is acting on your recommendation:

http://forum.abit-usa.com/showthread.php?t=128831

Not that there's anything wrong with that. You solved his problem and that's good. But if you're going to be dry in your humor, use more elaborate anecdotes.

 

[SerpentRoyal]

Originally posted by: jonnyGURU

Originally posted by: Yoxxy

You have no idea how power supplies work do you? There are no logic I/O engines. They are quite simple apparatuses.

Actually, there is some logic in a PSU. A PSU is simple in terms of it's AC to DC regulation, but there is a PWM control circuit that controls the switching frequency of the PSU and can also handle protection modes and even APFC duties.

Don't know if the Antec Earthwatts has crossed your bench, but I have a lot of respect for this little 500 watts PSU. Bought it at Frys a few weeks ago for $30 AR. PSU is quite light by today's standard, but the output regulation is very very good...at least that's what my analog HP scope is showing on the CRT. The inside is surprisingly bare. No issue with the noise level from that ADDA 80mm high speed fan.

This is my gold standard single rail PSU. It shouldn't have any problem with a fully loaded single GPU rig. Unit was recently on sale at Fry's B&M for $50 out the door!

 

[SparkyJJO]

SerpentRoyal, yes it crossed his bench, it scored a 9 and a jonnyGURU recommended:
http://www.jonnyguru.com/review_details.php?id=51

They are good units for sure.

But as far as this "problem" with the Corsair units, OK some people might have some problems with compatibility. You know what? Sometimes that happens, things don't like each other. I seem to remember the NeoHE didn't get along with some boards either. I put an Enhance ENP-5140GH in my bro's computer and it wouldn't do a darn thing, just do a quick flick on-off....on-off......on-off..... Put a different PSU in, worked fine, put the Enhance in a different PC, works fine. Just really random, who knows what the problem was. PSU and mobo hated each other I guess.

So I don't think it is a flaw with the Corsair units per se, just some random PC parts hating each other. Apparently some of the abit boards decided to hate Corsair's guts, oh well.

 

[jonmcc33]

Originally posted by: Tangman85
There seems to be some issues with saving BIOS settings is what I understand from the ABIT USA forums, there is some "over/under voltage protection circuits" that kick in and prevent BIOS savings. I can't find the links right now, sadly.

No problem with my Abit IP35-E and Corsair HX520 myself. Saved all my overclocked BIOS settings without a problem too.

 

[tigersty1e]

Interesting.

I'm having a bios save problem. I'm not sure if this is related or not.

One of the features of my board is the ability to save 7 (I can't remember the actual number. Someone with my board want to chime in?) different BIOS profiles. I'm not able to save any at all.

I can save my BIOS in general. That is, if I set the fsb to 300, save, exit, and reboot, the computer will boot at 300 fsb. The problem I have is saving the actual bios as a profile.


I haven't done anything about it because it's not that a big deal, but if this is an actual fault of the PSU, then that's a whole 'nother story.