This is one of the best performing PSU on the market. I feel confident starting my review with this statement.
Story:
I bought this for a mITX build. My case supports normal (ATX) PSUs, however I was curious of how this little guy could perform inside my system. First thing to mention is the quality of the product, it screams high quality everywhere, from the package to the components itself. compared to Silverstone SFX PSUs, I can tell the difference quality-wise, and don't get me wrong, I do like the offering from Silverstone in the SFX market.
Installation:
In therms of installation and setup, no problems at all, all the cables necessary are included in the box and this PSU being modular makes it pretty simple to just connect the cables you will be using in your system (everything is coded to match the connectors correctly). Cable management perhaps is the only "con" I could mention, even though "modular" should equals less tangle in cable management, in this case is not that accurate. Compared to a 450w non-modular Silverstone PSU the cable management is more difficult to route between my tiny SG13 Silverstone case, the modular connectors are a little stiff, so bend them doesn't feel natural, I could even think I may broke one of the connectors if I apply too much force on them trying to route them out of the air-flow path of my case fans. The good thing is that if you are like me, needing only a couple connectors in place should leave enough room free for the case to breathe fresh air.
Performance:
Silent, works very cool, the fan doesn't even spin most of the times, so you can be sure the noise levels coming from this unit will be near to 0. Temps seems to be fine even with my case components being little cramped inside.
Playing games for around 3 hours felt natural, heat and noise remain the same as it being in Windows Desktop just idle (to be fair, the only noise was coming from the GTX 1060 cooler). I can tell this PSU can handle my system with ease and I am pretty sure once I feel the need, I will be able to apply OC to the CPU and RAM without any issue.
My setup consist in:
I5 6600k stock
Noctua NH-L9x65 CPU Cooler
EVGA Stinger MiniITX Mobo
16GB Ripjaws DDR4 3000mhz RAM
Samsung Evo 850 SSD
Zotac GTX 1060 6GB Video Card
Silverstone SG13 Case
Corsair SF450w Modular SFX PSU
Windows 10 Pro
Conclusion:
If you are in the market for a new PSU in small form factor, this is a no brainer. Due to the tiny size of SFX PSUs, makes them ideal for cases with little to none air flow, leaving more free space between the CPU Coolers and other components compared to ATX or even SFX-L PSUs.
I recommend this PSU!
| Brand | Corsair |
|---|---|
| Series | sf series |
| Item model number | CP-9020104-NA |
| Item Weight | 1 pounds |
| Product Dimensions | 4.9 x 2.5 x 3.9 inches |
| Item Dimensions LxWxH | 4.9 x 2.5 x 3.9 inches |
| Color | 80 PLUS Gold |
| Voltage | 230 Volts |
| Manufacturer | Corsair |
| ASIN | B01CGGOXWQ |
| Is Discontinued By Manufacturer | No |
| Date First Available | March 8, 2016 |
