Testing and results
Testing was conducted in the same manner as our previous 400-500w PSU shootout, with each power supply being checked for maximum permissible load, while measuring voltage regulation, efficiency and temperatures.
Although most testing was conducted under identical conditions as to before, temperature results were not measured in the same way.
Instead the temperatures were taken from the bottom of the PSUs casing, in the middle. This is where the main heat-generating components are likely to be positioned.
We also placed several strips of black insulating tape in the area being measured, helping to avoid the result being skewed by reflections from the coating applied to the PSU's casing.
| Readings under load | Power & efficiency | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSU | +12V1 | +12V2 | +5V | +3.3V | -12V | +5VSB | Input power | Ideal output | Actual output | Efficiency | |
| Corsair VX450W | Voltage | 11.825 | N/A | 4.94 | 3.2125 | -11.782 | 4.905 | 533 | 453.8 | 446.99 | 83.9% |
| Current | 33 | N/A | 6 | 6 | 0.25 | 1 | |||||
| be quiet! Dark Power Pro 430W | Voltage | 11.73 | 11.715 | 4.8 | 3.0775 | -12.3 | 4.89 | 556 | 446.2 | 432.64 | 80.3% |
| Current | 13 | 13 | 16 | 14 | 0.25 | 1 | |||||
| be quiet! Dark Power 470W | Voltage | 11.8275 | 11.8125 | 4.785 | 3.09 | -12.65 | 4.9 | 608 | 483.5 | 471.50 | 79.5% |
| Current | 14 | 14 | 18 | 15 | 0.25 | 1 | |||||
| FSP Zen 400W | Voltage | 11.632 | 11.725 | 4.905 | 3.095 | -12.8 | 4.8575 | 463.6 | 411.7 | 400.24 | 88.8% |
| Current | 14 | 13 | 10 | 9 | 0.25 | 1 | |||||
Our testing showed strong voltages across all rails, the single +12V rail only dropping a small amount, despite the very heavy load being drawn across it. The +5V and +3.3V results are also very strong, neither dropping more than 0.1V below the ideal.
These results compare very favourably to its competition, only the can be quiet! Dark Power 470W beating it for +12V voltages - though losing out elsewhere.
Efficiency is also good. It's not as high as for the incredibly impressive, passively-cooled FSP Zen 400W but 83.9% is still a strong showing.
At idle, with an ambient temperature of 23C, the casing of the Corsair VX450W did not rise at all. Full load temperatures saw an increase to 31C. It should be remembered, however, that these temperatures are not directly comparable to those from our previous tests.