Corsair HX Professional Series 750-Watt 80 Plus Certified Power Supply Compatible with Core i7 and Core i5 - CMPSU-750HX

I purchased this PSU for my new system build, and I'm so happy I did. First-time build.This is a modular unit (cables are separate from PSU) except the 24Pin Mobo Power Connector and the 8Pin Power connector are permanently attached. Modular is the ONLY way to go. You use ONLY what you actually need. No unnecessary cables cluttering up space and reducing airflow. Cable management was a snap in my HAF X case.1) These cables and PSU are a class act, for sure. All modular, heavy duty, well designed and made, solid latched connectors to the PSU, color coding for the PCIe cables (**Important) plus the all black cabeling looks great inside my black interior case with a window side panel. Incidential on color -- but a nice plus.2) I won't review all the cables included. You can read that on the Corsair website, but there are more than anyone should need for this unit, even including old style floppy drive connectors.3) The modular PCIe 6+2 pin peripheral cables accommodate both 6PIN and 8PIN graphics card connections. Just pull the 2 pin off the 6+2 pin and tie back the short 2 pin on the 6+2 if you have 6 pin cards and do not use the 2 pin for anything else. Do NOT confuse these "modular" 6+2 pin PCIe cables with the single "non-modular" 8PIN mobo power connector. Just a caution if your new to this. No Frying of Mobos allowed. Corsair color coded the PCIe connectors on the PSU end BLUE and also coded the PCIe slots on the PSU BLUE -- so avoiding this potential mistake if your new should be easy. Just an FYI from a newbie to any other newbie.4) When comparing this Corsair 850W to the 750W: I purchased the 850W instead of the 750W. Was on the cusp of either. But the 850 also has more connectors and cables, and I'll probably use them by the time I finish with my build.5) This unit is extremely well packaged by Corsair - important for shipment. Comes with a nice case with velco closure for housing the cables, and an extra black velour draw-string bag for cables if you want. Not important to me, but others seem to like it.6) Installation was a snap in my HAF X case as was cable management. AND I did NOT need the extra 24PIN NZXT Mobo extention power cable I though I would need because of the size of this case. The length that came preconnected to the PSU was plenty long to fit out the bottom case slot, route up the back of my case, and back in thru the case holes, then and connect to the Mobo 24 pin connector. The HAF X is a Monster case and my Mobo (Asus P8Z68-VPRO/Gen3) sits high in the case, so this cable length was good planning on the part of Corsair. The ONLY reason I'd use this NZXT extension cable is that it is ALL BLACK, including the short 1/2" of wires coming out of the cable by the connector. That short stretch of wires on the Corsair 24Pin power cable are colored. Merely cosmestic. The 8PIN power cable at the top L of the Mobo, however, was another story. The Corsair cable 8Pin Power cable for the Mobo is too short, but the HAF X case comes with the extension cable that was needed. If you're case doesn't and it's big -- buy one. NZXT has nice ones here on Amazon.7) Power switch (on/off) is on back of unit.8) You should note in the User manual that the use of "other vendor" power cables with the Corsair PSU VOIDS the warranty on the PSU. Your choice. But the length of warranty is great.9) Single Volt Rail -- don't have to worry about spreading power across separate rails.What could be better?1) The User Manual - but only if you're unfamiliar with power connectors as I was at first. On the flip side, there are many excellent web sites anxious to teach you about power connectors. I used them thoroughly before setting up so I was sure to understand how the different power cables work, why, and what not to do - the No Nos. Also helpful to learn the best way to add devices to power lines.2) I'm not crazy about the SATA power cables with 4 per cable, but they were NOT upside down as some have suggested, and they do make for good cable management. Still, I set up my multiple hard drives on as many different cables as I could with some on one cable line based on what I read about voltage drops across power lines. Would be helpful if Corsair put more basic info in their manual.2) Corsair website. Didn't seem to operate 24/7 to get a user name and password. Their website works great for product info, comparisons, and power usage calculator needs though. Haven't needed it yet for much else. Also have a 16GB kit of Corsair Vengenance RAM which works absolutely great in my system.Yes - I'd buy this unit again.

This is by far the best PSU I've owned but also the most expensive. I decided to take the plunge on this one after having some hardware issues. Here's the (rather) long story.My hardware is quite old by modern standards. Intel Q6600 Quad Core processor, Asus mainboard, 6GB RAM, SSD, 3x HDD, DVD-RW, sound card and a Radeon 6850. I've have a generic case with a no-name PSU for 6 years. Everything worked flawlessly until I upgraded my graphics card to the current Radeon 6850. At the same times I decided that my old "500W" PSU wouldn't be enough for the new card so I had to buy a new one.The problem? I also have a CyberPower 1000 AVR (http://www.amazon.com/CyberPower-CP1500AVRLCD-Intelligent-1500VA-Tower/dp/B000FBK3QK/) UPS which, alas, is not Active PFC compatible. When I bought the UPS a couple of months previously I didn't realize that there might be incompatibility issues between it and an A-PFC PSU. For that reason, I felt that I was quite limited in my options as to what PSU I can use. So I went for the highest power PSU I could find that didn't have A-PFC. That was a Thermaltake 600W. I paid about $60 for it.The Thermaltake failed after 4 months. Signs of death? Computer would restart randomly, sometimes in a loop until I shut it down for a few minutes. Though it supposedly has a 5 year warranty I didn't want to be hassled with returning it and potentially paying for shipping myself. In the meantime I re-installed my old "500W" supply. That one worked better than the dead Thermaltake (obviously), except that the system would freeze randomly (but not reboot) 1-2 times a day, requiring a hard reset. I imagined that it couldn't handle the stress of the Radeon 6850. So I started to shop around for a real PSU.I finally settled on the Corsair HX850 after reading many reviews, some of them claiming that this PSU works well with the owner's non Active PSU compliant UPS.Well, after 2 months of use, I can tell you this. The 850HX is excellent and it hasn't had the slightest issue with my UPS. There's no buzzing or humming. In truth, I haven't disconnected the power from the UPS yet to see if it really works but I don't expect any issues. If I do that I will post an update here.The PSU is very well packaged (if a bit excessive). It is big and heavy so you need to measure the space inside your case before buying it. I didn't have any issues because I have a mid tower which has plenty of space. The only thing that keeps it from being perfect (but still 5-star worthy) is the fact that it's not fully modular. The ATX power and PCI-X cables are not modular but this isn't usually a problem because you would use those anyway. Apart from that it has plenty of other (modular) cables that you can use if you have a lot of drives or graphics cards.So far the 850HX has been rock solid and my computer hasn't crashed once. I just hope it stays true to its good reputation and 5-year warranty. I will update this review if there are any issues in the future.