Corsair's HX 620W
Not just memory anymore

Better known for its memory products, Corsair recently dipped into the power supply market with its HX 620W. As one might expect given Corsair's roots, this model is targeted squarely at enthusiasts, packing just about every bell and whistle you'd want—well, every bell and whistle short of an 80 Plus badge, but we'll see in a moment why that doesn't matter.

The HX is certified for SLI, and it's one of only a couple of PSUs in this round-up available with enough 8-pin PCIe connectors to support a Radeon HD 2900 XT CrossFire config. Given its CrossFire capability, the HX's 620W rating is a little surprising. Other high-end units in this round-up promise 700W or more.

What the HX may lack in output wattage it starts to make up with five years of warranty coverage. The PSU also sports active power factor correction and a temperature-controlled 120mm fan mounted on the bottom panel of the unit.

The HX's real allure is its modular cabling system. The ability to remove unused leads does wonders for reducing enclosure clutter, and since the HX comes with a few extras, you can juggle its output between 4-pin peripheral and SATA connectors as you see fit.

These aren't your standard modular cables, either. Most modular PSUs rely on leads that look like they've been adapted from traditional units, but the ones bundled with the HX aren't just sheathed lengths of twisted wires with a PSU hook-up at one end. These cables have a custom-made feel, and their ribbon-like leads don't require sheathing to stay tidy.

The HX is particularly impressive when we hook it up to The Beast. DC voltages remain flat across all three load levels, with none deviating by much more than 1%.

AC ripple is consistently low, as well. None of the lines register AC content above roughly 12 millivolts, and 3.3 and 5V ripple are at their lowest under our 100% load.

Even without official 80 Plus certification, the HX has no problem maintaining efficiency above 82% across all three load levels. This is highest overall efficiency we've seen so far, proving you don't need an 80 Plus badge to conserve power.