Introduction

We would like to thank Corsair for supplying the review sample.

Even though high-end enthusiast products add prestige to manufacturers, the middle and low end ones are of more interest to a greater portion of users and at the end of the day most profit comes from these models, since they are more affordable and sell in larger volume. So it’s natural that all manufacturers strive to have a decent low-middle end PSU category, to satisfy the needs of the average user who does not want to spend a small fortune, yet still wants a reliable power supply.

Corsair’s low end PSU series is called "Builder", with capacities ranging from 400W to 600W. According to Corsair the models of this series deliver worry-free compatibility to a home system and include features normally reserved only to premium and more expensive PSUs. In general they offer great value and their quiet operation along with fair efficiency makes them ideal for low/medium specification home or office PCs. Recently Corsair added three new PSUs to this line, the CX430 V2, CX500 V2 and CX600 V2. In this review we will rigorously test the smallest of the above and find out if it fulfills Corsair’s promises.