Corsair Gaming Series GS800 800W Power Supply review

1. Introduction2. Corsair Gaming Series GS800 800W (Bundle & Cables)3. Corsair Gaming Series GS800 800W (Exterior)4. Corsair Gaming Series GS800 800W (Interior)5. Corsair Gaming Series GS800 800W (Super High Res Gallery)6. Testing Methodology & Results7. Closing Thoughts8. View All Pages

Today we are looking at the latest power supply from Corsair, the Gaming Series GS800 – an 800W unit firmly targeting the mainstream enthusiast audience. This 80Plus Bronze Certified unit is a non modular design with a single +12V rail, supported by a three year warranty.

The Gaming Series from Corsair features a 600W, 700W and 800W model. They are priced £58, £72 and £84 respectively in the United Kingdom and feature user adjustable lighting to enhance the appearance of a system build.

This lighting can be controlled via a dedicated switch on the back of the chassis and there is an detachable ‘color ring accessory pack' available separately to compliment the design.

Technical Specifications

• A dedicated single +12V rail offers maximum compatibility with the latest components.
• Fanless mode at low loads for quiet operation, with an ultra-quiet 140mm double ball-bearing fan that delivers excellent airflow when needed.
• Color adjustable LED fan can switch between red, blue, white, and off settings by pressing the button on the back (600W model – blue or off mode only).
• 80 PLUS Bronze certified, delivering up to 85% energy efficiency under real-world load conditions.
• Active Power Factor Correction (PFC) with PF value of 0.99.
• Universal AC input from 100~240VAV.
• Over-voltage, under-voltage, over-current, and short circuit protection provide maximum safety for your critical system components.
• High-quality capacitors provide uncompromised performance and reliability.
• A three year warranty and lifetime access to Corsair's legendary technical support and customer service.
• Safety Approvals:  cTUVus, CE, CB, FCC Class B, TÜV, CCC, C-tick.

Compatibility

• Conforms to ATX12V v2.31 standard, and is backward compatible with the ATX12V 2.2 and ATX12V 2.01 standards.

The Corsair box art is a showcase on how to present a product. A stylish, artistic image of the product takes up most of the front panel, exposing the lighting possibilities.

The GS800 ships inside a brown box with the warranty and user manual resting on top. The power supply itself is protected between two egg shell style cardboard surrounds.

Corsair also supply a regional specific power cable, mounting screws and some cable ties to improve the appearance of the system build.

The Gaming Series GS800 is a non modular design, so all the cables are hardwired to the chassis. These are decent quality and sleeved for appearance.

The Gaming Series GS800 has four 6+2 pin PCI-e cables to cater for a variety of Crossfire and SLI system builds. There is only a single EPS connector.

Corsair's Gaming Series GS800 power supply is well finished, with the logo cleanly presented along the sides of the chassis. The paintwork is resistant against minor scratches and fingerprints.

The images above highlight the blue strip running across the top of the chassis and onto the side panels. This can be detached from the chassis and replaced with another colour, available from Corsair, at extra cost.

This Colour Ring accessory pack is an interesting idea, but we don't expect an enthusiast user to spend more money matching this strip with other lighting in a system build. That said, we could be completely wrong.

All of the cables are hardwired and emerge from the rear of the chassis. Not ideal for a media system build, but the non modular design helps to keep down the costs a little.

A large 140mm fan takes centerstage at the top of the chassis. The Corsair logo is proudly presented in the middle as part of the chassis, above the fan.

The other side of the GS800 is vented with the name of the product visible. There is a power connector and switch, alongside the lighting on/off switch.

Corsair Gaming Series GS800
DC Output	+3.3V	+5V	+12V	-12V	+5Vsb
Max Output	25A	25A	66A	0.8A	3A
Max Combined Wattage	150W		792W	9.6W	15W
	800W

The Gaming Series GS800 can output 66A via the +12V output.

Corsair are using a 140mm Ong Hua fan, model HA1425H12B-Z. This is a seven blade transparent fan which takes 0.50A. Maximum speed is rated at 2,800 RPM. We have seen this model before in the OCZ Fatal1ty 1000W power supply and it was quite good, if not the best on the market.

This is a Channel Well Technology design and is well laid out. There are only a couple of black heatsinks inside the unit. This is a single +12V rail design and is 80 Plus Bronze Certified, an improvement over the original design. It has achieved the following safety approvals:  cTUVus, CE, CB, FCC Class B, TÜV, CCC, and C-Tick. It confirms to the ATX12V v2.31 standard.

Corsair are using high grade capacitors in this design, all rated to 105c. The primary capacitor is rated 400V 470 uF @ 105c. The first stage of the transient filtering stages starts at the AC receptacle with two Y and a single X capacitor. The second stage has two Y capacitors, an X capacitor, an MOV and a coil. The cables are fed into the chassis and are sleeved and tied down to protect against potential long term fraying.

On this page we present some super high resolution images of the product taken with the 24.5MP Nikon D3X camera and 24-70mm ED lens. These will take much longer to open due to the dimensions, especially on slower connections. If you use these pictures on another site or publication, please credit Kitguru.net as the owner/source. You can right click and ‘save as’ to your computer to view later.

Additional technical assistance: Peter McFarland and Jeremy Price.

Correctly testing power supplies is a complex procedure and KitGuru have configured a test bench which can deliver up to a 2,000 watt DC load. Due to public requests we have changed our temperature settings recently – previously we rated with ambient temperatures at 25C, we have increased ambient temperatures by 10c (to 35c) in our environment to greater reflect warmer internal chassis conditions.

We use combinations of the following hardware:
• SunMoon SM-268
• CSI3710A Programmable DC load (+3.3V and +5V outputs)
• CSI3711A Programmable DC load (+12V1, +12V2, +12V3, and +12V4)
• Extech Power Analyzer
• Extech MultiMaster MM570 digital multimeter
• Extech digital sound level meter
• Digital oscilloscope (20M S/s with 12 Bit ADC)
• Variable Autotransformer, 1.4 KVA

DC Output Load Regulation
Combined DC Load	+3.3V		+5V		+12V		+5VSB		-12V
	A	V	A	V	A	V	A	V	A	V
100W	1.55	3.34	1.77	5.07	6.65	12.05	0.5	5.03	0.20	-12.06
200W	3.15	3.31	3.43	5.04	13.51	12.02	1.0	5.02	0.30	-12.08
400W	6.15	3.29	7.17	5.03	27.60	11.97	1.5	4.99	0.50	-12.10
600W	9.46	3.27	10.79	5.00	41.31	11.94	2.0	4.97	0.60	-12.10
800W	13.22	3.25	15.08	4.97	55.36	11.90	2.5	4.95	0.80	-12.13

The Corsair GS800 delivers acceptable results in the load regulation test. It does drop from 12.05 to 11.90V for example across the load range.

Corsair Gaming Series GS800 800W	Maximum Load
	854W

We managed to get the PSU to hit 854W before it would shut down. delivering around 54W more than the rated specifications.

Next we want to try Cross Loading. This basically means loads which are not balanced. If a PC for instance needs 500W on the +12V outputs but something like 30W via the combined 3.3V and +5V outputs then the voltage regulation can fluctuate badly.

Cross Load Testing	+3.3V		+5V		+12V		-12V		+5VSB
	A	V	A	V	A	V	A	V	A	V
760W	1.0	3.33	1.0	5.06	60.0	11.87	0.2	-12.08	0.50	5.01
165W	15.0	3.27	18.0	4.96	2.0	12.05	0.2	-12.09	0.50	5.01

Cross loading results are decent, however the +12V output dropped to 11.87 when hit with 60A. Not a problem under real world conditions, but repeatable with the equipment we use.

We then used an oscilloscope to measure AC ripple and noise present on the DC outputs. We set the oscilloscope time base to check for AC ripple at both high and low ends of the spectrum.

ATX12V V2.2 specification for DC output ripple and noise is defined in the ATX 12V power supply design guide.

ATX12V Ver 2.2 Noise/Ripple Tolerance
Output	Ripple (mV p-p)
+3.3V	50
+5V	50
+12V1	120
+12V2	120
-12V	120
+5VSB	50

Obviously when measuring AC noise and ripple on the DC outputs the cleaner (less recorded) means we have a better end result. We measured this AC signal amplitude to see how closely the unit complied with the ATX standard.

AC Ripple (mV p-p)
DC Load	+3.3V	+5V	+12V	5VSB
100W	5	10	15	10
200W	10	10	15	10
400W	10	15	20	15
600W	10	20	30	15
800W	10	25	55	20

Noise suppression across the output falls well within the rated tolerance guidelines peaking at 55 mV on the +12V output. +3.3V peaks at 10 mV which is excellent and the +5V peaks at 25 mV.

These certainly aren't a class leading set of results, but the design is technically very capable.

Efficiency (%)
100W	80.78
200W	82.34
400W	85.74
600W	83.46
800W	82.56

The efficiency results are quite good for an 80 Plus Bronze Certified unit, peaking at 85.74% at 50% load. This drops to under 82.56% at full load.

We take the issue of noise very seriously at KitGuru and this is why we have built a special home brew system as a reference point when we test noise levels of various components. Why do this? Well this means we can eliminate secondary noise pollution in the test room and concentrate on components we are testing. It also brings us slightly closer to industry standards, such as DIN 45635.

Today to test the power supply we have taken it into our acoustics room environment and have set our Digital Sound Level Noise Decibel Meter Style 2 one meter away from the unit. We have no other fans running so we can effectively measure just the noise from the unit itself.

As this can be a little confusing for people, here are various dBa ratings in with real world situations to help describe the various levels.

KitGuru noise guide
10dBA – Normal Breathing/Rustling Leaves.
20-25dBA – Whisper.
30dBA – High Quality Computer fan.
40dBA – A Bubbling Brook, or a Refrigerator.
50dBA – Normal Conversation.
60dBA – Laughter.
70dBA – Vacuum Cleaner or Hairdryer.
80dBA – City Traffic or a Garbage Disposal.
90dBA – Motorcycle or Lawnmower.
100dBA – MP3 Player at maximum output.
110dBA – Orchestra.
120dBA – Front row rock concert/Jet Engine.
130dBA – Threshold of Pain.
140dBA – Military Jet takeoff/Gunshot (close range).
160dBA – Instant Perforation of eardrum.

Noise (dBA)
100W	//
200W	//
400W	29.2
600W	32.9
800W	37.3

The large 140mm fan doesn't activate at all until around 25 percent of power is demanded. At 500W it spins up, emitting some noise although it is not noticeable, even from close distance.

The power supply is relatively quiet until the last 100W of load, when the fan spins up dramatically to compensate for rising temperatures. It isn't practical to be running this unit at 700-800W long term so we would realistically class the GS800 as very quiet.

Temperature (c)
	Intake	Exhaust
100W	36	40
200W	37	42
400W	38	45
600W	39	53
800W	44	58

The temperatures rise to 58C when fully loaded, or 14c above the ambient intake threshold.

Maximum load	Efficiency
854W	81.41%

For those interested, we measured efficiency when stressing the unit to breaking point. Almost 81.41% at 854 watts. Not realistic at all, but an interesting closing point.

The Corsair Gaming Series GS800 800W is an attractive, well designed power supply which has been built to appeal to the fashion conscious enthusiast user base. I have to admit that I am not stimulated with the inclusion of a lighting switch on a power supply, however for the audience with a windowed panel case and LED strips, it may well prove a worthy addition.

Corsair have galvanised this concept idea with a removable ‘ring' section which may be swapped out with different coloured versions. Arguably this is a superficial addition, however it seems unfair to be too critical when it is an aspect of the design you can ignore completely, if you wish.

Technically, the CWT design is solid and capable but not quite at the same level as the best models we have tested in recent months.

Load regulation is above average and we only experienced some droop from 12.05 to 11.87 when we hit the unit quickly with 60A of power on the +12V rail. Noise suppression is good, falling well within the rated tolerance levels, peaking at 10 mV on the +3.3V output and 25 mV on the +5V output. The +12V output peaked at 55mV which is well within the rated guidelines of 120 mV.

For an 80 Plus Bronze Certified unit, efficiency levels are quite strong, peaking at 85.74 percent at 50 percent load. Noise levels are more impressive, with the unit generating very little, until the last 100W of load. We can't imagine anyone buying this power supply will be demanding 700W+ on a constant basis. If you are then we would recommend aiming a little further up the food chain – at a 1000W supply.

The Corsair Gaming Series GS800 800W power supply will be ideally suited to gamers who run a single, or dual graphics card system and who want to enhance the appearance of their windowed system build with additional glowing lights. As a design concept we think it makes a worthy addition to their range.

Sadly the non modular design may alienate some of the audience contemplating a new 750W-850W supply, as they may well be left routing additional cables they don't actually need.

This power supply is available from Scan for £83.76 inc vat.

Pros:

• A lot of work has went into the appearance.
• Lighting switch.
• Technically it is a sound design.
• Quiet until around 700W of power output.
• Decent noise suppression.
• Efficiency is good for 80 Plus Bronze.

Cons:

• Non modular.

Kitguru says: A good purchasing decision if you want to focus on the appearance of your system. Technically it is a stable, reliable design at a good price.

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