Corsair CX430

[acs5071]

I have an older system that I personally built and I am in the process of determining whether to repair it or not. It has some obvious capacitor issues currently. (There is a post about it in the capacitor sub-forum) These recent issues are possibly the result of 2 PSU failures and/or a CPU fan failure in the past (yes, I used the PSU that came with the Apevia case that I bought when I built it) . I am currently running a new (6 mos. ago) Corsair CX430 PSU in this machine.

So the obvious question is this: Is this PSU of sufficient quality to continue using after the repair or should I be looking for something different? Money is DEFINITELY an issue so if it is not likely to cause future drama I would love to leave it in service. If not, what is a reasonable replacement to look for? It's a fairly simple build with no high power cards and such. We just use it for basic computing and organizing tasks.

Thanks in advance for your assistance. Any advice or suggestion welcome. I have read about Asus's dubious (at best) quality and their poor choice in capacitors. I do wish I knew this when I built it... Having said that, you may feel free abuse me about my choices when I built this system. I have a fairly thick skin and maybe I will learn from my mistakes.

Current specs:
Asus P5E-VM DO
Intel Core 2 Duo e6600
Crucial 2 x 2GB DDR2 ram
Running Windows 10pro 64bit
Corsair CX430
2x Asus 2014LT optical drives
1TB Western Digital Red HDD
cheap PCIe x1 sound card (onboard sound quit several years ago)
cheap PCI 56k fax modem card

FWIW - we have always used the onboard video up until now. It always served our needs well and no drama. Now the onboard video crashes over and over which has brought us to this point... I may need to install a video card if the problem persists and everything else seems stable. This might factor into the decision about the PSU and it's capabilities.

[nick122]

Re: Corsair CX430

That psu is filled with aishi (made by fuhjyyu) and capxon caps, although the older ones had teapos and samxons. It's built by cwt (DSAII platform - their entry level stuff). It's definitely better than some "el cheapo" units like deer, sun pro, leadman etc. I were you, I would keep it. It's good enough for that rig.

[ChaosLegionnaire]

Re: Corsair CX430

according to a teardown (there's also a version 2 of this unit) by jonnyguru, it uses samxons and teapos. since u cant open up your power supply to take pictures of your actual unit as its still under warranty, we'll just have to accept jonnyguru's review as being that of the actual unit u have.

anyway, this power supply is about a grade B- to C+. the two year warranty on this unit is telling and gives u a rough idea of how long its meant to last.

if u want to use this power supply with that asus p5e board, definitely recap the board with polymers. polymers can last longer with a low or average power supply compared to electrolytics. however beware, see my other post about how the board *may* not be fixable.

[acs5071]

Re: Corsair CX430

according to a teardown (there's also a version 2 of this unit) by jonnyguru, it uses samxons and teapos. since u cant open up your power supply to take pictures of your actual unit as its still under warranty, we'll just have to accept jonnyguru's review as being that of the actual unit u have.

anyway, this power supply is about a grade B- to C+. the two year warranty on this unit is telling and gives u a rough idea of how long its meant to last.

if u want to use this power supply with that asus p5e board, definitely recap the board with polymers. polymers can last longer with a low or average power supply compared to electrolytics. however beware, see my other post about how the board *may* not be fixable.

Seems like just about what I expected from the level of equipment that it is. Decent utilitarian unit but nothing fancy. I guess it'll do for now if the rest of the unit is willing to be fixed.

[acs5071]

Re: Corsair CX430

So here's the big question:

Is there a consistantly reliable, at least somewhat affordable, manufacturer of power supplies? A company (or companies) that I could count on to produce a solid and reliable product. Something I could buy in a pinch without doing a month of research and also not having to regret my decision several years later because of collateral damage?

I am reading through the forum but even though there's a lot of great information on here, it can be like trying to get a sip of water from a fire hose...

Thanks

Andy

[Audison]

Re: Corsair CX430

https://seasonic.com/ - very high quality
http://www.evga.com/products/ProductList.aspx?type=10 - decent quality
http://www.super-flower.com/powersupplies.html - ok quality

[acs5071]

Re: Corsair CX430

https://seasonic.com/ - very high quality
http://www.evga.com/products/ProductList.aspx?type=10 - decent quality
http://www.super-flower.com/powersupplies.html - ok quality

Well now I really feel like a cheap skate... None of these are particularly expensive. Maybe twice what you pay for a bargain model (doesn't feel like a bargain right now).


Andy

[retiredcaps]

Re: Corsair CX430

I am currently running a new (6 mos. ago) Corsair CX430 PSU in this machine.

There is a good chance this power supply will last 5 years as is given it is only 6 months old especially if money is tight in your situation.

I have only seen one power supply die within a year. It was inside a friend's brand new Acer desktop and I think it was a HiPro. I tried to diagnose the problem, but it still eludes me.

Otherwise, I use used power supplies that I have fixed (generally just a single bloated capacitor on the 5V standby rail) on all my builds at home. I also use used hard drives.

It doesn't matter if you buy new or used, having multiple backups of your data is key.

[junktv]

Re: Corsair CX430

The seasonic S12, M12(modular) ,s12g, G and X series are reasonably priced. When I replace my corsair vx550 I'll be going with one of these.

[ChaosLegionnaire]

Re: Corsair CX430

power supplies based on the superflower leadex platform are currently the best around with the lowest ripple. in the US, its being sold under the evga brand name under the g2 series. a word of caution: its the eVGA G2 series. dont get the gs series which uses junk caps.

i avoid seasonic as i dont have good experience with them. had an m12ii once and it kept killing my hard drives by reallocating sectors. so it seems like there are issues with the 5v rail on that unit as i also had problems getting my usb devices to be recognised or detected. not the mobo as it uses polymer caps.

the seasonic x series also has issues where it will fail to start up.

so hard to find a great grade A+ psu these days...

[junktv]

Re: Corsair CX430

I need to side stj on that thread you linked chaos for the fan noise. My pc is only quiet now because it's been years since cleaned and fans started making noise because the dust cakes. 4 of 12 120mm work still. 12" fan blowing in is easier.

Hope those ky aren't bad caps now.