Quality: Corsair vs Seasonic

[EdT]

The term quality here means build quality, performance, customer delightment and better value for the money overall.

After doing an extensive search and comparision, I would have to say Corsair offers better quality for the same or even less.

Corsair Pros:

1. Higher wattage than Seasonic's offerring of the same equivalent models
2. Wires are mesh loomed
3. 5 years warranty as oppose to 3 years
4. Toll free 1-800 number with legendary tech support
5. Good rebates compared to none

Any others I am forgetting ?

[merlin]

You forget to mention that corsair sources many of their psu's from seasonic. Basically I consider corsair a good retail company that gets specifically designed seasonic units. Seasonic does have an advantage in uber-low end units like 250-350w ones. I would personally always take the advantage of corsair's retail presence with more support, retailers, and rebates.

[jaganath]

1. not really a big plus since most people overestimate how much power they really need.
2. isn't this simply a cosmetic feature?
3. Seasonic now offer 5-yr warranty on all retail products (assume this applies in Canada as well)
4. ok
5. marketing strategy of corsair is probably to offer rebates to gain a foothold/market share, once they are established, like seasonic, expect less rebates over time.

corsair are doing very well at the moment, yes. however there have been reports that the non-Seasonic OEM units are not as quiet as the HX520/620/VX450.

[dhanson865]

You have #1 reversed. Corsair is rated as higher quality because they pay Seasonic to take a 650 watt PSU, put higher quality components in it and call it a 620 watt PSU.

Yes they are better quality on average than their Seasonic counterparts but mostly the difference is marketing.

Let's add some corsair rep quotes in the mix

The manufacturer breaks down like this:

VX450 - Seasonic
VX550 - CWT

HX520 - Seasonic
HX620 - Seasonic

TX650 - Seasonic
TX750 - CWT

The TX650 is based on a revision of the S12-II design from Seasonic, with some small component changes and our own cable config (longer cables, fully sleeved, more connectors, etc).

To be honest, not really. The TX650 is kind of designed to be a less expensive HX620 for people who don't care about or want modular cables.

And don't get me started on why the HX is 620W and the TX is 650W. You wouldn't believe how many meetings I've been in where that question gets asked.

As a side note, our test methodology is so stringent we caught something even Seasonic wasn't aware of. A $120,000 Chroma tester and a hardcore engineering team will do that, I guess.

The TX series is going to be like a higher-wattage VX series. Non-modular,
great price/performance.

We're not moving away from modular, we're just making good quality fixed cable products as well for people that are interested in them.

It sometimes upsets me that people think our PSUs have the same finish that Seasonic's units do. We spent extra on ours to get it to be a very rough, unfinished type of texture. It's not a cheap finish, but I like the look and feel of it better than a lot of the "nickel-plated" or whatever PSUs I see. Especially since I can't seem to keep my grubby fingerprints off those ones.

And a lot of people would be surprised how fast prices go up.

For argument's sake, let's say you get a quote like this:

Stock 500W PSU @ 50C - $50

Then you add the following:
-Custom cable lengths - $1.50
-Customized number of connectors - $2
-Custom paint - $2
-High quality 105C capacitors - $3
-Better quality fan - $3
-Custom colored labels - $2.50
-Custom box with multi-color design - $3

Now your $50 PSU is $67. It's a considerably better PSU than the "stock" 500W PSU, but that $17 manufacturer cost translates into $30-40 retail at least.

So now you have Craptech, Inc: at 500W for $65 retail, or UpgradeCo, Inc: at 500W for $99 retail. And everyone's saying "they're the same thing!" because they're built by the same manufacturer.

And some people ask "why would I pay more for custom labels or a nicer box?"

[EdT]

Availability of a product is also important !

Seasonic has been on the market for PSU for quite awhile and I can't find one retailer that is close to me, not many people are as crazy as members here to buy online and pay for shipping on top of paying over $100 for a PSU most think I am nuts, while Corsair who are new to the PSU game is stocked by almost every computer retailer or they can order it from their distributors !

I gave up looking for a Seasonic after phoning a dozen places which list they carry Seasonic PSU, but they never keep in stock. I bought a Corsair in the end since I was able to find it easily and the merchant gave me $15 off the retail cost which sealed the deal on top of the $20 rebate I will be getting from Corsair which brings the cost to $35 less on a PSU !

For example the prices here in Canada goes something like this:

Seasonic S12II 430w costs @$85
Corsair 650TX 650w costs @$80

Which one would you choose ?