Repairing a Corsair HX850 Power Supply?


Recommended Posts

I've been running the Corsair 520w PSU since 2007/08 and haven't had a single problem (hope I don't jinx it with this post). Perhaps Seasonic have made changes in their manufacturing process but there seems to be a very interesting thread over at overclock.net which investigates the issue of failure of new Seasonic/Corsair PSU's after about 6 months or so of use:

http://www.overclock...nic-x560-owners (issue affects Corsair AX range too)

Yes I have a surge protector, a cheap one that I think I paid $20 - $30 for but it's a surge protector. I'm not so sure about the wiring in our apartment complex though, I haven't bought another brand of PSU to confirm whether it's the PSU or something external contributing to the failure of my PSU.

I didnt see this post last week when this thread was started - but it is all starting to make sense.

NO that is NOT A SURGE PROTECTOR - $20-$30 is a piece of junk power strip - nothing more. it might be a Surge Suppressor but it is not a Surge Protector. yes, there is a difference.

Whatever you decide to do - get a decent surge protector. APC, or Tripp-Lite are great. Anything more than $30 is OK; anything less is nothing but a power strip to add more unprotected power cables.

Obviously its not worth spending $200 on a 900W APC w/ LED screen if its protecting a 4 year old HP or some netbook - but everything piece of electronics I own is plugged into some kind of protection.

After I saw a gaming computer melt a power cable and start a fire with my own eyes - I have been vigilant about power protection.

Ok, so I am not sure now that the PSU was the sole fault of my system. While replacing the PSU has caused the issues to subside I have experienced two random shutdowns since replacing the PSU. I honestly think my motherboard may be part of the problem as well. Since I bought the motherboard I've had problems with the system not booting with my DDR3 ram in slots 1, 3 and 5, however the system will boot with the ram in slots 2, 4, and 6. Another thing is that I accidentally dropped a piece of thin copper/metal wire into one of the PCI-e x16 slots which I was sure I got out before booting the PC.

Only problem is that I am not sure I can RMA my motherboard as I stupidly tried to remove the sticker with the serial number due to planning to request an RMA in the past since I didn't want to remove the motherboard just to get to the serial number.

:Edit: Also when I was experiencing issues with my PSU, sometimes when the system shutdown or rebooted my system clock would be reset.

This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Posts

    • Surprise Execs are dumb. I hope the rehired engineers said were not coming back until we get 2x our salary.
    • Ford execs say they made a mistake when they replaced human engineers with AI by David Uzondu Ford recently announced that over the last three years, it's had to rehire about 350 "gray beard" engineers to mentor younger staff and reprogram diagnostic systems and AI tools that were failing to meet up to quality expectations. The company's VP of vehicle hardware engineering, Charles **** said that leaders overlooked the deep experience of veterans who survived many product cycles. **** admitted that simply replacing them with AI was a huge mistake, and that while AI is "a fantastic tool," it remains "only as good as the information you use to train it." The rehired engineers now run mandatory meetings to troubleshoot vehicles and reprogram automated engineering software and AI tools to prevent glitches before production. These technical specialists hunt for failure points before parts ever reach the plant floor, helping prevent the massive recalls and defects that previously cost the company billions as it aims to cut one billion dollars in expenses this year. In last year's JD Power Quality Survey, an annual study that measures the quality of a car during the first three months of ownership, Ford finished 10th among mainstream brands and scored below the industry average. But this year, JD Power ranked the automaker as the top mainstream brand, placing it above the likes of Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. Ford attributed this massive improvement directly to the expertise of these returned engineers. Ford's realization that AI cannot magically design and test quality vehicles without senior human oversight is just the tip of the iceberg. When Careerminds looked at companies that conducted AI-driven layoffs, researchers found out that 35.6% of those companies had to rehire more than half of the employees they previously fired. Another 32.7% had to rehire between 25% and 50% of them. In 2024, Sebastian Siemiatkowski, CEO of Klarna, proudly announced that its new chatbot was doing the work of 700 full-time customer service agents. As a result, the fintech company froze hiring and cut hundreds of positions. But by mid 2025, and into 2026, Klarna was scrambling to recruit human agents again because customer satisfaction had plummeted. It turns out, while AI is very good at answering basic questions like how to check an account balance, when faced with complex customer issues that require nuance, the thing usually resorts to the unhelpful, robotic corporate jargon we all know and love.
    • Free AI in IDEs is shifting to paid models Or you know, you could just learn to actually design and code apps, use frameworks to handle the repetitive parts and not use AI at all - and voila... free for life!
    • In a sane world US antitrust laws wouldn't even allow these companies to be in the position to be subjected to EU directives. As you say, better than oligarch nothing.
    • Apple reportedly has a second-generation iPhone Fold planned for 2027 Good grief, Apple hasn't even released a first folding phone and the Apple faithful is already obsessing over the sequel? Seriously people, go out and touch grass... because this level of obsession is borderline stalkery/neurotic.
  • Recent Achievements

    • Week One Done
      xvvxcvv earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • One Month Later
      xvvxcvv earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • Enthusiast
      Xonos went up a rank
      Enthusiast
    • Conversation Starter
      Admir earned a badge
      Conversation Starter
    • First Post
      The_Focal_Point earned a badge
      First Post
  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      405
    2. 2
      +Edouard
      169
    3. 3
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      129
    4. 4
      neufuse
      69
    5. 5
      Xenon
      68
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!