[Rant] The clash between the Raven RV-03 case and the Corsair HX650 Gold PSU

In the previous post, I wrote about how I ended up buying the Corsair HX650 Gold PSU for my current rig. Actually, this PSU will eventually end up in a SFF build. I’m in the verge of slowly moving from my current rig to a SFF rig. Since I have no idea when I will be able make the complete translation, it ended up going in my current rig for now.

The PSU was ordered from Sofmap where the PSU was available at the cheapest price. The PSU arrived within two days and I quickly installed it.

It felt a bit harder to push it into the PSU compartment of the Silverstone Raven RV-03 case. But finally it went in. First hurdle passed. I hope I won’t have a hard time pulling it out.

Then there was the 2nd hurdle - a much more problematic than before. The orientation of the power socket at the back of the PSU seemed problematic. It was 90 degrees rotated compared to the TX850 and at first I thought the internal power cable of the case wasn’t long enough. (The following pic shows how they end up when installed inside the Raven RV-03 case. The power cable comes from the top right hand corner.)

But luckily it fit OK. I had to pull it with all my might though. After I plugged it in, it went back to a relaxed position. The installation was the hard part. (Later I found that there was a easier way to do it.)

[Gadget] Ended up getting the Corsair HX650 PSU

In the previous post I talked about how I managed to get rid of my 3 year old PSU all thanks to Rakuten Auctions. Now it was time to get a new PSU.

Originally I was going to get the Silverstone Strider Plus ST60F-PS because it was only 140mm in length and was fully modular, both of which would help when building a SFF PC. Further, even though the efficiency was rated as 80Plus Silver, it was hitting Gold spec. And the price was reasonable – just under JPY10,000. But its modular cables were bulky and not flat in shape as the ones that come with some of the higher quality PSUs. According to reviews, it was a great PSU for the price and the features, but some people were saying that it stopped working after a couple of weeks and the quality of the PSU design could be better. After what happened with my Plantronics Backbeat Go 2 wireless headset, I’ve grown a bit more sensitive about these warranty issues.

Thus, I wanted to see if there were better options. My criteria was like below.

1. 80Plus Silver or better efficiency rating
2. 600W to 700W
3. 160mm max length
4. Modular or semi-modular, but the position where the cables come out matters

Building a Corsair powered PC (Why isn't Corsair making Corsair branded PCs?)

Remember when Corsair was a company that was just selling RAM for PCs? In the last 3-4 years, they have really upped their game and now they are selling almost all the computer peripherals you would need to build your entire PC. The only things that they are not making yet are the CPU (not a chance), motherboard, HDD, video card (these three probably would not be made by them) and display (might happen someday!). They make everything else. It won't be too far from the day that they will make Corsair branded PCs, like Dell and HP.

But let's beat them to it, shall we? We'll make a very high-end PC with all the Corsair components, less the CPU, motherboard, HDD, video card and display. Sure, those 5 components comprise of pretty much 75% of the cost of the entire PC. But it's not Corsair's fault. 

Here's the Corsair item list.

Case: Carbide Air 540
This case comes with a unique design and is fully optimized for cooling your toasty components.

CPU cooler: H110 close loop liquid cooler
This is the only closed loop water cooler that doesn't compromise noise for cooling performance.

SSD: Neutron GTX 240GB or 480GB

The only SSD that comes with the enterprise grade LAMD 'Amber' LM87800 controller aimed at the regular consumer.

RAM: Vengeance Pro DDR3-2400 CL10 16GB
The new Vengeance Pro RAM gives high performance without sacrificing looks. Comes with many colors to match your own color scheme.

PSU: AX760i digital 80Plus Platinum PSU
The least expensive all digital power supply unit from Corsair. We are going with the least expensive one because we don't need a lot of power. If you intend to use multiple GPUs in your rig, go for 860i or even 1200i. For a single GPU, even a 760i it more than enough.

Keyboard: Vengeance K95 mechanical gaming keyboard

Corsair's highest-end mechanical keyboard. Shame that it doesn't come with an LCD like the G19.

Mouse: Vengeance M95 laser gaming mouse
Corsair's highest-end laser mouse that comes with lots of buttons.

Headset: Vengeance 2000 Dolby 7.1 surround wireless headset
Wireless headsets is the way to go when you are buying one for gaming. With 7.1 "virtual" surround, you can easily pinpoint where you enemy is coming from.

Speakers: SP2500 high power 2.1 gaming speakers

Corsair made two speakers for gamers. The SP2200, which was a failure, and the SP2500 which was not. SP2500 is up there amongst the best 2.1 PC speakers out there.

Case fans: fill every hole with a AF120/140 quiet edition fan
Corsair AF series fans are also amongst the best case fans out there.

The rest of the components are for you to decide really. But since these are all high-end components from Corsair, you should match them with high-end components as well. I'll recommend some for you. (I'm keeping the number of different brands to a minimum, hence I chose Asus because they make displays as well. Nothing against Gigabyte, MSI and the rest.)

Haswell Build
CPU: Intel Core i7 4770K
Motherboard: Asus Maximus VI Hero
GPU: Asus GTX780 Direct CUII
Display: Asus PB278Q 1440P display
HDD: Seagate ST3000DM001 (x2)

SandyBridge-E Build
CPU: Intel Core i7 3930K
Motherboard: Asus Rampage IV Formula
GPU: Asus GTX780 Direct CUII
Display: Asus PB278Q 1440P display
HDD: Seagate ST3000DM001 (x2)

I don't understand why Corsair doesn't make Corsair branded PCs yet. Maybe they don't see too many margins in that business?

Finally something to rival the clutter free cable management ofRavenRV03 - Corsair Obsidian Air 540D

Corsair just announced the Obsidian Air 540D case at COMPUTEX 2013 show. What's special about this case is that it is optimized for airflow from front to back without any restrictions and you can computer hide the cable clutter behind the motherboard tray. Only Silverstone's Raven RV03 offered such benefits before this. 

The PSU and the drive cages are computers hidden behind the motherboard tray. That means, there is a lot of space behind the motherboard tray. In fact, the case is fat. It is wider than your usually case. 

The Raven RV03 came with a lot f restrictions because of its design. You cannot install a tall tower air cooler, nor a dual 120mm radiator, nor a single or dual 140mm radiator. But that is not a problem with the Corsair Obsidian Air 540D. This case is not long, because the hard drive cages are no there in front of the case. So basically, all you have on the front of the left hand side is fans. Those fans directly feed cool air to the video card, the CPU and the other components. There aren't any restrictions. You don't have to run your fans at full speed either. So it is a much quieter case. The front panel and the drive cages, along with the PSU at the back are all on the right hand side of the case. That compartment is completely shielded off from the motherboard tray. Well, there are of course cable management holes. 

Pics courtesy of Techpowerup. Head here for more pics and information.

But there is one issue. The case in not long, which means that of you have a large PSU with a gazillion of cables coming out of it, it would look cramped up. Not sure if the drives would have enough room for breathing. With a small (<1000w) PSU, it won't be a problem though. Plus, a modular PSU definitely would help. I am so mad that I didn't get a modular PSU when I bought mine. I was so blinded by the low price I paid for the PSU. Stupid me!

RMAing Corsair SP2200 speakers in Japan

I finally tried RMAing my Corsair SP2200 speakers that have developed a crackling in the left speaker and got RMA approved from Corsair. Why I reached Corsair for RMA was because the shop that I bought the speakers from, called Clevery, did not respond to my emails. But few days later I found out that the shop had gone bankrupt. So convenient for them! I could not think of any other way, other than to reach out Corsair for support.

 

I actually applied for RMA twice and got approved both times.

 

First time when the RMA got approved, I had to ship it to Hong Kong (from Japan). I didn't go through with it because it would cost a lot of money to ship that large thing across the sea. I decided to give up on RMA and live with the defective product even though it was painfully frustrating.

 

This is the address I had to ship it to.

 

Please also mark the RMA number clearly on your package, and ship your RMA to the following address:

Corsair Inc. ATTN: RMA Department
Unit B &C , 13th Floor, Tai Sang Container and Godown Centre
2-10 Cheung Fai Road, Tsing Yi, NT
Hong Kong
+852 2756 8118

 

I was searching the internet for a way to fix this myself, and I came across an interesting forum post. One guy who had the same problem, was awarded a set of SP2500 speakers for an additional $50 because the SP2200 speakers were no longer manufactured. SP2500 speakers don't seem to have this crackling issue, and they are their premium speakers. Switching to them for an additional $50 was well worth it. The actual price difference was $150. I was wondering if I will be given that option if I RMA now. So I applied for RMA again. It got approved as well, and I had to send it to the same address as before, but they didn't say anything about SP2200s were not manufactured anymore. Sucks! But I decided to send the speakers anyways.

 

Corsair SP2200 speakers - crackling noise and a possible fix

This is not the first time this has happened. This is the 3rd time. Somehow it self-healed the first two times. It has started to give the same issues once again.

These are the known facts:

1. The crackling noise mostly comes from the left speaker

2. It has nothing to do with the input audio signal to the speaker. The problem is there even when the speakers are disconnected from the PC.

3. People on the internet are saying that it got fixed by replacing the power supply of the speakers. Hence, the “power supply” crackling.

Check out the Newegg customer reviews here. Most people are experiencing the same issue.

Speaker problem solved - Corsair SP2200 to the rescue

But the solution was expensive. Bought a new set of speakers. Good ones this time. Corsair SP2200. They solved the weird crackling noises from the Creative’s subwoofer.

 

One problem though. They don’t sound very loud though. Not that I can turn up the volume but I thought it would be louder. But no problem. The problem is gone anyways. I’m happy. Wee!

 

The quality is great too. Supports 100~240V input and also has the volume controller on the satellites. Much easier than the Creative one, which had the volume controller on the sub. Disgusting!

Power crisis in Japan

After the massive earthquake on 11th of March 2011, the Fukushima Number 1 nuclear power plant got destroyed and Japan started facing some power issues. There were planned power cuts for certain areas. Luckily we didn’t get any at Nakanoshima, the town where I am living. The biggest effect of this power crisis was to the trains. All the trains are electric, and power cuts means they cannot operate. Some were stopped to save power as well. No trains means some people cannot go to work. There is no bus service from Nakanoshima to Kosugi, where my workplace is situated in. We have to walk to the next station (Noborito) and take the bus to Mizonokuchi, and then take another bus to Kosugi. I have never taken that route. On the first Monday after the big earthquake, we went to office by bikes. It was a 1hrs ride to the office. Not very exhausting, as the weather was great. (But weather got worse after that. Now it is very cold. Impossible to ride a bike for that far.)

I think a lot of people know about the situation over at Japan, but this post if not actually another replica of a story. This story is completely different, but ironically similar as well. My PC lost its power supply unity on the day after the earthquake. It was a Aqtis 550W PSU, no idea who the OEM is, but seems to be only sold in Japan. But it says on the label that it is made in China.