HX850W efficiency rating

Hello

I am in the process of choosing a PSU for a new system I am building and have narrowed it down to two, one of which is the Corsair HX850. While comparing efficiency specs, I noticed that the Corsair website as well as most retailers show that the PSU has an 80 PLUS silver certification, whereas the 80 PLUS organisation's own website lists it as having a gold certification, which would indicate a higher efficiency. Can anyone tell me which one is correct?

Thanks

From our testing we decided to rate the PSU for 80 plus Silver. Apparently the unit that was tested by 80plus.org passed their tests with a Gold rating. It is true that many of these units may in fact pass 80 plus gold, but we feel more comfortable advertising and offering it as a solid 80 Plus Silver unit.

Just curious: what would make an unit qualify for gold? Aren't them all sourced from the same vendor, manufactured using the same components and project?

Just curious: what would make an unit qualify for gold? Aren't them all sourced from the same vendor, manufactured using the same components and project?

Same reason why there are Intel 920, 930, 950, 975, Extreme edition etc CPUs... and Radeon 5850, 5870, 5770 etc.

Same reason why there are Intel 920, 930, 950, 975, Extreme edition etc CPUs... and Radeon 5850, 5870, 5770 etc.

I think is different: AMD cuts down the specs of the chips to meet demands in every single market segment (lower speeds, slower GDDR, etc.).

Here we have a product (always the same excellent PSU) that may or may not meet the 80+ gold.

So, again: why 850HX "A" should be more efficient than 850HX "B"?

I think is different: AMD cuts down the specs of the chips to meet demands in every single market segment (lower speeds, slower GDDR, etc.).

Here we have a product (always the same excellent PSU) that may or may not meet the 80+ gold.

So, again: why 850HX "A" should be more efficient than 850HX "B"?

Same reason why there are Intel 920, 930, 950, 975, Extreme edition etc CPUs... and Radeon 5850, 5870, 5770 etc.

For the exact same reasons that any electronic device or component can test differently from another. All the 850s have the same components inside them. However, in any semiconductor or electronic component, there are variances as no 2 are ever exactly the same.

The HX850 is exceptionally well built and so some units will meet a higher standard than what we specified which is fine. As Mjinz noted, it's just like CPUs, etc. This is why Intel, AMD, Nvidia, ATI, etc bin their products.

From our testing we decided to rate the PSU for 80 plus Silver. Apparently the unit that was tested by 80plus.org passed their tests with a Gold rating. It is true that many of these units may in fact pass 80 plus gold, but we feel more comfortable advertising and offering it as a solid 80 Plus Silver unit.

We will not allow a unit out that does not meet or exceed the HX850 standards. RAM GUY has explained why we went with Silver vs Gold.