Corsair Memory

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Corsair Memory

Type	Private
Founded	1994
Headquarters	Fremont, California, USA
Key people	Don Lieberman John Beekley Andy Paul
Industry	Computer hardware
Products	Computer memory Flash memory Power supplies
Website	www.corsair.com

Corsair Memory is a computer electronics company that produces computer memory, primarily for the computer enthusiast crowd, although they also produce a value line called "Value Select." Its memory has a reputation in the enthusiast community as high quality, both in terms of performance and reliability. They also recently started producing power supply units for the general public. Their power supplies, like their RAM, have a reputation in the computer enthusiast community as high quality, both in terms of performance and reliability. Its logo is a row of stylized sails, presumably from the typical vessel of a corsair during the 16th through 19th centuries.

Corsair is a privately held company based in Fremont, California. It was founded in 1994 by Don Lieberman, John Beekley, and Andy Paul. Originally the company produced Cache-On-A-Stick (COAST) modules for Intel-based systems. However, Intel moved the cache from the motherboard to the processor die, and Corsair changed their focus to computer memory. In the late 1990s, Corsair once again changed focus from producing standard memory to producing memory that was rated above spec, widely known as overclocking memory. The XMS product line is known as the "performance" or "overclocking" line, while the Value Select line is designed for the mainstream user.

Corsair also produces the Flash Voyager USB flash drive, a rugged USB thumb drive encased in rubber that is water resistant and has gathered a large following from enthusiasts due to its robustness. Much like the Value Select line, there is a low-price equivalent USB flash drive available from Corsair, but it is encased in standard plastic and the densities do not scale as high as the Flash Voyager.

A Flash Voyager USB Drive (2 gigs)

Corsair has also produced numerous watercooling kits. Starting with the Hydrocool, an external solution with an LED display of current temperature and a carrying handle, they then moved to the internal kit with the Corsair Cool, which was based heavily on a Swiftech design. Corsair designed their next watercooling product, the Nautilus 500, entirely in-house. It is a stand-alone external unit with a single 120mm fan and radiator, a low-noise pump, and variable fan speeds. The Nautilus 500 was a significant departure from other watercooling kits as it was designed to retail for an affordable price while not sacrificing performance or ease of installation.

[edit] Power Supply Units

As of 2006, Corsair have started to sell power supplies under its own brand name based on Seasonic and Channel Well designs. These include the modular HX series power supply units, which is available in both 520 watt and 620 watt versions, the TX series power supplies, available in 650 watt and 750 watt versions, and the value VX series power supplies, which come in 450 watt and 550 watt varieties. Both the TX and VX series power supplies use hard wired, or non-modular designs. The HX series PSUs feature three 12-volt power rails, while the TX and VX series power supplies all have a single 12-volt power rail design.^[1]