Corsair AX1000 PSU Review: Titanium-Class Efficiency, at a Premium Price

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Protection Features, DC Power Sequencing, Cross-Load Tests and Infrared Images

Protection Features

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Protection Features
OCP12V: 117A (140.96%), 12.137V 5V: 40.7A (162.8%), 5.053V 3.3V: 38.4A (153.6%), 3.35V 5VSB: 4.3A (143.33%), 4.861V
OPP1419.7W (141.97%)
OTP✓ (180°C @ 12V heat sink)
SCP12V: ✓ 5V: ✓ 3.3V: ✓ 5VSB: ✓ -12V: ✓
PWR_OKOperates properly
NLO
SIPSurge: MOV Inrush: NTC thermistor & bypass relay

DC Power Sequencing

According to Intel’s most recent Power Supply Design Guide (revision 1.4), the +12V and 5V outputs must be equal to or greater than the 3.3V rail at all times.

In all three tests that we ran, the 3.3V rail's voltage was indeed lower than the other two rails.

Cross Load Tests

To generate the following charts, we set our loaders to auto mode through custom-made software before trying more than 25,000 possible load combinations with the +12V, 5V, and 3.3V rails. The deviations in each of the charts below are calculated by taking the nominal values of the rails (12V, 5V, and 3.3V) as point zero. The ambient temperature during testing was between 30°C (86°F) and 32°C (89.6°F).

Load Regulation Charts

Load regulation remains tight on every rail.

Efficiency Chart

There is a small region where efficiency exceeds 94%. For a much larger area, the AX1000 falls between 92-94% efficiency. Taken as a whole, our efficiency readings look good.

Ripple Charts

Ripple represents the AC fluctuations (periodic) and noise (random) found in the PSU's DC rails. This phenomenon significantly decreases the capacitors' life span because it causes them to run hotter. A 10°C increase can cut into a cap's useful life by 50 percent. Ripple also plays an important role in overall system stability, especially when overclocking is involved.

The ripple suppression is excellent on all four rails.

Infrared Images

We apply a half-load for 10 minutes with the PSU's top cover and cooling fan removed before taking photos with a modified FLIR E4 camera able to deliver an IR resolution of 320x240 (76,800 pixels).

Temperatures inside of the PSU stay low, even in the face of our unforgiving test conditions. This explains why Corsair is able to get away with a relaxed fan profile.

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Aris Mpitziopoulos
Contributing Editor

Aris Mpitziopoulos is a contributing editor at Tom's Hardware, covering PSUs.

  • Dark Lord of Tech
    Great review , thanks , much appreciated.
    Reply
  • Aris_Mp
    Thank you! There were some changes also in the format.. Made it easier to follow :)
    Reply
  • marcelo_vidal
    evga 430 die in one year =) if you do the math you will spend 370 on cheap evgas or you can pay 27 dollars for year to get a monster
    Reply
  • wdnemesis
    I would like to see Cable Mod team up with Corsair and seasonic. I prefer cable Mod cables. The Corsair ones look fine but most people that purchase this type probably use modded cables as well. This PSU would be amazing with that option.
    Reply
  • drtweak
    I just got a AXi1200i on Newegg. Damn good price. Was on sale for 149.99 + a 20 dollar mail in rebate. I love using it with the Corsair link software and watching this baby be 91-93% Efficient all the time. I had a CM600 before which was fine, but between planed upgrades soon, and also combining my plex server with my gaming PC, 600 wasn't enough power, amps, or connectors to power a FX8320 OC'ed, GTX 960, and 13 hard drives lol
    Reply
  • PapaCrazy
    21722950 said:
    I just got a AXi1200i on Newegg. Damn good price. Was on sale for 149.99 + a 20 dollar mail in rebate. I love using it with the Corsair link software and watching this baby be 91-93% Efficient all the time. I had a CM600 before which was fine, but between planed upgrades soon, and also combining my plex server with my gaming PC, 600 wasn't enough power, amps, or connectors to power a FX8320 OC'ed, GTX 960, and 13 hard drives lol

    Hard drive power requirements can sneak up on you. I once plugged too many HDDs into a SATA line and started having drives randomly disconnect. I think I might have corrupted them that way.

    Reply
  • jimmysmitty
    21722950 said:
    I just got a AXi1200i on Newegg. Damn good price. Was on sale for 149.99 + a 20 dollar mail in rebate. I love using it with the Corsair link software and watching this baby be 91-93% Efficient all the time. I had a CM600 before which was fine, but between planed upgrades soon, and also combining my plex server with my gaming PC, 600 wasn't enough power, amps, or connectors to power a FX8320 OC'ed, GTX 960, and 13 hard drives lol

    I got a AX860i for less than retail as I worked at a repair shop so discount about 5 years ago and its still going. its a great little unit. I still think the AXi series is one of the best PSUs out there and worth the money.
    Reply
  • Dark Lord of Tech
    I have the RM1000i White Special Edition which was limited to 100 total units. Great PSU.
    Reply
  • BoredErica
    From 0-300w it seems cooler than passive 600w Seasonic PSU. Did you remeasure the PSUs since a year ago?
    Reply