Corsair HX1000 PSU Review

By Aris Mpitziopoulos
published

Tom's Hardware Verdict

A high quality PSU with excellent performance and a hefty warranty. What more to ask from Corsair? Probably a way to offer the same excellent ripple suppression without using in cable caps, which make the cables less flexible and bulky.

Pros

  • +

    Full power at 47°C

  • +

    Efficient

  • +

    Ripple suppression

  • +

    Full protection features set

  • +

    Load regulation

  • +

    Hold-up time

  • +

    Accurate Power Ok signal

  • +

    Low EMI

  • +

    Build quality

  • +

    Silent

  • +

    Inrush current (115V)

  • +

    Fully modular

  • +

    2x EPS & 8x PCIe connectors

  • +

    FDB fan

  • +

    Semi-passive mode

  • +

    Ability to switch to multi +12V rail mode

  • +

    10-year warranty

Cons

  • -

    OCP at 5VSB

  • -

    Bulky ATX, EPS and PCIe cables

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Features & Specifications

Releasing the HX PSU family was definitely a smart move on Corsair's part. It offers similar (if not higher) performance as the HXi models, thanks to extra filtering capacitors. And a lower price tag is made possible by dropping the digital monitoring (and partial control) support found on products with Corsair Link functionality.

We already reviewed the family's flagship HX1200, which impressed us enough to earn an award. So now it's time to take one step down and see if Corsair's 1000W implementation is as good. Why wouldn't it be? Well, the HX1000 does not use the same platform as the HX1200, justifying our fresh round of testing. The only let-down we've spotted in Corsair's HX family so far, though, is that the HX650 and HX750 only include a single EPS connector. Given that all Socket TR4 motherboards require two EPS connectors, we'd like to see both models with a second one.

The HX1000 is fully modular and equipped with one powerful +12V rail. Corsair does give you the option to use multiple +12V rails through a switch on the back, though.

We wish the company implemented something similar for its semi-passive mode. Instead, there is no switch and the semi-passive mode is always active. A spinning fan helps keep heat from building up inside the PSU, improving its longevity, and we prefer this always-on behavior whenever it's offered.

Specifications

The HX1000 caries 80 PLUS Platinum and ETA-A (88-91%) efficiency certifications, along with a LAMBDA-A- (25-30 dB[A]) noise certification from Cybenetics. Without a doubt, the HX1000 is very quiet for a 1kW PSU. Most of its competition demonstrates >30 dB(A) noise output.

Corsair's operating temperature rating for continuous maximum power delivery is 50°C, meeting the ATX spec's corresponding requirement. Moreover, all necessary protection features are present, including the essential over-temperature protection.

Cooling is handled by the same FDB fan used on all of Corsair's other high-end offerings lately. It's a low-speed fan that, combined with the HX1000's conservative profile, enables minimal noise output even under tough operating conditions.

A 10-year warranty is generously long. However, we think that cryptocurrency mining is going to put those lengthy guarantees to the test unless companies like Corsair can find a way to exclude PSUs hammered by 24/7 mining workloads. The time has come for more realistic warranty periods. Otherwise, manufacturers are facing a flood of returns as abused hardware starts failing prematurely.

Power Specifications

Swipe to scroll horizontally
Rail3.3V5V12V5VSB-12V
Max. PowerAmps252583.330.8
Watts1501000159.6
Total Max. Power (W)1000

The HX1000 boasts strong minor rails capable of 150W maximum combined power output. Moreover, the +12V rail can deliver more than 83A. And fifteen watts of capacity is plenty for the 5VSB rail.

Cables And Connectors

Swipe to scroll horizontally
Modular Cables
DescriptionCable CountConnector Count (Total)Gauge
ATX connector 20+4 pin (600mm)1116-20AWG
4+4 pin EPS12V (650mm)2218AWG
6+2 pin PCIe (670mm+100mm) 4816-18AWG
SATA (450mm+110mm+110mm+110mm)41618AWG
Four-pin Molex (450mm+100mm+100mm+100mm)2818AWG
FDD Adapter (+100mm)1120AWG

Two EPS connectors and eight PCIe ones across four cables are plenty to cover every imaginable usage scenario. The number of SATA connectors is adequate, and the same goes for four-pin Molex connectors since we don't often see eight of them (even in the highest-capacity PSUs). Corsair bundles a FDD adapter for those folks who still need one.

Power Distribution

There is a switch that lets you choose between one +12V rail or multiple +12V rails. Across the HXi family, this is achieved using Corsair Link software. However, since the HX models don't have a digital interface, a different approach had to be used.

The +12V rails can deliver up to 40A each if the multi-rail mode is selected. According to Corsair, each individual connector has over-current protection, so no more than 40A goes through any given cable.


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Aris Mpitziopoulos
Aris Mpitziopoulos
Contributing Editor

Aris Mpitziopoulos is a Contributing Editor at Tom's Hardware US, covering PSUs.

14 Comments Comment from the forums
  • samer.forums
    Can any one explain to me why we need such high end expensive power supplies for PCs ?

    I Overclock my PC fully , and I moved from (seasonic) Bronze grade power supply to Tier one expensive Titanium power supply and I did not gain anything in real life , nothing, Zero. the same performance and the same electric bill and both power supplies never failed.

    Sure the better power supply on paper will give better results .. but they are way above the requirement of the PC hardware.

    Reply
  • turkey3_scratch
    20248574 said:
    Can any one explain to me why we need such high end expensive power supplies for PCs ?

    I Overclock my PC fully , and I moved from (seasonic) Bronze grade power supply to Tier one expensive Titanium power supply and I did not gain anything in real life , nothing, Zero. the same performance and the same electric bill and both power supplies never failed.

    Sure the better power supply on paper will give better results .. but they are way above the requirement of the PC hardware.

    Overclocking the CPU is mostly dependent on the motherboard. It can be helped by having a better PSU, because in turn that makes it easier on the motherboard, but I wouldn't expect any major gains from getting a new power supply. I think it also depends on how much your CPU can overclock. People who are really pushing their CPUs to the maximum, they won the lottery and are really pushing it, they may benefit from a better PSU.

    Your electric bill is only going to change depending on a lot of factors. Air conditioning and home appliances are going to take up 90% of your electric bill, and because the percentage of that bill making up your computer is so small it can almost be ignored at times. The change is so small that it is not distinguishable between your other household appliances most likely.

    And getting a good PSU is not just for trying to help overclocking; a PSU with good performance will usually increase the lifespan of the rest of the computer, and one with bad performance will decrease the lifespan of the hardware. So if you plan on having your computer for many many years a good PSU is a good idea. If you plan on swapping parts every 1-2 years then PSU performance may be a lot less important to you.

    Still, expensive PSUs have better build quality so the PSUs themselves are going to last longer, and if they're designed properly like this one they can be very quiet. Cheap PSUs can be loud.
    Reply
  • dstarr3
    20248805 said:
    20248574 said:
    Can any one explain to me why we need such high end expensive power supplies for PCs ?

    I Overclock my PC fully , and I moved from (seasonic) Bronze grade power supply to Tier one expensive Titanium power supply and I did not gain anything in real life , nothing, Zero. the same performance and the same electric bill and both power supplies never failed.

    Sure the better power supply on paper will give better results .. but they are way above the requirement of the PC hardware.

    Overclocking the CPU is mostly dependent on the motherboard. It can be helped by having a better PSU, because in turn that makes it easier on the motherboard, but I wouldn't expect any major gains from getting a new power supply. I think it also depends on how much your CPU can overclock. People who are really pushing their CPUs to the maximum, they won the lottery and are really pushing it, they may benefit from a better PSU.

    Your electric bill is only going to change depending on a lot of factors. Air conditioning and home appliances are going to take up 90% of your electric bill, and because the percentage of that bill making up your computer is so small it can almost be ignored at times. The change is so small that it is not distinguishable between your other household appliances most likely.

    And getting a good PSU is not just for trying to help overclocking; a PSU with good performance will usually increase the lifespan of the rest of the computer, and one with bad performance will decrease the lifespan of the hardware. So if you plan on having your computer for many many years a good PSU is a good idea. If you plan on swapping parts every 1-2 years then PSU performance may be a lot less important to you.

    Still, expensive PSUs have better build quality so the PSUs themselves are going to last longer, and if they're designed properly like this one they can be very quiet. Cheap PSUs can be loud.

    That explains why one would buy high-quality PSUs, sure. But it doesn't explain why one would buy such high-wattage PSUs. Buying a 1000W PSU isn't going to benefit your machine if it only needs 500W on full load.

    Now that 3- and 4-way SLI is on the outs, I can only assume it's just the miners that need so much wattage anymore.
    Reply
  • turkey3_scratch
    20248811 said:
    That explains why one would buy high-quality PSUs, sure. But it doesn't explain why one would buy such high-wattage PSUs. Buying a 1000W PSU isn't going to benefit your machine if it only needs 500W on full load.

    Now that 3- and 4-way SLI is on the outs, I can only assume it's just the miners that need so much wattage anymore.

    Well you could take two overclocked 1080Tis, together those can be about 500W. Then if you have one of Intel or AMD's highest-end CPUs overclocked really well, that can be up to 150W probably if they have really good overclocks. Account for other stuff, probably around 725W under load. So in this case some people may buy a 1000W PSU, I don't know. But yeah, I see very few instances where someone would need one.

    And some people do believe that buying a bit higher of a wattage will help it last longer. Whether true or not probably depends on a lot of factors like how the fan behaves and efficiency and other stuff.

    But usually I like to get a PSU with better build quality and lower wattage than one with slightly less good build quality and higher wattage.
    Reply
  • padrescout
    It's the same reason Johnny Everyman buys a Dodge Hellcat. Nobody needs a 700 horsepower car to tool around town in. But some people like the image of having it. It implies things without saying anything and generally reflects positively on the owner in their social tribe.

    But mostly because a lot of people have more money than brains.
    Reply
  • turkey3_scratch
    20249162 said:
    It's the same reason Johnny Everyman buys a Dodge Hellcat. Nobody needs a 700 horsepower car to tool around town in. But some people like the image of having it. It implies things without saying anything and generally reflects positively on the owner in their social tribe.

    But mostly because a lot of people have more money than brains.

    Assuming everybody buys something for the same reason isn't very reasonable.
    Reply
  • samer.forums
    20248805 said:
    20248574 said:
    Can any one explain to me why we need such high end expensive power supplies for PCs ?

    I Overclock my PC fully , and I moved from (seasonic) Bronze grade power supply to Tier one expensive Titanium power supply and I did not gain anything in real life , nothing, Zero. the same performance and the same electric bill and both power supplies never failed.

    Sure the better power supply on paper will give better results .. but they are way above the requirement of the PC hardware.

    Overclocking the CPU is mostly dependent on the motherboard. It can be helped by having a better PSU, because in turn that makes it easier on the motherboard, but I wouldn't expect any major gains from getting a new power supply. I think it also depends on how much your CPU can overclock. People who are really pushing their CPUs to the maximum, they won the lottery and are really pushing it, they may benefit from a better PSU.

    Your electric bill is only going to change depending on a lot of factors. Air conditioning and home appliances are going to take up 90% of your electric bill, and because the percentage of that bill making up your computer is so small it can almost be ignored at times. The change is so small that it is not distinguishable between your other household appliances most likely.

    And getting a good PSU is not just for trying to help overclocking; a PSU with good performance will usually increase the lifespan of the rest of the computer, and one with bad performance will decrease the lifespan of the hardware. So if you plan on having your computer for many many years a good PSU is a good idea. If you plan on swapping parts every 1-2 years then PSU performance may be a lot less important to you.

    Still, expensive PSUs have better build quality so the PSUs themselves are going to last longer, and if they're designed properly like this one they can be very quiet. Cheap PSUs can be loud.

    I never had any power supply fails all my life ... last time I changed a power supply was for low voltage haswell issue and not because my old one died.

    Even one of my Plus 80 (below bronze) powersupply lasted 7 years without any issues, I only buy Seasonic by the way and Corsair.

    and for motherboards parts , they never failed as well

    Life span is not a big deal when you buy a good brand that follow the standard specifications for the pc parts.

    I still need a valid reason to convince me that buying an expensive powersupply is better in real life and not on paper.
    Reply
  • turkey3_scratch
    The original Seasonic-made Corsair HX power supplies from 2008, i.e. one like this, had RMA rated above 10% they were so unreliable (I received this info on the Jonnyguru forums a while back). So really you can't just go by brand. And you may have not had failures personally, but other people have. Personal experience does not dictate the broader spectrum.
    Reply
  • samer.forums
    20249230 said:
    The original Seasonic-made Corsair HX power supplies from 2008, i.e. one like this, had RMA rated above 10% they were so unreliable (I received this info on the Jonnyguru forums a while back). So really you can't just go by brand. And you may have not had failures personally, but other people have. Personal experience does not dictate the broader spectrum.

    I am not talking about fail rate . I am talking about what I get for paying for high end powersupply and I want to see if they are overkill and not needed at all or not. fail rate is something else. you can get a cheap Bronze powersupply with low fail rate .
    Reply
  • Larmo-Ct
    For "future proofing", I always buy 1200 Watt PSUs.. As Tim the "Tool Man Taylor" in the old Home Improvement TV show, use to say.. "Mooore poowwerr!! Awh.. Awh..!" :-)
    Reply