Corsair Goes Pro with AX Series Power Supplies

[Rob Williams]

When Corsair first launched its HX series of power supplies, they were well received for their high-quality and dependability. In no real regard could that series be considered to be a value proposition, but to prove that things can indeed improve, Corsair has now followed-up with its AX series of power supplies, or simply "Professional Series".

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You can read the rest of our post here.

 

[Tharic-Nar]

PSU's are one of those components in a PC I never skimp on, I used to when people asked me to build a 'gaming' rig for £400 but I warned them then and there that the first thing to go will be the PSU, if they want to fork over a bit more for a better PSU, I will, but it's their choice, but of course gaming first, PSU second.... So far 6 out of 7 PC's I’ve built with cheap PSU's have all died due to a bad PSU, all within or shortly after a year.

Corsair PSU's.... when I first looked into them a few years back, I was seriously sceptical, they seemed like yet another memory company expanding its market through brand power alone. Now, I can't fault them at all, built 6 systems with their PSU's inside, not one has failed, the oldest being 3 years. The same can't be said for OCZ, but that’s another matter.

This AX series looks like it runs on a dual 12v rail system, looking at the picture above, its split down the middle almost. Unless of course it's taken from its server inspired nature and has a single 12v rail with load balance, but just guessing.

The modular motherboard cable actually does have a use... all be it a very niche use... Quad SLI/Crossfire or EVGA's crazy super wide dual socket motherboard with 7 PCI-E slots. If you want maximum stability with a fully kitted out board, you'd need 2 PSU's. That means 2 lots of default wiring to contend with, even though only one needs to be attached to the MB. With the above, if they provide a shorting pin, you don't need to handle all the extra wiring.

 

[Kougar]

I never skimp on a PSU, but it sure hasn't helped me over the past three months as I have had two units fail in a row for different reasons. I guess I'll make a detailed thread on it rather than hijack this one.


It is always interesting to see customized heatsinks in any power supply. The vast majority of power supplies (even expensive enthusiast units) tend to use two massive blocks of aluminum as heatsinks. Considering how little heatsink surface area there is in those photos, I'd be really curious to see how warm those get under sustained loads...

80 Plus ratings are nothing new, but ya should make the distinction between "80 Plus" and 80 Plus Gold. The difference is 80 Plus requires 80% efficiency minimum at any load, across all products identical to the certified sample that was tested. Most power supplies meet this standard today.

80 Plus Gold requires 90% or greater efficiency at 50% loads, 87% efficiency or greater at 20% & 100% loads. Extremely few companies make Gold certified units... PC Power & Cooling does not. OCZ and even Seasonic only have a couple. And you pay for it too.

Speaking of which, I only see one model, the AX 1200W unit. I wonder if it will cost $300, or even more since I'm now suddenly in the market for a new PSU...

Edit: Just noticed in the photo they have 750 and 850 units listed. I did not realize Rob linked only to the AX1200 product page.