Corsair AX Series 1000 W Review

Introduction

We would like to thank Corsair for supplying the review sample.


The new AX model comes in capacities of 1000 W and 850 W. Both units are manufactured by Seasonic, and the AX1000 is significant because there hasn't been another AXi model of similar capacity. The AX850 even exists—we don't know for how much longer, though—next to the AX860i, which counts many years in production. The latter features a digital design, but is "only" Platinum-rated, while the AX850 is 80 PLUS Titanium and even Cybenetics ETA-A+ certified, which is even harder to get than the Titanium rating.


The AX1000 will be today's review subject. This unit is based on the topnotch Seasonic Prime platform, so we expect the same stellar performance in all areas. It is of course fully modular and features a semi-passive operation, which can be deactivated should users want the fan to operate constantly. On a side note, you should toggle off semi-passive mode if the unit's fan is facing downward or sideways because the hot air will otherwise be trapped inside.

Specifications

The AX1000 has the Cybenetics LAMBDA-A noise certification, which is a measure of its noise output, in addition to the highly regarded ETA-A+ efficiency certification. At ten years, the provided warranty is extremely long, although Seasonic raised the bar even higher by providing twelve years for its Prime models. Finally, while expensive, the AX1000 still costs less than the similar Seasonic Prime Ultra 1000 W Titanium.

Cables and Connectors

Connectivity is aplenty and includes two EPS and eight PCIe connectors. The 16x SATA connectors allow for a ton of drives, and the eight 4-pin Molex connectors easily cover all peripheral components, like water-cooling pumps, fans, etc. The major complaint here is the short distance between peripheral connectors as these should ideally be 150 mm apart. Lastly, some cables come with in-line caps for better ripple suppression. Unfortunately, those caps make the cables bulky and difficult to work with during installation.

Component Analysis

The Seasonic Prime platform is considered among the best analogue platforms around, so Corsair did well to use it for their new AX models. Build quality is high, and the design is modern. The primary side utilizes a full bridge topology with an LLC resonant converter. The bulk caps are provided by Hitachi and of sufficient capacity for a hold-up time of over 17 ms.


Six Nexperia FETs regulate the +12V rail on the secondary side, and the minor rails (5V and 3.3V) are generated through two voltage-regulation modules. All electrolytic filtering caps are of high quality, and a number of polymer caps are also used.


The cooling fan is provided by Hong Hua. Although I didn't notice anything wrong with the fan during my tests, I would prefer a Corsair fan, either the NR135P with a fluid dynamic bearing or the NR135L with a rifle bearing.