Introduction

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

The Professional HX series used to be Corsair's flagship of PSU products, until the AX series was launched. The main differences between HX and AX series are the different OEMs, the first are built by CWT while the second by Flextronics (AX1200) and Seasonic (AX850, AX750), the efficiency rating (HX:Silver, AX:Gold) and the used cabling design, the HX models utilize a semi-modular cable design while all three AX PSUs are fully modular.

Only recently, at Computex 2011, Corsair introduced the new HX1050. We suspect that the main reason behind the release of this model was that Corsair had a gap in this wattage range. To be more exact, the AX series does not include a 1000W PSU, the HX1000W counted many years in production and the competition was getting very rough. So a new PSU at this wattage range was urgently needed to enrich Corsair's arsenal.

The HX1050 shares the same OEM with the older HX1000W although the used platform is completely different. The capacity of the successor is increased by 50W and efficiency remained at the same level, 80 Plus Silver. The single +12V rail is able to deliver up to 87.5A at 50 °C, there are six PCIe connectors and two EPS ones, the warranty is the same with all Corsair's high-end PSUs, seven years. If the price ends up being competitive then HX1050 is going to be very popular among enthusiasts that cannot afford the high price of AX1200.

Specifications

In the user's manual it states that the HX1050 is compatible with ATX 2.31 and EPS 2.92 standards but in the product's web page it writes that it is compatible with ATX 2.2 and EPS 2.91. The web page tells the truth, since the ATX 2.31 standard requires at least two +12V rails and the HX1050 is single rail.

The price is $50 lower than the AX1200, to tell you the truth we expected a lower price. Actually it is the most expensive >1000W Silver efficiency PSU. Even the overpriced Enermax REVOLUTION85+ ERV1020EWT costs $209.99 on Newegg. Hopefully, for Corsair, the performance of HX1050 will justify its high price.


There is only one, powerful, +12V rail which is able to deliver up to 87.5A. Due to the DC-DC converters used for the minor rails generation the PSU is able to output its max power to the +12V rail alone. This is very convenient since modern systems draw power mainly from this rail. Finally Corsair states that the max power of 1050W is attainable at 50°C ambient.

Cables & Connectors, Power Distribution

There many connectors available, even for the 1050W of the unit. Our only objection is that the six PCIe connectors cannot be used at the same time with the two EPS ones. This is because on the modular panel there are four connectors to which you can connect either the PCIe cables or the modular EPS, so if you occupy all of them with PCIe cables then the modular EPS connector will be left out.

All cables are long enough and the distance between connectors is the right one, according to ATX spec. Finally, the 20+4 pin ATX cable uses thicker 16 AWG wires while all other cables use 18 AWG. We would prefer PCIe and EPS cables to use 16 AWG wires.

Since this PSU features a single +12V rail we do not have anything to comment about its power distribution.