Corsair AX750 80 Plus Gold: Putting Corsair's Best to the Test

Conclusion

The Corsair AX750 is the best PSU Corsair sells at the moment, and it shows. It has no problems reaching 80 Plus Gold levels, and with 230VAC it even exceeds Gold requirements. 91% at 50% load is not too shabby.

When you open the Corsair PSU you can see a clean Seasonic design with all solid capacitors from Nippon Chemi-Con, a well chosen line filtering stage in the entrance (Delta), and many surface mounted devices on the PCB. A modern Champion IC in combination with an Infineon switcher are a very common picture for high-end PSUs and deliver a proven quality. ZVS and DC-to-DC are the reason for the high efficiency. Corsair is using the best modern technology, and the AX750 delivers.

Throughout the review, we could only come up with a few minor points of criticism. First, the fan connector could be glued down. Second, the fan grille on the nice black case protrudes a little. About the only real potential concern is trying to utilize all of the Molex and SATA connectors in larger tower cases; you'll want to check the case layout before going that route, although that's definitely a niche market. When that's the worst we can come up with, there's obviously very little wrong with the AX750.

At 10% load Corsair reached 82% efficiency, which is nice to see. Similarly, there is almost no ripple or noise on the rails--+3.3V for example is always under 13mV. The other rails have slightly higher results, but in all cases they're under 20mV. The voltage regulation for +3.3V and +5V could be a little bit better, as both rails drop below 3.60%, but realistically the 12V rail is the important criterion and +12V is just 0.25% under the optimal value.

The delivery contents include 12 SATA connectors on four cables (more than the older Seasonic X-750) and four 6/8-pin PCIe connectors with a black sleeving. The 60cm primary cables are sufficient for most cases, you get two floppy-adapters (just in case), a bunch of cable ties to help you clean up the installation, and flat peripheral cables.

As already mentioned in the introduction, you have to pay more for the older Seasonic X-750 than for the new Corsair AX750. Corsair offers the same quality with flat cables for a lower price. The OCZ Z-Series 80Plus Gold OCZZ850M is no match for Corsair as well, because the efficiency is lower and the soldering quality worse. One potential contender we see is the upcoming HCP series from Antec, which will start at 750W. Otherwise we have to wait for the Seasonic X-760, which should be available shortly.

What we can tell you is that right now, the Corsair AX750 provides a great set of features in a stylish package for a very good price. Yes, you can find less expensive options, and if you get a good sale price you can even get a quality PSU for under $80. However, realistically you're looking at spending over $100 if you want 80 Plus Gold, and not all Gold PSUs are created equal. Silence, performance, quality, and an attractive price make the AX750 very difficult to beat. This is easily one of the best power supplies on the market right now, and for that we're presenting Corsair with our Gold Editors' Choice award. You can get similar performance and quality, but the pricing is usually higher and unless you like waiting to see what the competition can bring to bear, this is a great high-end PSU.