The Emperor of Efficiency: Corsair's AX1600i PSU Rules Alone (Review)
by E. Fylladitakis on April 18, 2018 9:30 AM ESTHot Test Results
The Corsair AX1500i already was the benchmark of electrical quality, leaving very little room for improvement. Although the AX1600i might appear to deliver a little bit better power quality, the truth is that we would need very high precision equipment to tell the difference between the two, and any difference would be unimportantly small. However, that does not lessen the fact that the AX1600i delivers possibly the best power quality that can be bought at this point of time. For the most part, the voltage ripple of any line is less than ten millivolts. The maximum ripple on the 12V line is just 14 mV and that is with a massive current draw of almost 124 amperes. The voltage regulation is equally impressive, with a variation of just 0.2% on the 12V line across the nominal load range. Voltage regulation is a little bit worse on the 3.3V/5V lines, at 0.4%/0.25% respectively, which figures still are a lot better than what most current high-performance PSUs can achieve.
| Main Output | ||||||||
| Load (Watts) | 321.91 W | 804.24 W | 1205.17 W | 1606.8 W | ||||
| Load (Percent) | 20.12% | 50.26% | 75.32% | 100.42% | ||||
| Amperes | Volts | Amperes | Volts | Amperes | Volts | Amperes | Volts | |
| 3.3 V | 2.78 | 3.33 | 6.96 | 3.33 | 10.44 | 3.31 | 13.92 | 3.31 |
| 5 V | 2.78 | 5.05 | 6.96 | 5.05 | 10.44 | 5.04 | 13.92 | 5.03 |
| 12 V | 24.74 | 12.07 | 61.85 | 12.06 | 92.78 | 12.05 | 123.71 | 12.05 |
| Line | Regulation (20% to 100% load) |
Voltage Ripple (mV) | |||||
| 20% Load | 50% Load | 75% Load | 100% Load | CL1 12V |
CL2 3.3V + 5V |
||
| 3.3V | 0.4% | 6 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 4 | 10 |
| 5V | 0.25% | 4 | 6 | 10 | 10 | 6 | 12 |
| 12V | 0.2% | 6 | 8 | 10 | 14 | 12 | 6 |
When it comes to adverse ambient conditions, the Corsair AX1600i is a true fortress. Operating the AX1600i inside our hotbox had virtually no impact on its electrical performance and/or efficiency. Even though the ambient temperature was well over 45 °C, the efficiency drop across the entire range was a mere 0.1%. This suggests that the components of the AX1600i are far from getting thermally overstressed, even with the PSU operating at maximum output under these adverse conditions.
The only thing inside the AX1600i that is affected by the high ambient temperature is the cooling fan. It will still not even start with a load below 460 Watts but it is livelier once it does start, increasing its speed at a higher rate as the load increases. It ultimately reaches about 45.5 dB(A) at maximum load, which would be a low figure even for a mainstream PSU with an output of some hundred Watts, yet the AX1600i manages to maintain comfortable noise levels operating at maximum load with an ambient temperature of over 48°C. The internal temperatures of the PSU also are very low taking its power output and low fan speed into account.
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Belldandy - Wednesday, April 18, 2018 - link
For most people the Seasonic Prime Ultra Titanium is the best PSU they will ever need.IBM760XL - Wednesday, April 18, 2018 - link
That's the one I want to buy next. I was curious if this would match it at my typical 100-200W loads, despite being so much lower on its efficiency curve than a 600-700W Seasonic Titanium model. But the price is pretty eye-watering. The environmentalist in me will be satisfied by the Prime Ultra.Still, glad to see technological progress being made. Put the new technology in a 700W PSU in a few years, with a bit more economy of scale, and I'd probably buy it.
SonicIce - Thursday, April 19, 2018 - link
Strange the Prime series was made in Taiwan (the only PSU I've ever seen not made in China), but the new Prime Ultra series is made in China. Hmmm.rtho782 - Thursday, April 19, 2018 - link
My AX1500i died a month ago, and I got one of these as a warranty replacement :)It's a very nice PSU, even though it's still way overkill for me really. My system never draws more than about 750W. I am also very happy that it's a little shorter than the AX1500i.
rtho782 - Thursday, April 19, 2018 - link
> The side stickers can be (permanently) replaced with those supplied with the unit's bundled items.Are you sure? Mine were magnetic.
nowwhatnapster - Friday, April 20, 2018 - link
Can confirm, they are magnetic. It's a sleek cover up. Not permanent at all, which is a good thing IMOCheapSushi - Friday, April 20, 2018 - link
I dream about these designs getting smaller. Imagine this in SFX-L. As all our systems get more efficiency, smaller scaled, etc, the ATX PSU's are starting to seem like relics. Not the wattage, but the volume of the thing itself. SFX and SFX-L I hope become the de facto "standard" size. GaN components, like mentioned, is the step to that. I know people are making snide comments, but thank you Corsair for actually doing something to push PSU designs. A future SFX-L version would be amazing.Ninjawithagun - Thursday, May 10, 2018 - link
There is an SFX-L 800W Titanium PSU made by Silverstone:https://www.amazon.com/SilverStone-Technology-SX80...
Ninjawithagun - Thursday, May 10, 2018 - link
No need to replace my AX1500i Titanium PSU, but it's good to know Corsair has not fallen asleep ;-)