Corsair AX750 80 Plus Gold: Putting Corsair's Best to the Test
by Martin Kaffei on November 30, 2010 12:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- Corsair
- PSUs
- 80Plus Gold
- 750W
Noise Levels
Ah! Even though Corsair doesn't use a PWM-controlled fan, they do have a nice Sanyo Denki fan. The 9S1212F404 has ball-bearings and 7 well-processed fan blades.
| Sound Pressure Level | |
| Load | dB(A) |
| 10% | 0 |
| 20% | 0 |
| 50% | 18 |
| 80% | 25 |
| 100% | 31 |
| 110% | 33 |
There is no noise at low load (or idle), and it's only when we approach 50% load that the fan begins to spin. With a 750W rating, that means you need to draw at least 375W before you get any noise from the PSU, and even a draw of 600W (80%) results in just 25dB(A)--hardly anything to worry about. Overall the cooling concept is nearly the same as the Seasonic X-series. Of course, it could be quieter at 110% overload, but you normally don't reach this level (or want to!); it's just nice to see that there is an output reserve available.
Just what sort of components would even require 600W of power? Short of running 10+ HDDs, an overclocked i7-920 (essentially i7-965 at 3.33GHz) and two GTX 580 GPUs in SLI with a single SSD maxed out at a punishing 777W... but that's wall power. Even at 90% efficiency you'd still only pull 700W from the PSU, and that's with our worst-case Furmark load. In other words, short of tri-SLI, insane overclocking, and/or tons of HDDs the AX750 should be able to handle anything you throw at it.
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Chapbass - Tuesday, November 30, 2010 - link
On the cables and connectors page: last para:The only potential issue is if you want to load up all we SATA connectors with a bottom-mounted PUS; the distance from the PSU to the first connector is only 45cm (give or take), with a fairly large 12-13cm gap between the connectors, so you'd want the HDD bays to be relatively close to the PSU rather than in the top portion of the case.
First sentence has a few typos. Still reading, but figured I'd point it out.
Shadowmaster625 - Tuesday, November 30, 2010 - link
Aren't all PUS's bottom mounted?Stuka87 - Tuesday, November 30, 2010 - link
Many newer cases do use a bottom mounted CPU, but it is hardly the only form factor.Stuka87 - Tuesday, November 30, 2010 - link
CPU should be PSU. Wish there was an edit :/Iketh - Wednesday, December 1, 2010 - link
pretty sure they're rear-mounted when bent overNintendesert - Tuesday, November 30, 2010 - link
Last page, first paragraph."Gold requirements. 91% at 50% load is not to shabby."
It should be "too shabby."
Chapbass - Tuesday, November 30, 2010 - link
Gotta say this PSU looks impressive. I'm going to need something soon for my server (not much in the way of cpu and video power, but along the lines of 18-20 HDD's), and something like this might fit the bill. we'll have to see :)props to corsair, another solid unit.
prince34 - Tuesday, November 30, 2010 - link
I've been looking for a new high quality PSU for a new build early next year. This looks very promising. Also, Newegg has a $20 mail in rebate and $15 promotional code with free shipping. Thats $135 up front and $115 in the end. That is hard to beat.mino - Tuesday, November 30, 2010 - link
This left me puzzled though:"The AX has DC-to-DC for the smaller rails, so +12V feeds +3.3V/+5V and you can't use the whole 62A there."
I know of exactly ZERO XXX-watt power supplies where you can load 3.3V or 5V _in_addition_to_ the XXX watts being consumed on 12V rails.
Actually, most PSU's on the market do not allow anywhere near 99% of its rated load purely via 12V rails like this one. So if anything, such an arrangement should considered a plus.
Beenthere - Tuesday, November 30, 2010 - link
These days there are lots of PSUs to chose from and the devil seems to be in the details. History has shown that Seasonic can produce good PSUs under their own brand and for other companies but that not all PSUs from them are not equal in design or performance.Without knowing exactly what the hardware differences are between PSUs and how this impacts performance or reliability makes it challenging when purchasing a new PSU. I watch hardware sites for patterns of issues with specific PSU models and brands when I'm looking for a new PSU.