Review - Corsair AX860i Power Supply [Guru3D.com]

[Hilbert Hagedoorn]

For this article we review the Corsair AX860i PSU. The 860 Watt Power Supply is grand in performance, the one massive 72A 12-volts says it all really. Excellent for multi-GPU solutions and hardcore overclockers. Similar to the premium model Corsair also embeds their LINK technology into the PSU. That means you can monitor the PSU with the help of software, things like PSU efficiency, power usage or simply to adjust the fan RPM. We'll show you that in the review though.

Review - Corsair AX860i Power Supply

[SLI-756]

Lovely review!
Oh i'll take one, another 680, ..big ass cpu cooler and it's time to take over the world! or something like that
*But sure give us the games that demand such investments and we'll cough up.
*Hopefully hitman is a hardware hog.

[fgw]

was waiting for this psu as the 1200i is overkill in my situation.

i still have a question regarding noise:

corsair states the fan will not spin up if load is below about 20% AND if temperatures are below a certain level. what i'm really interested is the point where the fan starts to spin. the test i'm looking for is to put the psu into a closed case with a single gpu, let the system idle or may be run under light load and wait if the fan starts to spin as temperatures rise. the big question here is, after what time the fan will start to spin if it starts at all! what load was measured during this test (AC/wall outlet or DC/psu readings doesn't matter)?
best case would be the fan did not start at all as temperatures won't rise enough because of the psu's high efficiency.

no stress test on cpu or gpu during this test. just idle or light load as ms-office or surfing the web. using just the cpu fan, gpu fan and if required a single case fan. multiple case fans might keep the psu ambient temps artificially low, thus shifting the point where the fan kicks in.

hilbert, would it be possible to perform this test with the ax860i. pretty sure some more ppl would be interested in this.

also is there any buzzing sound coming from the psu. have read some reports of such buzzing sound generated by the ax1200i over on the corsair forums.

ps. all reviews come up with graphs and figures regarding efficiency, voltage stability ripple and this stuff. i guess many ppl don't care if ripple is 10mv or 20mv or voltage drops to 12.0V instead of 12.05V. also if efficiency is 2% more or less won't be an issue in real life. but if the psu is able to stop the fan completely under light load and the fan remains stopped keeping the system silent, guess that's something everybody will realize quickly.

[lucidus]

Merda .. $229?

[Mufflore]

Originally Posted by fgw

was waiting for this psu as the 1200i is overkill in my situation.

i still have a question regarding noise:

corsair states the fan will not spin up if load is below about 20% AND if temperatures are below a certain level. what i'm really interested is the point where the fan starts to spin. the test i'm looking for is to put the psu into a closed case with a single gpu, let the system idle or may be run under light load and wait if the fan starts to spin as temperatures rise. the big question here is, after what time the fan will start to spin if it starts at all! what load was measured during this test (AC/wall outlet or DC/psu readings doesn't matter)?
best case would be the fan did not start at all as temperatures won't rise enough because of the psu's high efficiency.

no stress test on cpu or gpu during this test. just idle or light load as ms-office or surfing the web. using just the cpu fan, gpu fan and if required a single case fan. multiple case fans might keep the psu ambient temps artificially low, thus shifting the point where the fan kicks in.

hilbert, would it be possible to perform this test with the ax860i. pretty sure some more ppl would be interested in this.

Its going to be better than my AX750 because it is a bit more efficient, so produces even less heat and this PSU is damn good.
My fan comes on very occasionally at idle (approx 130W), its spins very slow for a few moments and then stops.
Even under heavy load, the fan is silent, so at idle you have no chance of hearing it.

[The_Fool]

This amazing PSU even beats my Corshair Professional HX850 a little. If I had a lesser model instead of this HX850 I'd upgrade for sure.

[TurboMan]

Good PSU but price is not justified. There are numerous other options out there which are far less expensive. Are you guys counting pennies for electricity ? Only third world countries care about electric bills, and even there its not that big of a deal...

[Mufflore]

Originally Posted by TurboMan

Good PSU but price is not justified. There are numerous other options out there which are far less expensive. Are you guys counting pennies for electricity ? Only third world countries care about electric bills, and even there its not that big of a deal...

Thats very short minded.
Do your sums, look at how long the PSU will last and consider how long it will be left on for per day.
Oh wait, you didnt even consider that and you are knocking us?

Also, reliability and aftercare are crucial for some.

[lucidus]

Originally Posted by TurboMan

Are you guys counting pennies for electricity ? Only third world countries care about electric bills, and even there its not that big of a deal...

Watch out .. we have a bad@ss right here!

[TurboMan]

It just looks marginal performance gains for a lot of money. Most of you have decent PSUs. I don't get it. The guy above you has Corsair AX series, if he changes it for this new PSU, to me such a move is not justified at all.

[Mufflore]

Show where anyone said it was a good idea to do that?