ocaholic - PSUs > Corsair HX1000 Platinum 2017 Review

[pagebreak]

Preview

Page 2 - Preview

[pagebreak]

Delivery and Specifications

Delivery
Cable	Length
1 x ATX 20+4 pin	61 cm
2 x EPS/ATX 12V 8 & 4+4 pin	65 cm
8 x PCI-E 6+2 pin	75 cm
4 x 4 SATA	80 cm
2 x 4 Molex	75 cm
1 x FDD adapter	10 cm

The delivery of the HX1000 Platinum 2017 is adequate. Since PSUs with this kind of output power are often used for PCs with multiple graphics cards, it's great to see four PCIe cables with two connectors each. Apart from that there are two EPS/ATX 12V with 8Pin connector.

With this power supply Corsair is offering a single rail design that can be switched over to a multi rail design. Regarding the single 12V rail there is a total 83.3A, which can be turned into heat by the graphics cards for instance. Should you decide to engage the multi rail mode, every 12V connector will be over current protected when 40A are reached.

Specifications (according to Corsair)
Voltage	Current	Power
+ 3.3 V	25 A	150 Watt	1'050 Watt (Total)
+ 5.0 V	25 A	150 Watt
+ 12 V	83.3 A	1'000 Watt
- 12 V	0.8 A	9.6 Watt
+ 5 Vsb	3.0 A	15 Watt

The HX1000 2017 has been 80Plus Platinum certified. This means, that the efficiency of this PSU should be above 90% at 20% load, above 92% at 50% load and above 89% at 100% load.

At this point the feature list:

80Plus Platinum
OVP, UVP, OCP, SCP, OPP, OTP
Dimensions (W x H x D): 150 mm x 86 mm x 180 mm
135 millimeter fan
Passive while below 40% load
Warranty: 10 Years
Price: ~200 CHF / ~180 Euro

Page 3 - Delivery / Specs

[pagebreak]

A Look Inside

The first hint for a high Quality PSU can be seen when taking a first look at it. There is a nice design and high quality case. Corsair decided to go for one of their own NR135P fans, which is a high-end fan that will work well over a long period of time.
Right at the Input there is an extensive filtering stage, which has been place, which has been shielded off nicely from the rest of the internals. The transient filtering stage is well done and there aren’t many PSUs that can compete.

In the case of the PFC Booster Corsair makes use of expensive and high-quality Schottky diodes. Apart from that there are two APFC capacitors, while the one with 670uF capacitance comes from Nichicon and the other with 470uF is from Nippon Chemi-Con. The primary side of this PSU is rock solid, while especially the costly transient filtering stage and the high end Japanese Nippon Chemi-Con and Nichicon Capacitors are excellent.

A quick look at the secondary side shows rather big coolers, which are connected to different chips as well as MOSFETs. Also on the secondary side Corsair is only using Japanese capacitors in order to keep the quality on a very high level. Checking for voltage regulation modules, we find those on a daughter PCB.

Page 4 - A Look Inside

[pagebreak]

Result Analysis and Discussion

Efficiency
Load	Pin(W)	Pout(W)	Efficiency
10 %	114.00 W	101.18 W	88.76 %
20 %	219.20 W	202.11 W	92.20 %
50 %	543.80 W	504.03 W	92.69 %
100 %	1114.20 W	1000.05 W	89.76 %

The 80Plus Platinum certification requirements (90% - 92% - 89%) are surpassed especially at 20% Load. The full Load efficiency is a bit higher at 230V AC. This is the case with most of todays PSU's an it mainly originates from the reason of lower losses in the AC filtering stage and the PFC at 230V AC. The 230V AC 100% Load efficiency is 90.68%.

Output Stability
Load	Rail	Loading(A)	Output(V)
10 %	3.3 V	1.5 A	3.3 V
	5 V	1.5 A	5.0 V
	12 V	7.1 A	12.1 V

20 %	3.3 V	3.1 A	3.3 V
	5 V	3.1 A	5.0 V
	12 V	14.2 A	12.1 V

50 %	3.3 V	7.7 A	3.3 V
	5 V	7.6 A	5.0 V
	12 V	35.6 A	12.1 V

100 %	3.3 V	15.3 A	3.3 V
	5 V	15.2 A	5.0 V
	12 V	71.1 A	12 V

The Voltage Regulation of this PSU is very good. It makes use of a DC-DC topology. This means, that the HX1000 2017 is mainly a 12V PSU and then generates its 5 and 3.3V from 12V. This is a modern approach, and since the Load is mainly on 12V it makes a lot of sense. For almost any PSU which makes use of this topology crossload tests do not present a problem.

Noise
Load
10 %	Noiseless
20 %	Noiseless
50 %	well audible

If we listen closer with the power supply, we don't here anything at 20 percent load. The HX1000 2017 is a semi passive power supply and the fan kicks in, when 35 percent load is reached. It keeps spinning until the load goes below 25 percent. This ensures adequate internal temperatures under all circumstances. When demanding 50 percent load from this unit, the noise level can be described as silent and when there is 100 percent load, the unit is well audible.

Noise/Ripple
Voltage	Noise/Ripple Vpp
3.3V	0.001
5V	0.009
12V	0.013

The noise and ripple values are very good. It simply doesn't matter whether you're looking at 3.3V, 5V or 12V values.

Page 5 - Result Analysis and Discussion

[pagebreak]

Conclusion

With the HX1000 2017 Corsair released a high-end power supply. There is a costly AC filtering stage, a high end fan, and the massive use of Japanese capacitors, which come from Nippon Chemi Con and Nichicon and - amongst other parts - add up to a great product. All the components mentioned comply with highest standards and its hard to find other PC PSU's which are built according to similar guidelines. Furthermore this PSU is very reliable even if you plan to use it for a long time. Compared to the predecessor Corsair decided to improve the cooling, thus we're finding quite a few aluminium fins, to which the different chips and MOSFETs have been attached. Should you be building a high-end system, then this is definitely a unit to consider. What's been a bit confusing to us is the information on the current protection in the case of flipping the multi rail switch. Corsair claims that the PCIe cables are backed by 40A each. Since there are four of them that would mean the unit could supply a total of 160A on the 12V rail but looking at the figures in the case of single 12V configuration there are "only" 83.3A. Since there is clearly a discrepancy we would like Corsair to explain this a little more in-depth on their website.

This high-end power supply receives four out of five stars.