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Today we take a look at a new high capacity power supply from Corsair, a brand who have had great success in this sector over the years. This new range of HXi units incorporates only two models – a 1000W unit and a more powerful 1500W version which we test today. Make no mistake, these are flagship models targeting a very niche demographic. Pricing in the UK is £199.99 for the 1000W unit and £333.90 for the 1500W model.
These two new power supplies are 80 Plus Platinum rated and incorporate fluid dynamic bearing fans (FDB). They have three EPS12V connectors and are designed to tackle complex high power draw systems. Corsair has adopted high grade Japanese capacitors throughout the design of these units and offer a 10 year warranty for peace of mind.
With these new flagship models Corsair has integrated iCUE functionality to allow the end user to adjust fan curves, as well as to monitor and adjust power settings. The new HXi range also utilise ZERO RPM mode to stop the fan spinning and to reduce noise when lower loads are in place.
Key Features
- Fully Modular Cabling: Connect only the cables your system needs, making clean and tidy builds easy.
- Triple EPS12V Connectors: For full compatibility with modern motherboards.
- 140mm Fluid Dynamic Bearing (FDB) Fan: Delivers extremely quiet and long-lasting fan performance.
- Powerful CORSAIR iCUE Software: Create custom fan curves, monitor power settings, and toggle between single to multi-rail overcurrent protection (OCP) on-the-fly.
- Zero RPM Fan Mode: At low and medium loads the cooling fan switches off entirely for near-silent operation.
- 80 PLUS Platinum Certified: Up to 92% efficiency for exceptional low power consumption, less noise, and cooler temperatures.
- 100% Japanese 105°C Electrolytic Capacitors: Premium internal components ensure unwavering power delivery and long-term reliability.
- Modern Standby Compatible: Extremely fast wake-from-sleep times and better low-load efficiency.
- Fully Digital Platform: Resonant LLC topology and DC-to-DC conversion provides clean, consistent power and minimizes coil whine and noise for quiet operation.
- Ten-Year Warranty: Your guarantee of reliable operation that will last across several system builds.
The Corsair HX1500i ships in a heavy yellow box with a high resolution photograph of the power supply on the front along with some basic details.
The rear of the box highlights some more photographs of the power supply along with noise and efficiency curves. Corsair also mention the 105C Japanese capacitors.
Inside, all the components ship inside a black box with simple Corsair branding at the top.
The power supply itself is protected between thick blocks of styrofoam and a soft wrap.
Cable quality is excellent with the majority of the cables being flat ribbon style, for ease of routing in a system build. The ATX cable is sleeved.
The Corsair HX1500i is a very understated power supply which will appeal to the enthusiast utilising this unit in an exposed system build. The lack of any colour will suit any theme.
The Corsair logo and product name are highlighted in white along the side of the power supply chassis.
The modular bay is clearly laid out in three rows. Top left is the connector which is used to get support in Corsair iCUE. You simply connect the included USB Type C cable to the power supply and motherboard, then load the latest version of Corsair's iCUE software.
When correctly connected, the HXi power supply should be shown in the list of peripherals highlighted in the software. The software allows you to adjust fan curves and to create your own custom cooling presets. Corsair also allow custom alerts to be set up as well as custom fan curve profiles, and of course you can also monitor PSU temperatures.
Finally, a handy option is to switch between Single Rail OCP and Multi Rail OCP.
The other side of the power supply has the power connector, the power switch and a vented port to aid with cooling efficiency.
This truly is a monster power supply – rated to deliver 125A via a single +12V rail.
The HX1500i incorporates a high grade NR140P fan rated 12V 0.22A. You can buy these fans online for around the £20-£25 mark HERE. This is a Fluid Dynamic bearing fan (FDB). The partial plastic sheet is in place to focus air flow over specific parts of the unit underneath.
This is a fully digital unit with resonant LLC topology and DC to DC conversion. It has been created for Corsair by CWT under their guidance. The soldering and build quality is at a level we would expect for a flagship model. The unit is clean and well designed throughout.
The design incorporates 105C Japanese electrolytic capacitors. Platinum efficiency allows for that only a couple of heatsinks are needed across the PCB. The unit offers OCP, OVP, SCP, OPP, OTP and CFP protection.
Correctly testing power supplies is a complex procedure and KitGuru have configured a test bench which can deliver up to a 2,000 watt DC load. Due to public requests we have changed our temperature settings recently – previously we rated with ambient temperatures at 25C, we have increased ambient temperatures by 10c (to 35c) in our environment to greater reflect warmer internal chassis conditions.
We use combinations of the following hardware:
• SunMoon SM-268
• CSI3710A Programmable DC load (+3.3V and +5V outputs)
• CSI3711A Programmable DC load (+12V1, +12V2, +12V3, and +12V4)
• Extech Power Analyzer
• Extech MultiMaster MM570 digital multimeter
• Extech digital sound level meter
• Digital oscilloscope (20M S/s with 12 Bit ADC)
• Variable Autotransformer, 1.4 KVA
12V output is single rail for our testing.
|
DC Output Load Regulation
|
||||||||||
|
Combined DC Load |
+3.3V
|
+5V
|
+12V
|
+5VSB
|
-12V | |||||
|
A
|
V
|
A
|
V
|
A
|
V
|
A
|
V
|
A | V | |
|
150W
|
0.90
|
3.34
|
0.84
|
5.04
|
11.65
|
12.07
|
0.5
|
5.02
|
0.20 | -12.02 |
|
300W
|
1.63
|
3.34
|
1.65
|
5.04
|
23.75
|
12.05
|
1.0
|
5.01
|
0.20 | -12.02 |
|
750W
|
3.01
|
3.34
|
3.02
|
5.03
|
59.66
|
12.02
|
1.5
|
5.00
|
0.30 | -12.03 |
| 1125W | 4.05 | 3.34 | 4.05 | 5.03 | 90.00 | 12.00 | 2.0 | 5.00 | 0.30 | -12.02 |
|
1500W
|
15.56
|
3.33
|
15.55
|
5.00
|
113.30
|
11.97
|
2.5
|
4.98
|
0.50 | -12.02 |
Load regulation is very strong indeed with little fluctuation.
| Corsair HX1500i |
Maximum Load |
| 1692W |
We managed to get the PSU to achieve 1692W before it would shut down, delivering 192W more than the rated specifications. Superb results.
Next we want to try Cross Loading. This basically means loads which are not balanced. If a PC for instance needs 500W on the +12V outputs but something like 30W via the combined 3.3V and +5V outputs then the voltage regulation can fluctuate badly.
| Cross Load Testing | +3.3V | +5V | +12V | -12V | +5VSB | |||||
| A | V | A | V | A | V | A | V | A | V | |
| 1150W | 3.0 | 3.34 | 2.0 | 5.02 | 92.0 | 12.00 | 0.2 | -12.03 | 0.50 | 5.01 |
| 250W | 20.0 | 3.34 | 24.0 | 5.00 | 5.0 | 12.04 | 0.2 | -12.02 | 0.50 | 5.01 |
The power supply did very well in our Cross Load tests, indicating a very stable design.
We then used an oscilloscope to measure AC ripple and noise present on the DC outputs. We set the oscilloscope time base to check for AC ripple at both high and low ends of the spectrum.
ATX12V V2.2 specification for DC output ripple and noise is defined in the ATX 12V power supply design guide.
|
ATX12V Ver 2.2 Noise/Ripple Tolerance
|
|
|
Output
|
Ripple (mV p-p)
|
|
+3.3V
|
50
|
|
+5V
|
50
|
|
+12V1
|
120
|
|
+12V2
|
120
|
|
-12V
|
120
|
|
+5VSB
|
50
|
Obviously when measuring AC noise and ripple on the DC outputs, the cleaner it is (less ripple recorded) means we have a better end result. We measured this AC signal amplitude to see how closely the unit complied with the ATX standard.
| AC Ripple (mV p-p) | ||||
| DC Load | +3.3V | +5V | +12V | 5VSB |
| 500W | 5 | 5 | 10 | 5 |
| 750W | 5 | 5 | 10 | 5 |
| 1000W | 5 | 10 | 15 | 5 |
| 1250W | 5 | 10 | 15 | 5 |
| 1500W | 5 | 10 | 15 | 5 |
Ripple results are class leading, falling well within the top 5% of our overall results in the last 2-3 years of testing.
|
Efficiency (%)
|
|
|
500W
|
92.04
|
|
750W
|
92.57
|
|
1000W
|
92.13
|
|
1250W
|
91.45
|
| 1500W | 90.93 |
The efficiency ratings are excellent, peaking at around 92.6% and dropping to around 91% at full load.
We take the issue of noise very seriously at KitGuru and this is why we have built a special home brew system as a reference point when we test noise levels of various components. Why do this? Well this means we can eliminate secondary noise pollution in the test room and concentrate on components we are testing. It also brings us slightly closer to industry standards, such as DIN 45635.
Today to test the power supply we have taken it into our acoustics room environment and have set our Digital Sound Level Noise Decibel Meter Style 2 one meter away from the unit. We have no other fans running so we can effectively measure just the noise from the unit itself.
As this can be a little confusing for people, here are various dBa ratings in with real world situations to help describe the various levels.
KitGuru noise guide
10dBA – Normal Breathing/Rustling Leaves
20-25dBA – Whisper
30dBA – High Quality Computer fan
40dBA – A Bubbling Brook, or a Refrigerator
50dBA – Normal Conversation
60dBA – Laughter
70dBA – Vacuum Cleaner or Hairdryer
80dBA – City Traffic or a Garbage Disposal
90dBA – Motorcycle or Lawnmower
100dBA – MP3 Player at maximum output
110dBA – Orchestra
120dBA – Front row rock concert/Jet Engine
130dBA – Threshold of Pain
140dBA – Military Jet takeoff/Gunshot (close range)
160dBA – Instant Perforation of eardrum
|
Noise (dBA)
|
|
|
500W
|
<28.0
|
|
750W
|
<28.0
|
|
1000W
|
28.4
|
|
1250W
|
33.7
|
| 1500W | 37.9 |
This power supply is very quiet under most load conditions – basically inaudible at up to 900 watts load. Some fan noise is noticed around as demands increase past 1000W. At 1500W, the fan is clearly audible (around 38 dBa) although the low pitch of the fan actually means it is not too intrusive.
|
Temperature (c)
|
||
|
Intake
|
Exhaust
|
|
|
500W
|
36
|
37
|
|
750W
|
38
|
39
|
|
1000W
|
41
|
43
|
|
1250W
|
43
|
50
|
|
1500W
|
44
|
53
|
Due to the high efficiency level of this unit, it never runs hot, even when delivering huge amounts of power.
|
Maximum load
|
Efficiency
|
|
1692W
|
89.8
|
At 1692W, the efficiency level is around 90%.
Corsair has a wide range of power supplies available at various price points, and while I haven't always been impressed with their low and mid range units over the years, their high end power supplies have always been exceptionally well designed and implemented. The HX1500i cements their position in the high end sector – catering to the enthusiast audience demanding the highest levels of power and stability.
The Corsair HX1500i is a smartly finished power supply and the modular design is cleanly laid out for system builders and under most load situations, the power supply is almost silent. It is only in the final 300-400 watts of power delivery that the fan will make its presence known.
Technically the HX1500i passed all our tests without any problems. Its efficiency meets 80 Plus Platinum certification and the design copes well with difficult cross load stress conditions. The unit was able to deliver close to 1700 watts – around 200 watts more power before safely shutting down. Ripple suppression is also class leading.
iCUE support allows the end user to tweak certain parameters such as fan curves, custom cooling presets, alerts and the ability to switch between single and multi rail OCP. While these features are interesting and fun to play with initially I found that the default settings Corsair set out of the box worked fine. In reality there is really no need to install iCUE to use this power supply, just plug it in and you are good to go. We can't really knock Corsair for giving the end user more options however, their software suite is certainly one of the best on the market.
Discuss on our Facebook page HERE.
Pros:
- Fully modular.
- Strong build quality.
- Quiet under normal load conditions.
- 80 Plus Platinum efficiency.
- 105C Japanese capacitors.
- 10 year warranty.
- iCUE integration.
Cons:
- Expensive at over £330.
KitGuru says: The HX1500i is a quality power supply from Corsair which will appeal to the enthusiast audience demanding high levels of well controlled power. Our results confirm this supply achieves 80 Plus Platinum efficiency levels and was able to deliver close to 1700 watts of power under extreme load conditions. The iCUE functionality and option to switch from single rail to multi rail on the fly will appeal to a niche audience.
