Corsair AX860i PSU review - Certification and Efficiency

Certification

So, Corsair offers a 80+ Platinum certification, tested by the 80PLUS organization (the people that certify and test efficiency). We already explained a little what that literally means. But what does such a certification entail?

Well, we have standard, bronze, silver, gold, and platinum certifications. A PSU that is certified 80 PLUS Gold or 80 PLUS Platinum is more efficient than a normal unit. Below you'll find a table that shows what efficiency levels a PSU has to achieve at a given load to make the grade for a specific certification level.

The Corsair AX 860i power supplies are certified by the 80PLUS organization to deliver a 92% energy efficiency at 50% load and still 90% efficiency when your PC idles. We are not 100% certain if the product complies with the ErP (Energy Related Product) directive to ensure less than 1W of power is used in passive standby and off modes. We'll test that manually later on in the article.

 
Above, you can see a diagram of how the PSU behaves efficiency wise.

Digitally-controlled power
State-of-the-art DSP-based power control technology providing outstanding DC voltage regulation, reliability and stability.
80 PLUS Platinum Efficiency. DSP-control and Zero Voltage Switching and Zero Current Switching (ZVS / ZVC) technology results in up to 92% energy efficiency, resulting in lower energy bills, and less heat and noise.

Ultra Low Noise Design
Thanks to its high efficiency and low heat output the AX1200i is able to operate in a silent, fanless mode up to 30% of the rated
wattage (258W), allowing for the possibility of fanless gaming. The fan speed ramps slowly above 30% load, so even fully-loaded PCs can be powered quietly.

Low Ripple and Noise: up to 3x better than the ATX Spec
Low ripple and noise equals high-quality power, allowing your performance-critical components, such as high-end graphics cards, to operate reliably for longer.

71.6 Amp Single +12V Rail
The PSU features a massive 71.6 Amp (859.2Watt) single +12V rail, making it the ideal PSU for ultra-high end SLI and Crossfire gaming PCs based around multi-core CPUs.

Corsair LINK interface
Thanks to the DSP-based design, the AX1200i can be accessed using the Corsair Link interface. This server-inspired diagnostic tool can record and monitor real-time efficiency, power usage, and adjust fan profiles. Uniquely, the AX1200i can also be configured as a multi-rail device with individual PCI-E over-current protection (OCP) trip points.

Self Test Switch
The self test switch on the PSU confirms that all the DC output voltage rails are functioning correctly, and the fan is functional,
providing a simple method of checking that the power supply is functioning correctly.

Fully Modular Cable System
The fully modular cable system provides total flexibility when building or upgrading your PC, since you use only the cables that you
need. This reduced cable clutter also improves case airflow and cooling, and makes it much easier to build your high-end system and route cables.

Reliable
As with all AX PSUs, the AX1200i is built with premium components, such as high-temp 105C capacitors, and is capable of continuous power delivery at a temperature rating of 50° C, ensuring maximum performance and reliability even in the most hot-running performance PCs.
Protected
The PSU features a comprehensive array of protection and safety features. This includes Over-Voltage Protection (OVP), and Over-Current Protection (OCP) on the 12V, 5V, and 3.3V rails, Over-Temperature Protection (OTP), and Short-Circuit Protection (SCP).

Corsair Professional Series AXi PSUs are backed by a 7-year warranty and customer support via telephone

The Corsair PSU uses a server-grade power train architecture and a Digital Signal Processor (DSP) to provide digitally controlled power. This DSP-controlled design features a proprietary control architecture to allow for dynamic, on-the-fly performance optimization.

This design delivers stable power over the whole load range, and automatically compensates for DC output cable voltage drop. This ensures tight DC output voltage regulation without the ripple/noise and other issues associated with traditional PSU architectures.

The AX860i also incorporates digital interleaved power factor (PF) and PWM control. This ensures the highest possible power factor and lowest total harmonic distortion under all load conditions, via an optimized software algorithm. Also, the digital platform ensures fast real-time performance tuning and power-train optimization (chart above), resulting in a state-of-the art power supply that is simply unmatched in the marketplace.