The Corsair RM1000x and RM1000i 1000W Power Supply Review
by E. Fylladitakis on September 30, 2015 8:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- Corsair
- RM Series
- Corsair Link
Hot Test Results
Moving on to our hot test results, as the following tables show, the power quality of the RM1000i/RM1000x is significantly upgraded in comparison with the original RM1000. The maximum voltage ripple on the 12V line is now 28 mV, less than half that of the previous model and four times below the 120 mV design limit. Similar performance improvements can be seen on the minor voltage rails as well, with the maximum ripple of the 3.3V and 5V lines being 10 mV and 20 mV respectively. Voltage regulation is greatly improved too, as the RM1000i/RM1000x maintain all of their voltage lines within about 1% across the entire nominal load range. In comparison, the voltage regulation of the RM1000 was between 2% and 3%.
Main Output | ||||||||
Load (Watts) | 202.31 W | 503.64 W | 752.79 W | 1000.53 W | ||||
Load (Percent) | 20.23% | 50.36% | 75.28% | 100.05% | ||||
Amperes | Volts | Amperes | Volts | Amperes | Volts | Amperes | Volts | |
3.3 V | 2.27 | 3.37 | 5.66 | 3.36 | 8.5 | 3.34 | 11.33 | 3.33 |
5 V | 2.27 | 5.13 | 5.66 | 5.12 | 8.5 | 5.09 | 11.33 | 5.08 |
12 V | 15.1 | 12.12 | 37.75 | 12.07 | 56.62 | 12.03 | 75.5 | 11.99 |
Line | Regulation (20% to 100% load) |
Voltage Ripple (mV) | |||||
20% Load | 50% Load | 75% Load | 100% Load | CL1 12V |
CL2 3.3V + 5V |
||
3.3V | 0.95% | 6 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 8 | 16 |
5V | 0.8% | 8 | 12 | 16 | 20 | 12 | 22 |
12V | 1.05% | 12 | 16 | 22 | 28 | 26 | 14 |
The electrical performance of the RM1000i/RM1000x seems largely unaffected by the high ambient temperature. This is not unexpected from PSUs rated at 50°C and designed capable to operate without a fan. The average efficiency drop across the entire load range is 0.5%, evenly distributed across it. Technically, the RM1000i/RM1000x meet the 80Plus Gold certification limits even with ambient temperatures greater than 45°C.
Inside our hotbox, the fan began spinning as soon as the load reached 400 Watts. Still, the fan did not further speed up until the load exceeded 700 Watts, and beyond that the maximum speed did not go much higher than what we saw in our our room temperature testing, maintaining very low sound pressure levels. The internal temperatures remain relatively low, considering the high ambient temperatures, and are noticeably lower than the original RM1000 as well. However, we should mention that the original RM1000 had slightly lower noise figures under maximum load, indicating that the cooling profile of the newer RM1000i/RM1000x units is a little more aggressive.
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HOOfan 1 - Thursday, October 1, 2015 - link
There is about a 2% difference in efficiency between these 1000W PSUs, and a 650W 80 plus Platinum PSU at 100W of DC usage. So, we are talking about using an extra 2 Watts...big whoop.lozikosaz - Thursday, October 1, 2015 - link
1- Those numbers are made up by you.2- You are ignoring different vendors and models.
3- A modern, powerful rig may consume like 50W when browsing or doing office work.
4- There is nothing wrong in saving 1% of power by using a more appropriate PSU, and surely a cheaper one.
HOOfan 1 - Thursday, October 1, 2015 - link
1- No they are made by actually reading reviews and looking at the numbers.Go find Kitguru's review of the RM1000x. They get 87.32% efficiency from the RM1000x at 100W. Go look at the Jonnyguru.com review of the EVGA P2 650 he gets 87.6% efficiency at 65W and 90.7% at 142W. So you are looking at around 88%-89% efficiency at 100W. Guess what, that is a 2%-3% difference.
You haven't provided ANYTHING
2- This article was about the RM000i/RM000x...so why should I talk about different vendors?
3- At 50W, a 5% difference in efficiencies is 2.5W....so the lower the power draw, even with a difference in efficiency, you are still wasting less power than you would be at higher loads.
4- There is also nothing wrong with using an over rated PSU which can provide a lot more power before the fan kicks on.
5- These sites publish what brings in readers. Reviewer after reviewer has said that the high power PSU reviews bring in more viewers.
HOOfan 1 - Thursday, October 1, 2015 - link
Or you could do a more apples to apples comparison from the Kitguru, since they use the same testing equipment and AC sourceCorsair RM1000x 87.3% efficient at 100W DC draw
Be Quiet Dark Power Pro 11 89.5% efficient at 110W DC draw
Coolermaster V 550 88.6% efficient at 110W DC draw
So the 80 plus platinum 550W unit is only 2.2% more efficient than the 1000W 80 plus gold and the 80 plus gold 550W unit is only 1.3% more efficient than the 1000W 80 plus gold
lozikosaz - Wednesday, September 30, 2015 - link
@ArbieIn case you didn't read, I mean :"I wish that Anandtech made more reviews for PSU in the range of 500/750W", which overkills any powerful single GPU rig.
Arbie - Friday, October 2, 2015 - link
@lozikosaz - I was being facetious... I agree with you.paul878 - Sunday, October 4, 2015 - link
Too many models Corsair, your product line is getting confusing.