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
Corsair might have started off as a computer memory manufacturer, but today they sell a number of components for PCs. One of their most active product lineups is their computer power supply units (PSUs) business, with the company offering dozens of products through six different series. Each of their PSU series has been designed with a specific target group in mind, ranging from the low-cost VS series to the top-performance AX series. Amongst them, the RM series consists of units with modular cables that have been designed with low noise operation in mind.
We had our first take on the RM series one and a half year ago with the review of the RM1000, which was the pinnacle of the RM series at the time. A few months ago, Corsair upgraded the RM series, presenting the RM-i series that also featured Corsair's Link interface. This week, the company is further releasing the RM-x series, which are an upgrade of the original RM series, receiving essentially the same upgrade as the RM-i units but leaving out the Corsair Link support. Corsair has provided us with an RM1000i and an RM1000x for evaluation, both of which we will have a look at in this review.
| Power specifications ( Rated @ 50 °C ) | |||||
| AC INPUT | 100 - 240 VAC, 50 - 60 Hz | ||||
| RAIL | +3.3V | +5V | +12V | +5Vsb | -12V |
| MAX OUTPUT | 25A | 25A | 83.3A | 3A | 0.8A |
| 150W | 1000W | 15W | 9.6W | ||
| TOTAL | 1000W | ||||
Packaging and Bundle
Corsair supplies the RM1000i and the RM1000x into large, tough cardboard boxes. The packaging is virtually identical, with the only major difference being the main color, which is white for the former and black for the latter. A lot of information regarding the PSU has been printed on all sides of the box, in multiple languages.
The company kept the bundle simple, supplying only the standard AC power cable, a manual and four black mounting screws, as well as a case badge and a few cable ties.
Both of the new RM units comes with the same number of cables and connectors, with the exception of the extra internal USB cable that the -i variation has for the Corsair Link interface. The SATA/Molex cables are flat, ribbon-like cables, while the thicker ATX/EPS/PCI-E cables are sleeved. All of the wires are black.
The following table lists the number of connectors.
| Corsair RM1000x/RM1000i | ||
| Connector type | Hardwired | Modular |
| ATX 24 Pin | - | 1 |
| EPS 4+4 Pin | - | 2 |
| EPS 8 Pin | - | - |
| PCI-E 6+2 Pin | - | 8 |
| PCI-E 8 Pin | - | - |
| SATA | - | 12 |
| Molex | - | 11 |
| Floppy | - | 2 |
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
47 Comments
View All Comments
jonnyGURU - Wednesday, September 30, 2015 - link
Actually... you have it backwards. Look at an old RM review and an old HXi review if you don't believe me. NR135L is the rifle bearing fan. NR135P is the FDB fan.E.Fyll - Wednesday, September 30, 2015 - link
True. That was a mistake on my part. The NR135P is the FDB fan.E.Fyll - Wednesday, September 30, 2015 - link
The NR135P is an FDB fan. The RM1000x is advertised as having a rifle bearing fan, but my sample also had a NR135P inside it (FDB).I would assume that what happened is the exact opposite of what you are suggesting - Corsair ran out of NR135L's at some point and, instead of switching to something inferior, they chose to install a superior fan inside some of their RM1000x's.
jonnyGURU - Wednesday, September 30, 2015 - link
Exactly.extide - Wednesday, September 30, 2015 - link
So we can all put this to bed!buxe2quec - Thursday, October 1, 2015 - link
Some clarification about fluid dynamic bearings, rifle bearings, ... http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/the-truth-about-flu... It's quite complete, and shows how the naming scheme is not always coherent.Cow86 - Thursday, October 1, 2015 - link
Hmm, interesting...So then that means that buying a RMx series PSU you normally get an inferior fan to this review. I guess it should still be possible to draw conclusions from reviews of the old RM series on the fan's performance then though. Shame anyway, it robs us of a good direct comparison here. Thanks for the follow-up jonnyGURU!ruthan - Wednesday, September 30, 2015 - link
Are sure that fan will not spinning until 500W load, even in longer load period? Because of i have Seasonic semi passivelly cooled PSU and fan not spinning worked only on paper, there was some temperature trigger set prettty low, so fan was spinning even in 150W,200W load after few minutes regardless of fan mode switch (PSU was Platinum 860W).jonnyGURU - Wednesday, September 30, 2015 - link
The fan uses an algorithm of load, temperature and duration. Similar to the Seasonic. The marketing represents the fan speed at different loads at 25°C. If your ambient temperatures are higher, the fan will start sooner.Cellar Door - Thursday, October 1, 2015 - link
Seasonic has been doing smaller footprint PSUs for a while with a 'fan only when needed' switch for a while now. For ex. a 750 Gold unit would top out at 975watts and do stay in platinum efficiency for most of the time.Why are we getting all excited about a bearing technology 3 years after superior units jonnyGURU?
XFX units(based on them), were a steal..