AX1000 or HX850?

[Willtor]

Hi all,

I'm currently debating between these two Corsair PSUs: HX850 (new, 185€) and AX1000 (slightly used, 200€ from a friend). I have a 5800X + 3080 FTW3.

I know that here HX series is regarded as better than AX series, but (except from the fan controller/motor noise & rails discussions) I can't figure out why.

Considering the price difference, I'm inclined for the latter...

 

Thank you for your help!

[--SID--]

AX struggles with 3080 FTW3, HX850 has no issues. HX has a singlerail/multirail switch so no discussion. HX is the better one.

[seon123]

The AX is based on the Prime, so it's more likely to have issues with high end GPUs, and it also lacks multi rail OCP for the same reason

Edited August 7, 2021 by seon123
Something something

[Earnhardt]

You will be fine with either way, Personally I would take the AX1000 for more headroom.

 

AX1000 Review

 

HX850 Review

 

 

 

[Willtor]

7 hours ago, --SID-- said:

AX struggles with 3080 FTW3, HX850 has no issues. HX has a singlerail/multirail switch so no discussion. HX is the better one.

 

7 hours ago, seon123 said:

The AX is based on the Prime, so it's more likely to have issues with high end GPUs, and it also lacks multi rail OCP for the same reason

 

Thank you both, but does it really struggle? In the PSU Tier List it's reported this:

Quote

"It is recommended, if going with such units, to overprovision wattage, 1kW for RTX3080"

 

 

 

2 hours ago, Earnhardt said:

You will be fine with either way, Personally I would take the AX1000 for more headroom.

 

 

That... and it's also more efficient.

But somewhere here I've read that HX has better internal components than AX?

[HM-2]

The answer, as is always the case, is "it depends".

 

The posters above are mostly-right-but-not-entirely. There are a variety of Corsair HX* power supplies, some of which (the HX850i) are switchable single/multi-rail and some of which (the pre-2017 HX850 Platinum, of which "new" stock is still often available) are not. 

 

So which is "better" is largely dependent on which specific version of the HX series we're talking about. If it's a later HX with either manual or digital multi-rail switch, then yeah. If not, then no.

[Guest]

11 hours ago, Willtor said:

Hi all,

I'm currently debating between these two Corsair PSUs: HX850 (new, 185€) and AX1000 (slightly used, 200€ from a friend). I have a 5800X + 3080 FTW3.

I know that here HX series is regarded as better than AX series, but (except from the fan controller/motor noise & rails discussions) I can't figure out why.

Considering the price difference, I'm inclined for the latter...

 

Thank you for your help!

Definitely the HX.

 

[Willtor]

2 hours ago, HM-2 said:

The answer, as is always the case, is "it depends".

 

The posters above are mostly-right-but-not-entirely. There are a variety of Corsair HX* power supplies, some of which (the HX850i) are switchable single/multi-rail and some of which (the pre-2017 HX850 Platinum, of which "new" stock is still often available) are not. 

 

So which is "better" is largely dependent on which specific version of the HX series we're talking about. If it's a later HX with either manual or digital multi-rail switch, then yeah. If not, then no.

Yes, it's the new/current HX850 Platinum.

 

13 minutes ago, jonnyGURU said:

Definitely the HX.

 

I have the feeling you can't explicitly talk about the shortcomings of the Prime platform.

Hence, given your expertise and insight, I can't do anything but choose the HX. Many thanks!

 

 

[Guest]

2 hours ago, HM-2 said:

The answer, as is always the case, is "it depends".

 

The posters above are mostly-right-but-not-entirely. There are a variety of Corsair HX* power supplies, some of which (the HX850i) are switchable single/multi-rail and some of which (the pre-2017 HX850 Platinum, of which "new" stock is still often available) are not. 

Actually, the HX (non-i) has a mechanical switch on it that lets you select single or multiple +12V rail.

 

[HM-2]

26 minutes ago, jonnyGURU said:

Actually, the HX (non-i) has a mechanical switch on it that lets you select single or multiple +12V rail.

Ah, I'd assumed that was only for later models as they're listed as "no" for adjustable single/multiple 12v rail on the Corsair website:

 

https://www.corsair.com/uk/en/Categories/Products/Power-Supply-Units/hxi-series-2017-config/p/CP-9020138-UK#tab-tech-specs

[Guest]

12 minutes ago, HM-2 said:

Ah, I'd assumed that was only for later models as they're listed as "no" for adjustable single/multiple 12v rail on the Corsair website:

 

https://www.corsair.com/uk/en/Categories/Products/Power-Supply-Units/hxi-series-2017-config/p/CP-9020138-UK#tab-tech-specs

LOL!

 

The Corsair website is so broken.

 

That IS a later model.  It DOES have the switch.  Look in the photo gallery.