Conclusion

Us hardware reviewers are an odd bunch; we are blissfully jaded by the multitude of products we see and become harder and harder to impress as time goes on. However, once in a while we receive a product which is so good in every aspect that it makes even the most experienced of us go weak in the knees. For me, this is exactly what happened when I was in the process of reviewing the Corsair HX1000W. In my opinion, there is no such thing as a perfect product but this power supply is so damn close to perfection, reviewing it was an almost religious experience. Call it what you will; a breath of fresh air or maybe even a revelation, but one thing is certain: even though Corsair took longer than expected to release the HX1000W, the wait was well worth it.

You may ask yourself: but who needs all this power? Well, with the advent of tri-SLI and quad Crossfire, the possibility of building a system which draws close to 1000W is no longer a pipe dream but rather a somewhat depressing reality. So, when you are pulling the kind of power this unit is able to output, you want efficiency and the HX1000 has it in spades. By matching and sometimes even beating the extremely efficient Thermaltake Toughpower 1200W in our efficiency testing, this Corsair unit showed that it can play with the big boys and rightly deserves its 80Plus designation. Add to that the incredible performance we saw in every one of the other tests and it is no wonder a few current benchmark world records have already been set with the help of the HX1000W.

While this may sound like a ringing endorsement, there are a few minor points that we would like to see addressed if or when Corsair ever releases a new revision of their flagship power supply. To begin with, it seems like someone didn’t get the memo which said that flat cables are supposed to cut down on visible cable clutter and not add to it. Unfortunately, with two separate cable bundles going to each modular PCI-E connector, cable clutter is increased and this is just a crying shame since we love the look of flat cables. The only other stumbling point we could find was the fact that the sleeving on the non-modular cables terminates before entering the power supply housing which leaves an unsightly rainbow of colors on a predominantly black color scheme. Taking a close look shows us that these two issues are extremely minor and when the worst things we find on a product are wayward cables and a bit of missing sleeving, you know it’s a hell of a performer in every category.

The final points we need to make about the Corsair HX1000W revolve around its price and warranty. At around $270 here in Canada, it lies right in the middle ground of the various products in this market segment. That in itself is incredible since this unit provides face-distorting performance for nearly a hundred bucks less than some competing products. In addition, it is the warranty and Corsair’s constant presence on numerous forums in the form of their representatives which sells many people on their products. Not only is their customer service top-notch but their 5-year warranty on the HX1000W puts many competitors to shame.

With the HX1000W, Corsair has proven once again that they are one of the powerhouses in the power supply industry by hitting another home run with a product that exceeded our expectations on nearly every front. Thus, it gets our Dam Good Award and if we had a higher accolade, it would get that as well.


Pros:

- Jaw-dropping performance
- Efficient
- Very quiet a low to mid loads
- Great cable lengths
- Resilient finish
- 5-year warranty


Cons:

- Flat cables on PCI-E cables not all they’re cracked up to be