Corsair HX1000W Power Supply Review

Interior Impressions


When we said it looked like the HX1000W is actually two power supplies in one, we weren’t kidding but looking a bit closer we see it is actually THREE separate power supplies. In the pictures above you can see two distinct layouts on the one PCB, each with its own transformer and single primary cap. It is an extremely impressive design where one “power supply” is a combination of +12V2 and +5V (via a small daughter board) outputs while the other one seems to handle the +12V2 and +3.3V rails. Meanwhile, there is a small inverted PCB which holds a small +5vsb power supply complete with a transformer and caps.

The heatsinks are designed perfectly for a downwards-pointing fan and look to be well placed to dissipate as much heat as possible. The only potential issue that we see with this design is the fact that the interior is so cramped; the components not in direct contact with the heatsink may not be sufficiently cooled. However, as you will see Corsair chose premium parts for this power supply so the risk of overheating is slim to none.


On one side of the power supply holds a pair of small vertical PCBs of which one (closest to the camera above) is used for the fan speed controller and a few other outputs we couldn’t identify but look to be PCF controls. Meanwhile, while we can’t see most of the rectifiers and diode packs, the ones we are able to take a look at were all well attached to the heatsinks in order to dissipate the considerable heat they generate.


The capacitor situation with this power supply is very interesting since while the primary filtering stage uses a pair of high-quality 105°C Nippon Chemicon caps, the entire secondary side is populated by solid caps. These solid caps are Nichicon LG-series conductive aluminum electrolytic units which should last much longer than standard electrolyte capacitors and this is the first power supply we have seen with the entire secondary side populated with such an abundance of these.


The modular interface is built quite well with the two +12V rails getting their own separate solder points while the +3.3V and +5V rails are also partitioned off into separate points which are clearly marked. The soldering seems very good overall so we can be assured of a clean transfer of power to the connectors.

We already mentioned that there is a separate +5VSB power supply and it is lurking near the back of the HX1000W and in the picture above it can be seen in all its glory. The small transformer is the green-wrapped object in the center while its main capacitor is a Nippon Chemicon unit.