Corsair AX850 850W 80+ Titanium PSU Review

Conclusion

The world of power supplies isn’t one that a lot of people get excited over. Plenty of components will improve your system’s performance, but your PSU does not sit on that list. With this in mind, I’d say that the humble power supply is perhaps the most underappreciated component in the world of PC building. 

Your PSU is one of the most vital components of any system, acting as an interface that turns the stream of electrons that is mains electricity into something that can make all of the magic gubbins within your PC tick. Without a PSU, none of it will work, and with a sub-standard PSU, everything is at risk of going up in smoke. 

Few companies are as passionate about power supplies as Corsair, especially outside of the major OEMs. Last year we saw Corsair’s desire to push the limits of PSU efficiency with their AX1600i, but with the AX850 we see that same drive make its way to mainstream capacities. Not many systems require over 850W of power, making the 1600W AX1600i an incredibly niche product. That changes with the AX850. 

With its 80+ Titanium-grade efficiency, the AX850 offers more than some of you may expect. Yes, Titanium-grade efficiency will result in lower levels of power draw from the wall, but the real reward here is silence. Less wasted power means lower heat output, which in turn results in extended periods of silence, where the unit’s zero RPM fan mode makes the power supply virtually silent. 

When placing the AX850 on our load tester, the unit was able to run in its zero RPM mode for over 20 minutes under 100% (850W) loading. We ended this test after 20 minutes, not because the fans started spinning, but because of the limited timeframe we had to complete this review. Before you ask, yes, the AX850’s fan works, as the PSU as the AX850’s standard fan mode functioned without a hitch, spinning gently under low loads, waiting to ramp up as needed. The AX850 is an incredibly quiet power supply, which is perhaps one of the biggest plus points that we can give the unit. 

After considering the AX850 as a whole, we cannot think of any major negatives for the unit. Yes, its 80+ Titanium rating comes at a price premium, but that’s what you should expect when looking for a power supply that could be defined as one of the best available. You shouldn’t expect a unit that sits on the top of our efficiency takes to be cheap. Ripple-wise the AX850 is no slouch either, sitting amongst the top performers on our graphics. 

The only real downside of this unit is that it lacks Corsair’s famed i moniker, denoting its lack of Corsair Link support. While the lack of link support will be seen as a significant downside for some, it isn’t something that most consumers should worry about. Yes, it’s cool to look at your system’s power draw in real-time, but the feature in a lot of cases is more of a gimmick than a useful add-on, at least outside of niche use cases. 

The  Corsair AX850 is an incredible unit, delivering its full power capacity while remaining silent throughout out resting. Both in our power efficiency and voltage ripple graphs, the AX850 sits amongst the best PSUs on we have ever tested, making it more than worthy of OC3D’s performance award. 

 

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