Under the Hood
Here are a few pictures showing the layout and components inside the Corsair HX1000W power supply. The overall layout, build quality and component selection appears to be excellent.
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Corsair selected Channel Well Tech as their OEM partner to build the HX1000W. At first glance you might assume this build is the same as some other power supplies on the market that are based on the Channel Well Tech PUC platform (like the Thermaltake Toughpower 1200W we reviewed a few months ago). However, after closer inspection you will see that Corsair has modified the basic design and component selection. Most noticeably is the use of numerous solid polymer capacitors instead of the more traditional (and less expensive) electrolytic caps.
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The HX1000W power supply incorporates three independent sub-sections: two nearly identical 500W secondary units and a 17.5W +5VSB section. A common filtering stage and primary section supply all three.
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The +5VSB section is located on its own PCB, which is mounted across the backside. The primary capacitors on the two 500W secondary stages are high-quality Nippon Chemi-Con brand and rated for 330uF, 420V, and 105°C – very good.
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Nearly all of the secondary capacitors are solid polymer type caps. This is the first PC power supply we have seen that uses this many solid caps. In the past there have been a few manufacturers that claimed to use solid caps but in reality there was only one while all the rest were electrolytic. Motherboard and video card manufacturers have been using solid caps for years so it’s nice to see a power supply vendor also taking advantage of the smaller size and longer life that solid caps have to offer.
