Corsair AX vs RM

T

TFchris

[H]ard|Gawd
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May 27, 2012
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I was wondering, which are better products between the two?

Corsair AX (old 80+ gold version) or the RM?

I got a pretty decent deal on a AX850 as well as a RM850, and now I just need to choose.
 
What's the price difference?
Personally I'd take the AX850 since I don't want to put garbage PSU's in my systems.
 
RM = 80+ Gold, 5yr warranty
old AX = 80+ Gold, 7yr warranty

I'd bet on the AX.
If its brand new then get it.
If its used then be wary.
 
Nenu said:
RM = 80+ Gold, 5yr warranty
old AX = 80+ Gold, 7yr warranty

I'd bet on the AX.
If its brand new then get it.
If its used then be wary.
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Both aren't new, but refurbished so I would assume it is in working condition.
 
Depends on what was refurbished and why they needed it.
Can you find out?
 
Between the AX and the RM series, the AX is far and away a better product.
 
thanks guys. I wasn't sure which was better, since the RM is newer, and is also 80+ gold.
 
TFchris said:
thanks guys. I wasn't sure which was better, since the RM is newer, and is also 80+ gold.
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It is newer, but a lot lower quality and worse performance than the AX and the products it replaced.
 
Paul_Johnson said:
It is newer, but a lot lower quality and worse than performance than the AX and the products it replaced.
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Is it just my imagination or is Corsair trending down in terms of their PSU's? The AXi's were solid but that's about it. Every new model that comes out seems to be worse than the one it replaced.
 
MacLeod said:
Is it just my imagination or is Corsair trending down in terms of their PSU's? The AXi's were solid but that's about it. Every new model that comes out seems to be worse than the one it replaced.
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That has been the trend. It has been pointed out to them, but they continue to ignore it or try and explain it away rather than act on it. The upside for Corsair is, though, they have built a massive brand with formerly good products at good prices coupled with an Apple fanboy like following so people blindly buy and blindly get others to buy their products. So there is no real pressing reason for them to be concerned today, tomorrow when people start to catch on......
 
So-so quality caps & fanless mode = EPIC FAIL. PSUs with fanless mode will run hot and when combined with those caps, premature failure is inevitable. Get the AX or HX. And personally, I don't like modular cables for EPS, ATX 24-pin and PCI-E since the more connections, the more resistance you have. I bet lots of folks here running 3-4 high-end vid cards have burned their ATX 24-pin connector due to poor contact.
 
Paul_Johnson said:
That has been the trend. It has been pointed out to them, but they continue to ignore it or try and explain it away rather than act on it. The upside for Corsair is, though, they have built a massive brand with formerly good products at good prices coupled with an Apple fanboy like following so people blindly buy and blindly get others to buy their products. So there is no real pressing reason for them to be concerned today, tomorrow when people start to catch on......
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Thats what I was afraid of. They were my favorite brand of pretty much everything they made for a long time. Hell, half my rig is Corsair gear. But with their SSD's being not so hot and now their PSU's getting worse with subpar OEM's, guess its time for me to find a new favorite brand when I do my upcoming rig-refresh at least for power supplies. Always wanted to try an Enermax.
 
MacLeod said:
Always wanted to try an Enermax.
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Why not a Seasonic Plat? Have had two in almost 24/7 service for over a year now and never an issue with either. Cool and very quiet. One's an 860 and one's a 660.

Got burned on an Enermax Liberty with the non-conductive adhesive that became conductive....and as someone mentioned, once bitten, twice shy.
 
C'DaleRider said:
Why not a Seasonic Plat? Have had two in almost 24/7 service for over a year now and never an issue with either. Cool and very quiet. One's an 860 and one's a 660.

Got burned on an Enermax Liberty with the non-conductive adhesive that became conductive....and as someone mentioned, once bitten, twice shy.
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Kinda want something different this time for some reason. Seems like everybody has a Corsair or Seasonic. Just wanting to go a different route this time.
 
MacLeod said:
Kinda want something different this time for some reason. Seems like everybody has a Corsair or Seasonic. Just wanting to go a different route this time.
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Get a Kingwin or Rosewill Superflower unit then.
 
Jorona said:
Get a Kingwin or Rosewill Superflower unit then.
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Yeah thought about a Kingwin but I've always wanted an Enermax for some reason. Maybe cause they make their own. I can't give you any practical reason, just always wanted to try one. Kinda like how I'll probably go with an MSI motherboard. I've always used mostly Asus but always wanted to try MSI for some reason. Guess I get bored using the same brand over and over and since I do this hobby for enjoyment, guess it's more "fun" to me to try different brand stuff from time to time.
 
Enermax's CS is very lacking. I had about 3 rmas. I had to do with them in a row. Was taking easily a month + trying to get back a replacement. Not saying the power supplies are crap but they just need to work on the rma and CS side of the company. But when they work they are great power supplies though. I just had to cut my loss and move on to another brand.

The EVGA power supplies come with a 10 year warranty if that is something important to you also.

MacLeod said:
Yeah thought about a Kingwin but I've always wanted an Enermax for some reason. Maybe cause they make their own. I can't give you any practical reason, just always wanted to try one. Kinda like how I'll probably go with an MSI motherboard. I've always used mostly Asus but always wanted to try MSI for some reason. Guess I get bored using the same brand over and over and since I do this hobby for enjoyment, guess it's more "fun" to me to try different brand stuff from time to time.
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KILLER_K said:
The EVGA power supplies come with a 10 year warranty if that is something important to you also.
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To some extent a warranty is worth something but, it is also important to remember that BFG had a lifetime warranty on theirs.
 
KILLER_K said:
Enermax's CS is very lacking. I had about 3 rmas. I had to do with them in a row. Was taking easily a month + trying to get back a replacement. Not saying the power supplies are crap but they just need to work on the rma and CS side of the company. But when they work they are great power supplies though. I just had to cut my loss and move on to another brand.

The EVGA power supplies come with a 10 year warranty if that is something important to you also.
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Yeah Ive heard that before. But honestly you hear that about most all companies nowadays. Who knows. When it comes time to pull the trigger, I may end up just going with a Seasonic Platinum 660. I keep coming back to it cause you don hear the [H] say things like:

Is anyone still reading at this point of the review today? I mean, I don’t know what you really want me to say here since I would have bought this unit after page 4.
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And:

When you buy a Seasonic PLATINUM-660 you are simply getting exactly what you paid for; quite possibly the best PSU we have ever reviewed.
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Hell JonnyGuru gave it all 10's (well except for value)! Have to admit it would be kinda nice owning the PSU that is considered the best available from my 2 "go to" review sites.
 
True but some reviewers don't know it or even ran across it. But when you get most of your stuff from them it is hard to knock them, right? Plus what the reviewers get is hand picked hardware. Not random parts like we gets also. I like to get a bunch of review sites and compare what they all say. That way you have a wider view on the product you are looking at.

C'est La Vie

MacLeod said:
Yeah Ive heard that before. But honestly you hear that about most all companies nowadays. Who knows. When it comes time to pull the trigger, I may end up just going with a Seasonic Platinum 660. I keep coming back to it cause you don hear the [H] say things like:
Click to expand...
 
brncao said:
Seasonic makes Corsair's AX series (not the AXi). Go with AX
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This. I bit on an AX860i thinking it was the Seasonic rebranded version... whoops--it's a "digital?" (don't want) version made by Flextronics... caught in time to cancel order.

The AX860 is the power supply I meant to buy. Have to wait til order voids before I can purchase it...
 
Another thumbs up for the AX series.
My AX750 has been flawless for nearly 2 years now running 24/7.
Its great to be able to trust your power source, especially when testing hardware to the limit.
 
Bluesun311 said:
This. I bit on an AX860i thinking it was the Seasonic rebranded version... whoops--it's a "digital?" (don't want) version made by Flextronics... caught in time to cancel order.

The AX860 is the power supply I meant to buy. Have to wait til order voids before I can purchase it...
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The Flextronics unit is superb as well.
 
Yeah that Flextronics version is getting stellar reviews from the main sites. [H]ere and JG and Anand. Cant be too bad.
 
MacLeod said:
Yeah that Flextronics version is getting stellar reviews from the main sites. [H]ere and JG and Anand. Cant be too bad.
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We have never reviewed the AX860i. The only i model we have reviewed was the AX1200i and, while a good unit, it was certainly not worth the price premium over the AX1200.
 
My bad then. Guess I was thinking of the 1200i. JG did one on the 860i and gave it 10's in performance and build quality so while maybe not as good as the AX, it's still seems to be a petty damn good PSU. You're also right that the price premium isn't worth it. They seem to be coming down a little though but yeah, they were way too expensive when they first dropped.
 
Paul_Johnson said:
We have never reviewed the AX860i. The only i model we have reviewed was the AX1200i and, while a good unit, it was certainly not worth the price premium over the AX1200.
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Well, yeah. If you don't want the extra features of the i series, then the price premium is pretty pointless. But if you do want control over the psus various functions (Fan speed, pseudo rails, etc) then the premium is warranted.

That being said, give me a Superflower any day.
 
Yeah I was going to switch to the AX860 maybe and try out some of those individually sleeved cables Corsair sells for them, but I'm reconsidering.

I called Seasonic to ask them if the Corsair cables would work with my Platinum-1000 (no... duh) and then I went on to whine about how Seasonic's cables were ugly and the warranty void sticker is in an unsightly place. I couldn't exactly place the lady's accent on the other end, I'm fairly sure she was Japanese-American but either way she was super convincing when she told me that the reason they do the cables the way they do is because they USED to have individually sleeved cables and they got so many complaints about them they switched.

Really? OK, I said. But you guys should make kits like Corsair does and sell them, people will buy them!
 
TaintedSquirrel said:
You could always do it yourself.
A bit pricey for my tastes.
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I cannot imagine how long it would take me to learn how to do that and then actually do it for the whole power supply. Even the crazy Aussie from Singularity Computers has a dedicated electrician doing his sleeving for him because it's tedious and time consuming.

Maybe it wouldn't be as bad as I'm thinking... all I have to do is resleeve already made cables... those guys are making cables from scratch.
 
The AX is higher end the the RM. However, the RM is new line of PSUs. Make sure the AX isn't an older model. Also, I'm guessing that they don't come with the 5/7 year warranties.
 
TaintedSquirrel said:
You could always do it yourself.
A bit pricey for my tastes.
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It's not really too expensive.
There are some up front costs in buying a good crimper and cutting tools.
MDPC-X sleeve is very competitively priced in bulk.
It's just the time needed to do it.

Bluesun311 said:
I cannot imagine how long it would take me to learn how to do that and then actually do it for the whole power supply. Even the crazy Aussie from Singularity Computers has a dedicated electrician doing his sleeving for him because it's tedious and time consuming.

Maybe it wouldn't be as bad as I'm thinking... all I have to do is resleeve already made cables... those guys are making cables from scratch.
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I sleeved my Corsair AX 1200 in MDPC-X sleeve.
It wasn't difficult to learn how to do it at all.
I actually like the idea because the cables are made for the project, and you only need what you need.
It did take me two months of weekends, but I was in no rush and really enjoyed doing it.:D

I also like the fact that now I have all the tools to make pretty much any custom cable I need for a project.
If the PSU doesn't have exactly what I need, I can make a cable, to the exact spec I need.
At this point a 4 wire cable takes me about 30 minutes.
A six wire about 45 minutes to an hour.
 
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magoo said:
I sleeved my Corsair AX 1200 in MDPC-X sleeve.
It wasn't difficult to learn how to do it at all.
I actually like the idea because the cables are made for the project, and you only need what you need.
It did take me two months of weekends, but I was in no rush and really enjoyed doing it.:D

I also like the fact that now I have all the tools to make pretty much any custom cable I need for a project.
If the PSU doesn't have exactly what I need, I can make a cable, to the exact spec I need.
At this point a 4 wire cable takes me about 30 minutes.
A six wire about 45 minutes to an hour.
Click to expand...

This is one of those subtle "challenge posts"! :D

Well, I shall take your challenge, sir. :cool: Next year I'll post the pictures, haha. No, seriously I'll give it a go and start collecting materials and a few tools this week. I need a new hobby anyway.
 
Bluesun311 said:
This is one of those subtle "challenge posts"! :D

Well, I shall take your challenge, sir. :cool: Next year I'll post the pictures, haha. No, seriously I'll give it a go and start collecting materials and a few tools this week. I need a new hobby anyway.
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You'll find it fun.
Yeah, it takes a few cables to get good at it, but overall very rewarding,
You just have to go slow and be careful to plug the right cable into the right socket in the connector........
Make sure you buy some extra connector pins. It's easy to FUBAR some while you are working.
I highly recommend MDPC-X sleeving.
 
I was deciding between the AX, HX, RM, and TX for my new build but ultimately went with the AX just for the peace of mind.
 
MacLeod said:
Yeah thought about a Kingwin but I've always wanted an Enermax for some reason. Maybe cause they make their own.
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Enermax often employ outside OEMs to make their PSUs. I've seen Enermax branded PSUs from Sirfa and CWT. This week Oklahoma Wolf over at JG reviewed a CWT made Enermax PSU, and frankly it wasn't very good. There were some QC issues and the price vs performance ratio was not very impressive.
 
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