Corsair HX1200i vs HX1200i 2024

[sblantipodi]

Is It true that the old HX1200i was an analog PSU with digital monitoring funxtion while the new 2024 version is a complete digital PSU?

If yes what's the difference between the HX1200i and the AX1600i apart the obvious max wattage? Are they both fully digital PSU with digital voltage regulation?

this is the old one:

this is the new one

 

[Bill_Bright]

First, understand this refers simply to the monitoring and regulation of the supply. Do NOT assume digital automagically means better. It does not. The outputs of these near identical switching PSUs are the essentially the same. Any improvement that can be attributed specifically to digital monitoring and regulation is negligible, at best.

I have not read any review that compared similar analog regulated supplies to digital supplies that indicated the digital model justified the extra costs. A quality supply is a quality supply. That's the point to remember or one of the points.

Another important point to remember is that motherboards and graphics cards tend to have excellent regulation circuits too - designed specifically to ensure the sensitive components on those devices receive the good, clean, stable power they need. And for sure, those circuits do a great job at that.

So IMO, the big deal about claiming digital regulation and monitoring is simply marketing hype to justify higher costs for more profit.

If me, I would use the savings I got by avoiding the over priced supply and use it towards a good UPS with AVR. When you feed quality, regulated power to a PSU, even a budget PSU, that PSU will be able to feed connected components better regulated power too. I am NOT saying it is okay to go with budget PSUs. You don't buy a new Porsche then fill it up at the corner Tobacco and Bait shop with watered down fuel. Never try to trim the budget with a cheap PSU. Always go with a quality PSU from a reputable brand. I am just saying we don't have to buy the highest tier, most expensive models they offer to ensure we provide our computers good, clean stable power.

 

[dirtyferret]

this is a two week old post but just FYI, HX1200i is semi- digital and 3.0 ATX spec. The AX1600i is fully digital but only ATX 2.4 spec (i think, not positive but definitely not 3.0) You can also split the 12v rail in the AX1600i via software if I recall.

 

[sblantipodi]

this is a two week old post but just FYI, HX1200i is semi- digital and 3.0 ATX spec. The AX1600i is fully digital but only ATX 2.4 spec (i think, not positive but definitely not 3.0) You can also split the 12v rail in the AX1600i via software if I recall.

No, there are two HX1200i, the latest one is fully digital, it's ATX3.1 and can split the 12V rail.

HX1200i Fully Modular Ultra-Low Noise Platinum ATX 1200 Watt PC Power Supply (EU)

CORSAIR HXi Series Fully Modular Ultra-Low Noise Power Supplies with ATX 3.1 and PCIe 5.1 use the highest quality components to deliver 80 PLUS Platinum efficient power.

www.corsair.com

 

[dirtyferret]

No, there are two HX1200i, the latest one is fully digital, it's ATX3.1 and can split the 12V rail.

HX1200i Fully Modular Ultra-Low Noise Platinum ATX 1200 Watt PC Power Supply (EU)

CORSAIR HXi Series Fully Modular Ultra-Low Noise Power Supplies with ATX 3.1 and PCIe 5.1 use the highest quality components to deliver 80 PLUS Platinum efficient power.

www.corsair.com

It's a slight update to the same CWT platform used by BQ dark power pro 13 1300w

 

[sblantipodi]

It's a slight update to the same CWT platform used by BQ dark power pro 13 1300w

do corsair says "bullshits" in their web page?
it's probable, but I hope not.

they say: "fully digital"
if you see the ripple of this PSU it's very very good, it's less than half than older model.
11mV vs 30mV at full load.

a slight update will double the performance in ripple at all loads?

 

[dirtyferret]

I think they are being generous in their use of a marketing term as there are not that many true digital PSU out there. The slight update as I stated above is to the platform used by BQ not the old platform that's almost a decade old even if both are made by CWT.

 

[sblantipodi]

I think they are being generous in their use of a marketing term as there are not that many true digital PSU out there. The slight update as I stated above is to the platform used by BQ not the old platform that's almost a decade old even if both are made by CWT.

to me a digital psu is a psu that regulate its voltages with a microcontroller.
all other things are secondaries...

this PSU should regulate its voltages with a microcontroller, isn't it?

I'm not an expert, just asking.

 

[dirtyferret]

It does use microcontrollers for voltage regulation

 

[sblantipodi]

Ok thanks for the answers, I appreciate it.

 

[Bill_Bright]

to me a digital psu is a psu that regulate it's voltages with a microcontroller.

That's exactly what it is. And when done right, it nearly eliminates ripple and other unwanted anomalies, and greatly enhances regulation by more quickly compensating for any deviation from the standard. And it does that much more efficiently such that totally passive (no fan) cooling is much more easily achievable. Or if a fan is used, it can be used with a significantly smaller heatsink and smaller fan that does not need to spin very fast. Thus it is quieter - and since I really hate fan noise, that is a very good thing indeed.

But the actual voltages supplied are DC. That is, straight line +12.0VDC, +5.0VDC and +3.30VAC. Or at least those voltages will appear that way to any connected device. That is, any switching frequency will be so fast, it will appear to be like the steady output of a battery. In theory anyway.

Of course the problem there is theory and real world don't always gibe. So we will have to see how well the manufacturers do when adapting truly "full" digital designs.

 

[dirtyferret]

So we will have to see how well the manufacturers do when adapting truly "full" digital designs.

the fact that Corsair hasn't updated the AX1600i in basically a decade should tell you the demand for truly full digital. I'm not sure Flex has any desire to update it. I know Delta built a solid fuly digital unit but not as good as Flex and I believe Seasonic (or Super Flower) recently released one but it basically gets back to your initial post of cost not necessarily going into real world performance for most people.

Ok thanks for the answers, I appreciate it

end of day, HX1200i is an excellent & modern unit designed to go against top tier consumer OEMs units. AX1600i was designed to show off what could be done if you ticked off every box in a "wish list" unit while still under a "somewhat reasonable" production cost. To this day it's often the best reviewed PSU on many PSU web sites and itself an extraordinary unit when launched but the platform is a decade old.

 

[Bill_Bright]

he fact that Corsair hasn't updated the AX1600i in basically a decade should tell you the demand for truly full digital.

I am not sure if "demand" will even be the driving factor. I think just time (and money) will, however. That is, eventually, as advances in technology put more and more on a single chip, the move from multiple discrete component analog monitoring and control will just naturally evolve from analog to one chip digital. I could be wrong but history is on my side here.

 

[jonnyGURU]

Sorry I'm late... I missed this one.

The HXi is not really "fully" digital. It DOES use the same digital MOSFET driver from TI on both the primary and secondary side (the TI UCC27324-Q1), so at the point it is safe to say "fully digital", but the supervision is done with a Weltrend analog supervisor IC. And since you need that supervisor to make sure the user isn't doing stupid shit like trying to get 2000W out of a 1200W PSU or using Seasonic cables on a Corsair PSU causing short circuits, this is a critical component and therefore, IMO, if it's not also digital than the platform really isn't "fully digital". This is as opposed to using an MCU for supervision instead, like the AXi does. Of course, on any PSU that has a communication with software, an MCU is used to deliver information to the PC for iCUE or HWInfo to digest, but that's a given.

the fact that Corsair hasn't updated the AX1600i in basically a decade should tell you the demand for truly full digital. I'm not sure Flex has any desire to update it. I know Delta built a solid fuly digital unit but not as good as Flex and I believe Seasonic (or Super Flower) recently released one but it basically gets back to your initial post of cost not necessarily going into real world performance for most people.

The only platform that comes close is Delta's and it falls a bit behind. The Seasonic and Superflower efforts aren't even in the same ball park. The Wentai Aiden that's used for the new Asus is pretty good, but they still have issues with managing the switching on the primary side and I've managed to blow up a few. But that's in a lab scenario, so I don't really expect to see the same in the field or Asus wouldn't have stuck with Wentai for so long.

The biggest issue with making an AX1600i that's ATX 3.x compliant is the power excursion support. It would have to support 3200W for 100 microseconds. I know it sounds like not much time, but it's a lot of power. We (Corsair) have worked on updating it, but to maintain the same level of efficiency (adding caps to buffer the power excursion adds efficiency) is stupid expensive, and considering hardly anybody actually NEEDS that much power, trying to hit 3200W is just a flex. If you're doing something like running a 4 GPU AI server, for example, you'll need that much power, but you won't see the power excursions like you do when gaming/benchmarking.

Not many PSUs that claim to be ATX 3.x actually pass the power excursion test. They'll often put "ATX 3.x" on the box simply because it has the cables. For an accurate list of what's really ATX 3.x, check Intel's site. Filter by ATX 3.0 and ATX 3.1 and select "600W" for the 12VHPWR connector (if they provide lower wattage cables, that means they have to meet a lower power excursion requirement). In the 1600W realm, that leaves you with only the Seasonic, Asus (Wentai), ADATA (Delta) and an Enhance/Abee that you can only buy in China and Japan.

 

[Dr. Dro]

Can't speak much for the new model (although Jonny's advice is great as always) - as I understand the original HX1200i was a CWT analog with digital monitoring, while the AX1500i used a fully digital platform by Flextronics that included digital regulation, per-cable monitoring and all the fanciest stuff at the time - I've had both at some point. Ended up selling the HX1200i for a profit back when high-capacity power supplies were in extreme demand from miners, and my AX1500i went up in smoke after around 40 days of ownership. It quite literally blew up during a Borderlands 2 session, and the funniest that my system at the time was a i7-4770K with 2 GTX 980's, it couldn't have come even close to half its load capacity. I think I even have the expensive C19 cable I bought for it somewhere here, that I haven't needed since.

Corsair didn't have another unit in stock in my region back then, so it was a lengthy RMA process which ended in a refund. Shame, because otherwise I would be using it to this day, these AXi supplies are built different and well worth the high cost, I just got unlucky. ATX spec version doesn't matter, if you can afford an AXi, just buy it.

 

[jonnyGURU]

Corsair didn't have another unit in stock in my region back then, so it was a lengthy RMA process which ended in a refund. Shame, because otherwise I would be using it to this day, these AXi supplies are built different and well worth the high cost, I just got unlucky. ATX spec version doesn't matter, if you can afford an AXi, just buy it.

What "region"? You couldn't just do the RMA through Corsair?

EDIT: Oh.... never mind. Brazil. Yeah.. you're forced to work with the local disty.

Not to get political, but wouldn't it be nice if Brazil got rid of all of those nasty tariffs?

 

[Dr. Dro]

What "region"? You couldn't just do the RMA through Corsair?

EDIT: Oh.... never mind. Brazil. Yeah.. you're forced to work with the local disty.

Not to get political, but wouldn't it be nice if Brazil got rid of all of those nasty tariffs?

Oh it sure would. At least we're going to be transitioning to an European-like VAT model in the coming years. If done right, it's going to lighten things up a little.

 

[dirtyferret]

we tried going to go into Brazil via Mercado Libre twice, tarriffs prevent sending in a container directly from China the first time. Second time they were like "just drop ship from the states"...

 

[kapone32]

I had the original HX 1200I. What made it digital was the USB Cable that connected to the MB. That allowed you to monitor the temp and other numbers in HWInfo and adjust the fan curve in Icue.

 

[sblantipodi]

my HX1200i is creating more problems than goodness.

Corsair HX1200i makes my USB to reboot during heavy load.

I hope that the community may help me but I feel out of luck with iCue and my Corsair HX1200i PSU. I had so many problems in past with my rig due to iCue. I swapped my motherboard and CPU from Intel to AMD (from a 13900K on a Z690 to 7950X3D on a X670E) due to a DRAMM issue related to iCue and...

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