Introduction

We would like to thank Corsair for supplying the review sample.

The digitally controlled AX860i and AX760i PSUs are made by Flextronics, but their counterparts that miss the "i" are made by Seasonic. They use a conventional design to achieve the best possible performance; that is, if you can call such a high-end platform conventional. The price margin between the AXi and AX units is definitely noticeable, but is not crazily high, so it is up to the user to decide whether spending a couple extra bucks to get the shiny new platform with the monitor/control software as a cherry on the pie is worth it, or whether picking the already proven Seasonic platform that may lack all the digital gismos, while fully exploiting the conventional control ICs to achieve record breaking performance, would be a better choice. This is indeed a hard dilemma, but we are pretty sure that things will be crystal clear with solid test data results being available by the end of this review.

The main difference of the new AX760 unit to its predecessor, besides the slight increase in capacity, is the efficiency upgrade that is now compliant with the requirements of the 80 Plus Platinum specification. Its other specifications are almost the same since the PSU utilizes a fully modular cabling design, goes fanless at lower loads, allowing for the lowest possible noise, and because it can deliver its maximum power output at up to 50°C ambient. The warranty period does, on top of that, remain the same at seven years; a really long period, especially for a PSU. Its long warranty is a clear indication that Corsair is pretty confident about this product. They see no problem whatsoever in fully supporting the AX760 for such a long period of time. You can be sure of the unit's reliability if you have Seasonic or Flextronics (since the AXi units enjoy the same warranty period) making PSUs for you, especially if you set some of the specifications while also taking an active part in its evaluation process.

Specifications

Efficiency has been upgraded to Platinum from the Gold efficiency badge previous AX units featured. The operating temperature range also remained the same with a high 50°C limit for continuous maximum power output. The protection features only include the basics; OTP is missing. The 120 mm fan is thermally controlled and doesn't spin up at all with lower loads in order to minimize output noise levels.

Corsair states that the PSU is ATX 2.31 compliant, but this cannot be true since it only has one +12V rail, and this specification demands at least two. However, this is not important and doesn't affect the PSU's overall performance one bit. Finally, the warranty is extra-long with seven years; the usual warranty period for all AX(i) units. Its price looks quite stiff, even for a 760 W Platinum PSU.


The single +12V rail can almost deliver the full power of the unit, something that is very convenient since modern systems draw most of the power out of this rail. The minor rails are fairly strong with 125 W maximum combined power, but only a fraction of that is likely to be utilized in a contemporary high-end system. Finally, the 5VSB rail has enough juice with 3 A maximum current output.

Cables & Connectors, Power Distribution

The unit is equipped with a great number of cables/connectors, including six PCIe and two EPS connectors, and all of them are available at the same time. This is pretty awesome, especially for a 760 W PSU. The number of SATA and peripheral connectors will easily cover every need or system. Regarding cable length, all connectors are installed on pretty long cables and our only objection here is the small distance between the peripheral connectors. Finally, all cables are stealth so all their wires are black. They also share the same size of 18AWG, which is the minimum required by the ATX spec.

Since this PSU features a single +12V rail, we do not have anything to comment on about its power distribution.

Packaging

The face of the package is covered by a close shot of the unit's fan grill. As you can see, the non-digital controlled AX units feature a plain fan grill instead of the specially designed grills the AXi PSUs use. Corsair apparently wanted to distinguish between the AX and AXi units by adding a visual token to their AXi line-up.
The Platinum badge can be found on the bottom, right corner, and we can find a small list with the most crucial features of the unit, namely the fully modular design and its quiet operation, in the opposite corner of the box. The model number is given in a large white and red font, while the model description is highlighted through a red backdrop.


Corsair provides a lot of information about the PSU on the back of the box. A list of all available cables/connectors and their length is given on top, and we find two tables with efficiency and fan-speed curves a little lower on the box. We were pretty amazed by the fan-speed graph according to which the fan only engages after the PSU reaches 70% load. Well, Corsair doesn't provide any information on the ambient under which the data for this graph was acquired. The ambient would, most likely, be close to a room's temperature (23°C). Finally, another interesting piece of information on this side of the box is the table that provides the rail's specifications.