Just received an AX1500i from OCUK, to replace my old Thermaltake Toughpower W0141 1500w. Johnnyguru tells you more than you can ever need to know about the performance of this PSU, so I thought I'd just give my "feelings" on it.
Current system spec to give you an idea of power use:
i7 4970k @4.4
7970/7990 Tri-fire.
Various HDDs/SSDs.
4x8GB Dimms @2133mhz.
My old Thermaltake PSU had a noisy fan, I replaced the fan but the funny design of the casing encroached on the blades and made even more noise. It also got annoyingly hot at full tilt, so I decided I needed a new PSU.
After reading reviews on Johnnyguru, the AX1500i seemed like the apex PSU to buy. I like the single rail design, I like the efficiency as that means less heat and less noise, and I liked the idea of running fanless to 30% load (so 450w!).
This thing is huge, bigger than my TT 1500w, and bigger than my older PC P&C 1kW-SR, but the fully modular design makes it easy to get in the case without wires getting in the way.
The included cables are long and stiff, I'm going to have to spend a decent amount of time rerouting them to hide them when I get chance, but it's in place and working. I loved the self test button, more PSUs should include this!
I have a Corsair H80i so I already had Corsair Link etc. You can connect the PSU to the Cooler with an included cable, meaning you don't need to use up another usb port/header.
The software in Windows is actually useful, you can see how many amps are going down each cable, you can set current limits on each cable, and you can see the input/output wattage. Also, you can set current limits per output cable, which is a good safety feature I feel (prevent short circuits functioning as a 125 amp arc welder!)
I've found that while the PSU is 90% efficient at 10% load as per the 80+ Titanium spec, meaning 165W input gives 150W output, dropping below 10% load you find the input doesn't really go down any further. This means that at windows desktop, when 2 of my GPUs are powered down (AMD Zerocore) and the CPU is idling, I'm still drawing ~165W from the wall for ~80W used. This is with CPU power management off, and means there is little point in enabling CPU power management (as it won't actually effect used power.)
The unit is silent even with Linpack running, the fan doesn't even spin up. This alone would have sold the PSU to me.
When gaming in crossfire, of course the fan spins up, but it's inaudible above the GPU fans. This unit is effectively silent.
With corsair link running on monitor 2, I can see that my max system power is 878W used for 925W of power at the wall, meaning less than 50W of heat in the PSU. This also tells me I could have gotten away with a smaller PSU, but hey!
All in all, I'd recommend this PSU to anyone who wants a quiet system
Current system spec to give you an idea of power use:
i7 4970k @4.4
7970/7990 Tri-fire.
Various HDDs/SSDs.
4x8GB Dimms @2133mhz.
My old Thermaltake PSU had a noisy fan, I replaced the fan but the funny design of the casing encroached on the blades and made even more noise. It also got annoyingly hot at full tilt, so I decided I needed a new PSU.
After reading reviews on Johnnyguru, the AX1500i seemed like the apex PSU to buy. I like the single rail design, I like the efficiency as that means less heat and less noise, and I liked the idea of running fanless to 30% load (so 450w!).
This thing is huge, bigger than my TT 1500w, and bigger than my older PC P&C 1kW-SR, but the fully modular design makes it easy to get in the case without wires getting in the way.
The included cables are long and stiff, I'm going to have to spend a decent amount of time rerouting them to hide them when I get chance, but it's in place and working. I loved the self test button, more PSUs should include this!
I have a Corsair H80i so I already had Corsair Link etc. You can connect the PSU to the Cooler with an included cable, meaning you don't need to use up another usb port/header.
The software in Windows is actually useful, you can see how many amps are going down each cable, you can set current limits on each cable, and you can see the input/output wattage. Also, you can set current limits per output cable, which is a good safety feature I feel (prevent short circuits functioning as a 125 amp arc welder!)
I've found that while the PSU is 90% efficient at 10% load as per the 80+ Titanium spec, meaning 165W input gives 150W output, dropping below 10% load you find the input doesn't really go down any further. This means that at windows desktop, when 2 of my GPUs are powered down (AMD Zerocore) and the CPU is idling, I'm still drawing ~165W from the wall for ~80W used. This is with CPU power management off, and means there is little point in enabling CPU power management (as it won't actually effect used power.)
The unit is silent even with Linpack running, the fan doesn't even spin up. This alone would have sold the PSU to me.
When gaming in crossfire, of course the fan spins up, but it's inaudible above the GPU fans. This unit is effectively silent.
With corsair link running on monitor 2, I can see that my max system power is 878W used for 925W of power at the wall, meaning less than 50W of heat in the PSU. This also tells me I could have gotten away with a smaller PSU, but hey!
All in all, I'd recommend this PSU to anyone who wants a quiet system