Corsair Showcase a Technology Smörgåsbord at CES 2014
by Ian Cutress on January 7, 2014 12:00 PM ESTNew PSU: Corsair AX1500i Digital ATX PSU
Over recent years Corsair’s PSU business has been booming, at least in terms of how often I find them mentioned in new builds in online forums. Newegg and Amazon both have a wealth of reviews showing that Corsair has established itself as one of the main players. In recent quarters the push in the PSU market has been towards the digital – being able to manage and monitor how the power supply responds to load, as well as keeping logs of temperatures and how each rail and voltage line is performing are the new features. In order to bolster their digital AX line, currently occupied by the AX760i, the AX860i and the AX1200i, Corsair is releasing a higher end model – the AX1500i, rated at 1500W for 80 PLUS Platinum:
Corsair claims this is the world’s most technologically advanced and efficient PSU for PC enthusiasts, and that the unit will perform beyond the 80 PLUS Platinum standard – stating that if the Titanium standard for 230V (Europe and others) was available for 115V today and this unit was tested for it, it would receive that award instead (the spec is currently being drafted).
1500W is clearly a lot and most builds need not apply. I remember when testing a dual Xeon 32-thread workstation and four 7970s that drew 1550W when overclocked – that is the market that this power supply is aiming for. The AX1500i comes fully modular, and is configurable in both multi-rail and single rail format (users can set their own overcurrent protection limits) via Corsair Link. The PSU also uses a zero RPM fan mode, such that the power supply will not even spin its fan until the power draw exceeds 450W.
Aside from the 150 x 86 x 225mm dimensions and the 7-year warranty, the AX1500i will be available in Q2 at an MSRP of US$450.
New Keyboard and Mouse: Raptor K40 and Raptor M45
Many of the more traditional component manufacturers are coming out with their own line of peripherals – what used to be the home of companies like Logitech are now filled with GIGABYTE and Corsair-like brand wanting a piece of the action. This is all a good thing for consumers – competition breeds innovation, and for gamers, having the right equipment is only one piece of the puzzle. In that gamer element, after the PC, there are several other items that deserve a $50-$200 investment apiece: gaming mice, gaming keyboards, gaming mouse mats, gaming headsets, gaming chairs, gaming glasses, or even more expensive gaming monitors and so on.
To add to their Raptor lines, Corsair is ‘unleashing’ a new keyboard and mouse at CES.
The Raptor K40 is a non-mechanical (rubber-dome) keyboard with onboard macro storage, full-key rollover on USB, and the main selling point is the 16.8 million color customizable backlighting. This is a whole motherboard backlighting, rather than the per-key backlighting we saw with the Cherry MX RGB which allowed users to customize their gaming experience on a per-game basis. The macro features give six keys on the left hand side of the keyboard and three separate bank keys to adjust as necessary. The WASD and arrow keys are also in grey to differentiate from the rest of the black keys. Corsair are saying the K40 will be available in January with a two-year warranty and an MSRP of $80.
The gaming mouse debate is a long and exhaustive one – wired or wireless, large grip or small grip, adjustable DPI, optical or laser, how many macro keys, and so on. Back when I was clan gaming, I ran a wireless gaming mouse – I could not stand the wire being caught on the side of the table. Each to their own of course and this is why there are plenty of models in the market to cater for everyone: now the M45 from Corsair, continuing on from their M65 and M60, is coming out to play.
The right handed M45 starts with a Pixart PMW3310 5000 DPI optical sensor with a high-mass scroll wheel in a soft-touch housing. The rear has large PTFE glide pads and an adjustable weight system in order to get the responsiveness a user needs for their type of gaming. The buttons on the side are macro buttons, configurable through software, and the DPI is adjustable on top. The wired M45 should be available in January with a two-year warranty and an MSRP of $60.
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Kevin G - Tuesday, January 7, 2014 - link
I'm a fan of hot swap bays and this case has the entire left side that could be put towards this. Instead there are only two 5.25" bays. Sure, I can get adapter kits and put eight 2.5" drive in there but there is just so much wasted space. I found myself purchasing a rack mount box to get the hot swap capabilities I wanted with 3.5" drives. This would be a great starting point for a DIY NAS.I'm not fond of the two 3.5" hard drive bays in the main chamber. It isn't a bad use of space, just odd with removable trays and there only being two of them, it just seems odd. By default there isn't a better place to mount a 3.5" driver.
It'd also be nice to put in two PSU's into the left chamber. This basic design could be pretty much ideal for multiple GPU cooling as the front in take fans are very close to where the GPU's actually are. Bonus if Corsair actually sold a kit where two standard, high power ATX PSU's could be setup in a redundant fashion. They wouldn't be hot swap but it'd be nice to have for the DIY NAS idea or for those who have a 4 way GPU rig inside.
A bit more vertical space to mount a tall server motherboard. I've seen a few dual socket motherboard that'll go several cm above the standard port area. he top radiator space might be enough space to suffice but I wouldn't mind a bit more room up there. Though I figure the extra space there would be more appreciated for those with thick radiators.
I wouldn't say that this case is over priced, though I do wish it had less plastic and more metal. I'm personally not a fan of the mixed white/black trim cases but opinions will of course vary by person. I totally dig the flat black though.
zero2dash - Tuesday, January 7, 2014 - link
Corsair reps are saying TX is EOL which means the RM is replacing them - and that's a bloody shame. (source: http://hardforum.com/showpost.php?p=1040375135&...IMHO they should merge some of the lines.
Take CS and GS and implement into CX
Keep TX
Trash RM since they review so poorly
Keep HX
Combine AX & AXi (though I'd call it AX to stay consistent with the other lines ending in X)
Used to be so simple. 3 lines - VX, TX, HX. Cheap, enthusiast wired, enthusiast modular.
I think they've overcomplicated it for really no reason whatsoever.
Meanwhile I'm waiting for my TX V2 to get here from RMA out nearly 3 weeks now. Corsair support has fallen off quite a bit from what I experienced with the few VX and HX issues I've had in the past.
Aikouka - Tuesday, January 7, 2014 - link
I was rather surprised at your comment on the RM series. I've used Corsair PSUs from the HX, AX and RM series, and in my research prior to purchasing, I saw the most negative comments about the AX series and the proposed coil whine. I've owned two HX750s, one AX860 and one RM750, and I haven't had an issue with any of them.ZeDestructor - Tuesday, January 7, 2014 - link
The AX has been completely replaced by the AXi. Down here in Australia where the stocks go fairly fast at least.As for the RM, where do you read bad reviews? Jonnyguru.com seems quite happy with it...
Kevin G - Thursday, January 9, 2014 - link
I read a bad review here:http://hardocp.com/article/2013/11/13/corsair_rm75...
Essentially the algorithm to turn on the fan was flawed and the system could trip its break before the fan would kick in. If the load jumped quickly, got the fan running, it worked otherwise as expected according to the review.
garadante - Tuesday, January 7, 2014 - link
Is there any word on when Corsair will release an H110i? I'm surprise to see this H105 not be an H105i. I'd really like the ability the throttle the pump and fans attached to the pump easily! Waiting for Corsair to announce them so I can throw money at 'em.Jambe - Tuesday, January 7, 2014 - link
Since that mITX case is 28 liters, why wouldn't one just get an mATX chassis instead and have more space and slots and such?That also confounded me with the Prodigy, which is 26 liters; if I'm building a SFF computer I kind of need the dimensions to be, y'know... small.
Gadgety - Wednesday, January 8, 2014 - link
I wish that AX1500i had been out last year when I got the Silverstone Strider 1500.HisDivineOrder - Wednesday, January 8, 2014 - link
Corsair! No cube-shaped Obsidian? Instead, you go with yet ANOTHER oversized ITX case that makes ITX irrelevant?Fail, Corsair. Fail.