Haswell compatibility with Corsair power supplies

A report recently published over at the VR-Zone discussing the new 4th generation Intel Core processors, code-named "Haswell", and their ability to go into a lower power sleep state than any previous processor has caused some concern about PSU compatability with the new processor.

When an Intel Core (i3, i5, i7) processor is idle, it goes into a sleep state that requires less power than when the CPU is active. Since the motherboard voltage regulation modules that provide power to the CPU gets their power from the power supply's +12V rail, these sleep states can dramatically reduce the load on the power supply's +12V rail.

Corsair Link Lighting Node

The Corsair Link Lighting Node is a component that comes with our Corsair Link Cooling and Lighting Kit, but many people do not know that can be used independently, without other Corsair Link components. The Lighting Node offers quick and easy lighting control for your system, and comes with everything you need to light up the inside of your case in a color of your choice. If you want to have more advanced functionality and control over the Lighting Node, there are some ways of linking it up with other hardware components, but first let's talk about the stand alone functionality of the Corsair Link Lighting Node.

Corsair H50s in Clash of the Titans

NVIDIA has unleashed a Titan among us mortals. The new NVIDIA GTX Titan GPU offers amazing graphics processing power while consuming up to 250w of power. The stock cooling setup on these cards looks pretty impressive but of course, there are always people out there that are not content with stock.

Recently, I stumbled across a system build thread over at the EVGA forums. Member "dustingg" has taken two Hydro Series H50 CPU coolers and with some slight tubing modifications, he's attained cooling results rivaling much more expensive custom cooling solutions. We applaud dustingg for his ingenuity and we also really like his choice of PSUs.

Starcraft 2 themed Queen of Blades Mod

Case modder Rich "DarthBeavis" Surroz brought his Queen of Blades PC mod to PAX East 2013 and was showcasing it at the NVIDIA booth. Check out the video below and see all the corsair gear he has. It includes 96GB of Corsair memory, two Corsair AX1200 power supplies and 25 Air Series fans!

Using Corsair Link to Monitor a Corsair AX860i Digital ATX PSU's Power Output, Temperature, and Fan Speed

Many Corsair power supplies feature cooling fans with Zero RPM technology. Essentially, while the power supply is at lower loads and producing less heat, the intake fan is stopped, therefore producing zero noise. As the load on the PSU increases, the power supply produces more heat and that heat needs to be evacuated. A thermistor inside the power supply tells the fan to kick on. Once those temperatures drop to a level that is safe for the power supply to operate without active cooling, the fan cuts off and the power supply runs silently once again.

For my demonstration, I will be using an AX Series AX860i Digital ATX PSU and Corsair Link software to demonstrate how the PSU's power output and temperatures increase with load, and how the power supply fan speed increases and decreases with that temperature.