Installation and User Experience

Installation was just like any other PSU that is under the sun so I won't put a bunch of stuff about that; however I did run into one problem which was the aforementioned "kill switch". It ran kind of low on the PSU and when I went to install it in my Antec Sonata I found that "this" was in the way:

Simply enough the piece of metal blocked the switch from being able to poke through properly, that problem was solved by using an aluminum oxide grinding bit on my dremel to take it down a few millimeters but it was a modification that some may not want to do none the less.

My other problems are these: I found that the six (with the "extra" 12v cable) total 12V lines were not enough. I have three harddrives and one optical drive which I am planning to upgrade to two (so that burning disks could be that much easier) and that already takes up all five 12V lines. Simply enough that means I had to resort to chaining heatsink and case fans which I don't like doing, but I know this PSU can easily handle doing it. I wish that the two lines that only had one 12V connector instead had two each. Doing so would increase the amount of 12V connectors from six to eight; That may not be enough for some, but would probably be enough for the greater majority.

Enermax already was trying to be one step ahead of the six 12V line problem by including two SATA power connectors which handle two drives (meaning two less 12V connetors used for some of you). Many people don't have SATA drives yet including myself, which means those connectors aren't even used which is unfortunate. Although having the SATA connectors is a step in the right direction but unfortunately it's still a useless feature for some. In my case, I wished they were both regular 12V connectors.

The test system was a 1700+ Thoroughbred overclocked to 2.2GHz (11x200), Asus A7N8X-E Deluxe, Albatron FX5900 XT, Promise Raid TX2 PCI card, 2x 20GB IBM 60GXPs, a 80GB Western Digital Cavalier, an ASUS CRW-5232AS CD Burner, and 2x 120mm fans.

In order to test Enermax's power supply I first ran the system in an overclocked environment. Running roughly 800mhz over stock, and eating up 1.850V on the core and another 2.9V on the RAM, this is the sort of situation in which a power spike could be fatal. Additionally I have plenty of drives to suck up more juice, and a video card that requires external power. The two 120mm fans are just icing (I have watercooling so the power for that is external).

In order to test how stable the power was, I monitored the voltage with Asus probe, and then fired up a quick deathmatch game against some bots in Quake 3. The power in any PSU under these conditions will fluctuate, the question is how much, and will it be significant? My results were this:

Throughout the match the power on the 12V and 3.3V lines fluctuated the most. However as you notice, while it was running the 12V line was always slightly over 12V and this was the case even when I wasn't running Quake 3 (folding@home was running in the background however). The 3.3V line was also running slightly over its specification. However in both instances running slightly over is perfectly fine and normal and nothing to be alarmed about.

Additionally the 5V line never reached 5V but was only slightly under and didn't fluctuate enough to show a tangable difference on Asus Probe. The Vcore ran up to 1.872 which is a problem with the motherboard trying to draw more that the settings I choose which was 1.850. That problem however is a motherboard issue and definitely not the power supply. Even with the discrepancy you'll notice that the PSU was able to deliver such power with absolutely no problems.

Enermax's cooling claim is that the three fans in the PSU will aid in lowering system temps of both the PSU and hardware inside your case. Although it does aid much more than most powersupplies it wasn't as extreme as Enermax claims. In fact there wasn't even a 1C difference in the case ambient temps between using this PSU or a different one. It seems to me that the major benefits of the three fans is slightly increased airflow from the system, but more importantly a PSU that is kept very well ventilated which means much less of a chance of having failure due to heat. Bottom line is that an exhaust fan behind your CPU is going to do much more as far as a cooling benefit than this PSU will deliver. Don't get me wrong though, in an overclocked environment every little extra bit counts, and having that little extra bit was appreciated.

Additionally I didn't really see much need for the fan controller unit, and it seemed that the auto function is where it is best left at. Everyone wants to run their system as quietly as they can anyway, so why would someone have it cranked up all the way all the time? Their heart is in the right place on this one, but the functionality wasn't all that useful.

Conclusion

In an overclocked system, clean power is crucial. If one were to have a voltage spike, the consequences could be disastrous. With that in mind Enermax's dual 12V lines and hardy design should be the edge any enthusiast needs to have in a power hungry situation. Some people look at the PSU as a component they can skimp on to save money to buy other parts, but that is a flaw in logic. By buying a cheap PSU you gamble with the lifeblood of all the components in your system. In a worse case scenario you could lose all your components to a power surge. Or the opposite could occur in which your components don't receive enough power, try to draw more power, and then overheat and fail. Other scenarios could occur in which your components could receive dirty power or power that fluctuates a lot resulting in random crashes or errors that seem to be OS or other hardware related problems, but are really the result of a faulty PSU. Buying a good PSU can save you time and hassle, and additionally if you buy a good quality one, it, like a computer case can be reused over and over again as you upgrade.

This Enermax powersupply performed like a champ just like the rest of the Enermax line of powersupplies. Enermax has shown once again that it does provide high quality power for high end and enthusiast system, and I wouldn't trust my components to anything less.

Pros:
Two 12v lines
Clean, stable power
Nice brass finish
Three fans, more than most
"Kill switch"
SATA connectors come with it

Cons:
Only six 12V connectors
No active PFC in this particular model. They do have another model (AX) w/the PFC function at an added cost.

Bottom line:
This is a solid product that lives up to the reputation that enthusiasts give Enermax, and I would have no problem recommending it to anyone.

If you got any comments, be sure to hit us up in our forums.

HOME