Most of you are probably familiar with Enermax. Long time makers of some high quality power supplies, they've also been offering cases and front panels for quite some time. Power supply units (PSUs) are their bread and butter though, and depending on your needs, they have a PSU for you.
Though it's something that a lot of people look into, a quiet PC is something that isn't something enthusiasts really consider. Let's face it, a noisy PC usually means an overclocked and speedy one. Granted, the growing popularity of water cooling has addressed the noise problem, but there are plenty of other areas we can look into to lower the volume in the den. One area is the PSU, and Enermax has addressed this with their Noisetaker line of products. Today, we'll be taking a look at their 375W .
The unit we received has a total output of 375W, and although the Enermax doesn't look any different from many high end PSUs, it does have a few features we wish more manufacturers would mimick. As mentioned earlier, one area is noise, but for enthusiasts, the EG-375P-VE also has two 12v rails for the CPU (and your drives), and the motherboard that are independently fed, as well as cooling your system after the power is turned off.
The EG-375P-VE is composed with an all-steel enclosure, and although there is a good weight to it, it does seem lighter than some other PSUs we've tested. The shell is painted blue, and is a nice change from the generic steel-grey we're used to seeing. The specifications are clearly displayed on the side of the unit, informing the user what the PSU is rated at.
Unlike some past Enermax PSUs, the bottom fan grill is not as elevated as before, and removal of the grill was not required to install into our Lian-Li PC65 case. Though the 92mm fan is not of the LED variety, it is a translucent white one which is a lot nicer looking than a generic black fan. In any case, since this will be inside your case, towards the rear, aesthetics probably doesn't matter much in this respect.
Cabling on the Enermax is, in my opinion, a little on the short side. Though the longest cables measure 800mm, I did have some problems hooking them up to my hard drives in the Lian-Li since they are on the bottom of the case. Granted, I like to route my cables in such a way that they are semi-hidden, and if I were to "let them hang", the length is sufficient.
All the cables are sleeved to some extent, and according to specifications, the main motherboard and drive connections are braided with copper shielding (though silver in colour). Not only does this make things a little neater, but it also serves to shield your components from EMI. I did find the sleeves made the cables very stiff, but this is not a big problem.
There are five four-pin molex connections, two floppy, two SATA (which are a bit longer than the rest of the cables), one ATX, 12v and AUX power connections, as well as a fan speed monitor. All the molex connections are gold plated, which will provide a better electrical contact.
Standard fare on the rear of the PSU, with a manual on/off switch, AC-in, 80mm fan and the rheostat to control the fan speed manually. The PSU does have automatic fan speed control courtesy of a built-in thermostat, but for those who like more control, that's where the rheostat comes in. Simply turn it to low for a quieter PSU, and High for full speed. Keep in mind that the 92mm fan is controlled by the thermostat, whereas the rheostat only controls the 80mm fan (which is also thermostat controlled).
One small thing that may annoy people is that after installation, the rheostat label was now upside down. Considering that I would probably use it by reaching behind the PC and turning it blind, this is no huge concern, but what doesn't bother me may bother somebody else.
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