Computex 2010 Coverage

Enermax

To me, for years, Enermax has always represented one of the top power supply manufacturers. Its PSUs are high quality and the craftsmanship is top notch. The Liberty series, in particular, was one of my favorite, back in the day. So when I visited the Enermax booth, I was very eager to see what the company had to offer in a very crowded industry.

Enermax was showcasing its new 80 Plus Gold and 80 Plus Silver lines of power supplies. The PRO87+ line contains the non-modular 80 Plus Gold power supplies, available in 500W, 600W and 700W. The MODU87+ line contains the modular 80 Plus Gold power supplies, available in 500W, 600W, 700W, 800W and 900W. The power supplies in both lines have 87-93% efficiency at 20-100% load and feature a 13.9cm Twister-bearing, low-noise, gold-colored fan. The PSUs also feature Dynamic Hybrid Transformer (DHT) Topology, which uses a staged dynamic transformer array to provide durability, stability and high efficiency. They also use Japanese capacitors, as is norm with high quality PSUs, and have HeatGuard, which keeps the fan running for 30-60 seconds after shutdown to dissipate the remaining system heat and thus prolong system life. The 500W - 700W models are tri-rail (25A each), while the 800W and 900W models are quad-rail (30A each).

Enermax also had three high-end prototype PSUs on display dubbed 87++, in 1100W, 1300W and 1500W. They're being called 87++ because of the extremely high efficiency that goes well beyond the 80 Plus Gold standard. As such, Enermax isn't exactly sure how to classify them and aren't even certain they'll see the market.

Enermax's 80 Plus Silver line is called the REVOLUTION85+. The 920W and 1020W versions have four rails at 35A each, while the 850W, 950W, 1050W and 1250W versions have six rails at 30A each. The PSUs have 85-92.9% efficiency at 20-100% load, and like the aforementioned series, features HeatGuard.

All the aforementioned power supplies are C6 and Hybrid mode ready thanks to its ZERO LOAD Design, which essentially means there is no minimum load. This is key because C6 mode (for CPUs) and Hybrid mode (for GPUs) could consume as little as 1W, which would cause most PSUs to have unstable voltage or even shutdown. In addition, the modular PSUs are "future ready" in that its connectors are a 12P socket design, compared to the standard 8P. This means that if new CPUs and/or GPUs require 10P and/or 12P connectors, Enermax's modular power supplies will be able to accommodate them. These two features could prove to be major selling points for those that are frequent upgrades or simply like to future-proof their builds.

Lastly, Enermax had a "Reality Lab" set up, hosted by Dr. Power, comparing different PSUs to highlight the efficiency and cooling of its PSUs. The setup included a generic non-80+ 500W PSU, an Enermax MODU82+ 525W 80 Plus Bronze PSU, and an Enermax MODU87+ 500W 80 Plus Gold PSU. Each PSU was set at 285W load, and the second photo below shows you how many watts were actually being used by each PSU; 359W for the generic model, 335W for the 82+, and only 308W for the 87+. There was also a temperature display comparing the generic model to the 82+, with the latter being nearly 5°C cooler. If you ran your system 24/7 for a full year, Enermax estimates that you'd save 450KW/h with the 87+.