Where do you get the Enermax Modu 87+ 500W? I can only find the 700W on New Egg, and can barely find the 600W flavor. Have these items been released yet? If not, when is the expected release date?
To be brutally honest here, I would be very surprised to find more than one person in the pool of hardware geeks that are my friends that has a computer that, even under load, consumes more than 300W. Even really powerful gaming machines (say, core i7 + HD5870) usually draws around about 100W idle, and with recent developments usually even less than 80W (yes, really). Under load, these machines barely top 200W. You would need to do some serious skulltrailing to build something that needs 400 or 500W.
For the serious gamer, a 350W PSU should be the norm - why you ask me? At idle, a single-processor, single-gpu machine uses about 20% of the PSU's rating, and that is where the serious efficiency benefit is for forward converter topologies. Right now, gamers use ridiculous 500+ W power supplies which leaves the PSU uselessly wasting energy at idle, where the computer is most of the time anyway.
This is by the way also one of the humongous errors made by various reviewers (not anandtech by the way) - they for instance try to test a C2D E5200 (extremely power-efficient) but decide to run it in their usual test bench which inevitably contains a power supply designed for overclocking. Then they're surprised that the E5200 seems to be no more efficient than a Q9600 or something, but in reality the E5200 system consumes so little that the PSU is hopelessly inefficient at that point. If you use this knowledge you can build machines that idle below 35W by just and only using a very low-wattage power supply (barring the truly high-end video cards of course)
I'll agree with you to an extent. The 700+ PSU's are more than overkill for most people. But keep in mind the longevity of the PSU. Most people do not like their PSU's running 80% of capacity when under load, and I constantly hear 60% as the sweet spot for long-life. We are now approaching a sort of saturation point for PSU efficiency so I don't see people buying a new PSU every single time they upgrade or rebuild. It was different when we were jumping from 50-60-70% efficiency. But going from 80-82-84-etc is not really that big (from both a utility cost and heat standpoint).
These new PSU's are great in that they get very high efficiencies at anything pretty much above 20%. Other brands are also almost there (25-30%), so it's kind of moot. You're not going to see large price differences if they made 350 or 400w because the main cost is in design and manufacturing, not so much the difference between parts (some but not the bulk of the cost).
"Enermax posted this video on YouTube to show real life experiences and how they could be solved with CordGuard. We think it's dangerous to let kids play behind a PC in the first place, and let's just hope they don't notice the power switch…."
Or do one of the more creative/inventive things kids have been known to do. Like perhaps try to stuff a peanut butter and jelly sandwich through the fan grill . . .
But right, I do not think any responsible parent is going to let their young kids play around with the power supply of a computer in the first place. I would think Enermax needs to work on their marketing a bit more . . . The video stinks, and screams "skiddy". CordGuard is not a terrible idea, but come on. Are they really trying to market a $.05 gimmick ? When did the name Enermax sink so low ?
Personally, I would like to see some aircraft quality (screw-on ) connectors for the removable power connections, and a plain black fan would be perfectly fine with me. Also, I agree that the name badge on the fan guard is not necessary. Yes, I *would* pay more ( fair price ) for the above mentioned connectors.
The only thing I learn from these reviews is to put in a 220v socket (USA) for the PC. It shouldn't cost much and would save on the power.
I wonder what kind of efficiency you get from OEM PSU's (gateway, hp, dell) in the 250watt to 350watt range, because that is what I use to build PC's and I figure it puts them right in the middle of their power range with a 35-65watt CPU, as is common these days.
You sure the 220v US and the 230v Euro are compatible? I didn't think so but I'm not an electrician.
As for the OEM PSU's I'd LOVE to see some tested. I'm banking on them being completely crap. More importantly than the efficiency would be the stability of these PSU's. Typically OEM's look for the least common denominator for all components, without normally sacrificing reliability when used as intended (ie not OC'd, extra devices).
But sounds like a great mini-review. Take a typical Dell, HP, Gateway (they still exist?) PSU and put them through the ringer and see who squeals first.
You're missing my point. What if you didn't get it? What if you had to cut off a UPC code, and a leg, and mail them in and then it took five months? Why can't they just give instant rebate at the checkout counter at Best Buy? Because they make money screwing people over. The discount only applies to those willing to mess around with the silliness of it all. Those who can't do it properly, lose out on it. Rebates are dumb.
No, they make money by the majority of people not participating or participating improperly (forgot the UPC, sent in the wrong one, expired, etc.) Yes there are companies that are out to completely avoid paying rebates. They are the ones that have rediculously short windows for expiration, or just look for reasons not to pay (Tiger Direct....cough....cough). I've done a number of rebates my last 2 computer builds and have yet to not have one honored (most builds I give myself a 1 month window to accumulate all of the parts and heavily bank on the rebates to get better parts than I would otherwise purchase). One or two took significantly longer than stated, but in the end I received all of them WITHOUT having to contact the rebate company.
Maybe I was just lucky, but maybe, just maybe I read the forms properly and sent in what was required within the allotted time.
Just one piece of advice if building a computer system. BUILD THE SYSTEM FIRST, THEN SEND IN THE REBATE. :)
It can also be the Euro/Dollar rate (at 1.41 now) at work here. When this thing is manufactured in Germany the Dollar price is going to be outrageous compared to the Euro price.
Then again, when I bought my MODU82+ 525 late december 2008 it cost me 100,00 Euro. They remain amongst the most expensive apparantly still.
I have an Enermax Liberty 500w and a Liberty 620w and they're both still going strong after several years.
I'm really loving this Modu if there isn't anything better in a year or two when I finally upgrade my Opty 185 I may have to opt for this. It looks like its a bit easier to add/remove cables than my Liberty.
The gold fan is schweeeeet! At 140cm and with that blade design its gotta be darn near completely silent. Really great job Enermax. You're still my fave. :)
$150 for a power supply? Does it come with a glass pipe? Sheesh. What I'd like to see is a cheaper power supply that has a big fan like these, but only 300W. Only goofballs need more than 300 watts. I have a Q6600 system overclocked to 3.3 and it doesnt even pull 200 watts fully loaded. If I upgraded to a 5770 it should go to about 230 watts. So what is the deal with these 700W supplies?
What I'd really like to see is a supply that outputs 50W at near 90% efficiency. Most new computers idle at 50 watts or less, and yet all these power supplies have atrocious efficiencies at that level. Not once have I ever read a review of a power supply that is actually specifically built & specced for 90% of the pc's that actually exist, ie those that idle around 50-75 watts and pull 120-150 fully loaded.
Probably because over 90% of the computers that exist are built by OEMs, and a high quality power supply is too expensive for that application. You are going to have a hard time selling consumers on "higher quality power" when that is something they expect to just work.
A patent on a 140mm fan? Seriously? What a load of crap. They should have made the 139mm 139.9mm and put a big red F in their booklet with the name of the patent-holder. What is this world coming to?
I have to say I am very pleased with the modular PSU's sticking with the same plug design. That would make cable management after installation a thing of the past which I think for 90% of us DIY builders is what keeps us from replacing a PSU mid-upgrade cycle. Instead just disconnect the cables from the old PSU, pop in the new one, and connect the cables again.
I do want to mention a PSU I installed for my cousin about a month ago. I for the life of me can't remember the brand but it was definitely a high-end PSU. It was modular and instead of using the typical A/C plug style to connect the cables to the PSU, it had similar to a microphone plug; 3 pronged in a triangle fashion with a locking collar that you had to screw down. It was a VERY well manufactured piece and there was no issue with feeling the connection wasn't solid.
Anyways glad to see a PSU review again. I got burned a year ago when I jumped the gun on an early recommendation for a PSU you were just starting to test and have been unhappy with its rails and overall quality (Tuniq Potency). Penny-wise, pound-foolish and all. I've been trying to justify upgrading to a better PSU and I think the time has just about come. I just hate the though of doing the cable management again...definitely going to be getting a modular PSU again (previous to the Tuniq I had an Antec NeoPower 480w which was awesome in its day).
i have seen these come down in price in akihibara already.
in the right places, they are ~$200 for the 600w, and ~$230 for the 700w.
i have also seen the "pro" models around for about $50 less for each.
Pedant ON. Its not a square shape its an octagon, to match the octagonal hole for the fan and (most) of the metalwork forming the fan guard. Pedant OFF.
Could you hook up some different power supplies and show the difference they draw from the wall versus these at idle and load with a basic quad core, 4GB ram, two hard drive, and 5870 setup? I'm curious if spending $50 more on a power supply is going to actually make that big of a difference over a year of computing cost wise for electricity.
In most cases it's better to keep your current PSU rather than buy a new one. Sometimes if you have a very inefficient unit it's worth the upgrade. If you already have a plain jane 80plus PSU, then it would be a waste of cash to upgrade.
For instance lets say your PC idles at 100w DC from the board. We will use a 500w power supply for an example.
Your plain jane 500w 80plus PSU idles at 80% efficiency and the fancy gold one idles at 87% efficiency. If you calculate it to the wall for the plain jane 100w/.8= 125w, the gold one is 100w/.87= ~115w. So we have a difference of 10w. If we calculate the idle power difference over a year at .10 per kwh then: ((10w*24*365)/1000) * .10 = $8.76 saved per year with your PC on 24/7.
If you bought a 500w gold unit say at newegg for $100 just to upgrade (and the braggin' rights) it would take you over 11 years to recoup your $100 idling your PC 24/7. I can see many peeps will proudly display their gold unit signature. :) Let's see if they keep their PSU for 10 + years!
If you were going for a new build and trying to decide whether to go for a plain jane 80 plus at $50 or the fancy gold one at $100 (for a difference of $50) it would take over 5 1/2 years to recoup your $50 idling 24/7. For some this might be reasonable depending on the price of electricity in their area, and how much they actually use their PC. If you don't use your PC a whole lot, the plain jane 80 plus will most likely be good enough.
Upgrade only if you have issues:
*the air blown by the PSU is too hot
*computer is finicky (bad quality PSU could be the reason)
*you (actually) need more wattage
*your PSU is noisy, and you want a silent one
As seen in the page, one of those expensive PSU will happily provide you 15% or more power above nominal (no mention of the efficiency though, but it should probably be higher than 80%), while a low quality power supply might give you out-of-range voltages when reaching 90% load (or maybe even less than that)
And not to mention that the fabrication of the PSU also consumes energy. If you throw away ur old 80% PSU that is still working to buy this one you are actually wasting energy. It's the same with cars. Manufacturing of a car (creating the steel, plasitics,...) consumes more energy than it will ever use while it's actually running. So trading in your old one for a new one is wasting energy.
Main reason to buy this PSU is because of low noise. Efficient = less heat = lower fan speed = quieter. Simple.
Very nice to see a new PSU review on anandtech, I was worried you guys had forgotten what made you popular- reviews of real products not just blog after blog. I have a suggestion, if I may. The Antec Neo Eco 400W power supply. I actually just bought one, it seems like a good deal. It has a 30 amp 12V rail (360W) a 120mm fan, and is 80plus certified. Not sure who the OEM for it is, I'm thinking Seasonic. But you guys should check it out. Great review by the way.
good luck finding a replacement for that gold monstrosity. so that make this crap a n buy for me. You see, i like to change the fans on my psu ( better fans) in order to control them myself.
Hard to think you'll need a fan better than that - 50 Celsius for the vented air and almost totally silent even at maximum load?
I have an old Seasonic 350W (12 cm fan) which I felt was totally silent in typical operation (closed case, computer under desk), and after about four years it still is totally silent.
is not hard to think _ for me_ the big fan dsnt follow a standard, it has no other use for me, if a buy 4 120 fans i could give the multiple uses/ ( psu replacement fan, case fan, cpu fan, low speed fan, high speed fan, etc, - btw cases with big fans are terrible) one huge big ass fan? no other user ¡ difficult to find = no thanks.
is not hard to think _ for me_ the big fan dsnt follow a standard, it has no other use for me, if a buy 4 120 fans i could give the multiple uses/ ( psu replacement fan, case fan, cpu fan, low speed fan, high speed fan, etc, - btw cases with big fans are terrible) one huge big ass fan? no other user ¡ difficult to find = no thanks.
Why use such a cumbersome term as Cable Management (which refers primarily to the neatness of cable routing) when 'Modular' is much more apt (and specifically referred to in the product name)?
Nobody makes 'cable management' PSUs, but quite a few companies make 'modular PSUs'.
More comparisons (especially in the benchmarking) to competing products (rather than just the other two in the series) would really be nice. I actually have come to expect it at Anandtech.
To me, this came off as a bit more of a fluff piece. Not a disguised commercial but more like something I'd find at most other hardware sites.
Geez, and I thought the X-Series was overpriced. Sure, these Enermax PSU's are efficient, but certainly not $50.00 more efficient than say, an Corsair 750HX. If they come with a $30.00 MIR then they might be worth the money, but otherwise I'll pass.
You're too focused on price only. A PSU isn't something you buy every day. Better to get a great, efficient unit that has headroom to grow and will last you many years, even if it costs a little more.
And yes, fifty bucks is a little more. Most people on Anandtech wouldn't whine if they have to pay $200 for a video card, and we all know how fast they go obsolete. Get some perspective here please.
The PSU is arguably THE most important piece of equipment in your whole PC. If it doesn't function well, nothing else will either. So there's nothing wrong with buying one of the best units out there, quite the opposite.
Actually this is more like a $600-700 videocard amongst PSUs. Most will be happy enough with a HD5870. Many PSUs in the $100 range, like the HX620, are damn good. However like any other computer component, those extra 5% costs just as much as the first 95%.
I happy to see another P/S review on Anandtech. I don't think that there have been any in quite a while. While these Enermax models are very nice, the price probably makes them impractical for any builds that I can imagine.
However, one thing that I really like about these power supplies is their very low noise output. As I move away from building game-centric computers to computers that are likely to be used more as media servers, keeping the noise down to being virtually inaudiable becomes more important to me (especially for a music server). For these kind of computers I don't need a huge amount of power, and therefore I'm not looking to invest a huge amount of money in the P/S. I'm really looking for a power supply that can give me the quietest experience for the least amount of money. (To get a really quiet P/S, I accept that I'll be spending more than one would expect to spend on most "budget" power supplies.)
Anyway, this is just a suggestion that perhaps others are also looking for something more like this for their living rooms, instead of a kilowatt P/S to drive an overclocked quad core monster with multiple video cards.
As mentioned below, the tested was done in a temperature controlled chamber, so the ambient temp was indeed 50C. I would update the graphs, but Christoph custom-made these charts so I'll leave that to him. :)
Thanks for the great review. Any chance you can update the results to include the new, 800W and 900W models they've just released? I'd love to see if those also stay silent at all loads.
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59 Comments
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0roo0roo - Monday, February 15, 2010 - link
simple, to the point, should be done more.JFrizzle - Friday, February 12, 2010 - link
Where do you get the Enermax Modu 87+ 500W? I can only find the 700W on New Egg, and can barely find the 600W flavor. Have these items been released yet? If not, when is the expected release date?cupoftea - Sunday, January 24, 2010 - link
I would be really interested to see how this compares to another PSU from Germany, the Nesteq ASM X-Zero 500 semi-passive.KoVaR - Thursday, January 21, 2010 - link
Really nice PSUs, but a bit shame they come with three 12V rails instead of one "big one"ssj3gohan - Thursday, January 21, 2010 - link
To be brutally honest here, I would be very surprised to find more than one person in the pool of hardware geeks that are my friends that has a computer that, even under load, consumes more than 300W. Even really powerful gaming machines (say, core i7 + HD5870) usually draws around about 100W idle, and with recent developments usually even less than 80W (yes, really). Under load, these machines barely top 200W. You would need to do some serious skulltrailing to build something that needs 400 or 500W.For the serious gamer, a 350W PSU should be the norm - why you ask me? At idle, a single-processor, single-gpu machine uses about 20% of the PSU's rating, and that is where the serious efficiency benefit is for forward converter topologies. Right now, gamers use ridiculous 500+ W power supplies which leaves the PSU uselessly wasting energy at idle, where the computer is most of the time anyway.
This is by the way also one of the humongous errors made by various reviewers (not anandtech by the way) - they for instance try to test a C2D E5200 (extremely power-efficient) but decide to run it in their usual test bench which inevitably contains a power supply designed for overclocking. Then they're surprised that the E5200 seems to be no more efficient than a Q9600 or something, but in reality the E5200 system consumes so little that the PSU is hopelessly inefficient at that point. If you use this knowledge you can build machines that idle below 35W by just and only using a very low-wattage power supply (barring the truly high-end video cards of course)
7Enigma - Thursday, January 21, 2010 - link
I'll agree with you to an extent. The 700+ PSU's are more than overkill for most people. But keep in mind the longevity of the PSU. Most people do not like their PSU's running 80% of capacity when under load, and I constantly hear 60% as the sweet spot for long-life. We are now approaching a sort of saturation point for PSU efficiency so I don't see people buying a new PSU every single time they upgrade or rebuild. It was different when we were jumping from 50-60-70% efficiency. But going from 80-82-84-etc is not really that big (from both a utility cost and heat standpoint).These new PSU's are great in that they get very high efficiencies at anything pretty much above 20%. Other brands are also almost there (25-30%), so it's kind of moot. You're not going to see large price differences if they made 350 or 400w because the main cost is in design and manufacturing, not so much the difference between parts (some but not the bulk of the cost).
Christoph Katzer - Thursday, January 21, 2010 - link
http://geizhals.at/deutschland/a497624.html">http://geizhals.at/deutschland/a497624.htmlCheck out the street prices, the MSRP of the Modu87+ was 150€ and it's now already at 116€...
yyrkoon - Wednesday, January 20, 2010 - link
"Enermax posted this video on YouTube to show real life experiences and how they could be solved with CordGuard. We think it's dangerous to let kids play behind a PC in the first place, and let's just hope they don't notice the power switch…."Or do one of the more creative/inventive things kids have been known to do. Like perhaps try to stuff a peanut butter and jelly sandwich through the fan grill . . .
But right, I do not think any responsible parent is going to let their young kids play around with the power supply of a computer in the first place. I would think Enermax needs to work on their marketing a bit more . . . The video stinks, and screams "skiddy". CordGuard is not a terrible idea, but come on. Are they really trying to market a $.05 gimmick ? When did the name Enermax sink so low ?
Personally, I would like to see some aircraft quality (screw-on ) connectors for the removable power connections, and a plain black fan would be perfectly fine with me. Also, I agree that the name badge on the fan guard is not necessary. Yes, I *would* pay more ( fair price ) for the above mentioned connectors.
gwolfman - Wednesday, January 20, 2010 - link
Why is 115VAC so inefficient in comparison to 230VAC?ClownPuncher - Wednesday, January 20, 2010 - link
I can see the appeal, but for me a single 12v rail over 50a is ideal, rather than 3-4 rails.nubie - Wednesday, January 20, 2010 - link
The only thing I learn from these reviews is to put in a 220v socket (USA) for the PC. It shouldn't cost much and would save on the power.I wonder what kind of efficiency you get from OEM PSU's (gateway, hp, dell) in the 250watt to 350watt range, because that is what I use to build PC's and I figure it puts them right in the middle of their power range with a 35-65watt CPU, as is common these days.
7Enigma - Thursday, January 21, 2010 - link
You sure the 220v US and the 230v Euro are compatible? I didn't think so but I'm not an electrician.As for the OEM PSU's I'd LOVE to see some tested. I'm banking on them being completely crap. More importantly than the efficiency would be the stability of these PSU's. Typically OEM's look for the least common denominator for all components, without normally sacrificing reliability when used as intended (ie not OC'd, extra devices).
But sounds like a great mini-review. Take a typical Dell, HP, Gateway (they still exist?) PSU and put them through the ringer and see who squeals first.
JonnyDough - Wednesday, January 20, 2010 - link
"we hope that Enermax will bring in some really good MIRs (mail-in rebates)"There is no such thing.
bigboxes - Wednesday, January 20, 2010 - link
I suppose it depends on the company. I got my Seasonic rebate in two months.JonnyDough - Thursday, January 21, 2010 - link
You're missing my point. What if you didn't get it? What if you had to cut off a UPC code, and a leg, and mail them in and then it took five months? Why can't they just give instant rebate at the checkout counter at Best Buy? Because they make money screwing people over. The discount only applies to those willing to mess around with the silliness of it all. Those who can't do it properly, lose out on it. Rebates are dumb.7Enigma - Thursday, January 21, 2010 - link
No, they make money by the majority of people not participating or participating improperly (forgot the UPC, sent in the wrong one, expired, etc.) Yes there are companies that are out to completely avoid paying rebates. They are the ones that have rediculously short windows for expiration, or just look for reasons not to pay (Tiger Direct....cough....cough). I've done a number of rebates my last 2 computer builds and have yet to not have one honored (most builds I give myself a 1 month window to accumulate all of the parts and heavily bank on the rebates to get better parts than I would otherwise purchase). One or two took significantly longer than stated, but in the end I received all of them WITHOUT having to contact the rebate company.Maybe I was just lucky, but maybe, just maybe I read the forms properly and sent in what was required within the allotted time.
Just one piece of advice if building a computer system. BUILD THE SYSTEM FIRST, THEN SEND IN THE REBATE. :)
cfaalm - Wednesday, January 20, 2010 - link
It can also be the Euro/Dollar rate (at 1.41 now) at work here. When this thing is manufactured in Germany the Dollar price is going to be outrageous compared to the Euro price.Then again, when I bought my MODU82+ 525 late december 2008 it cost me 100,00 Euro. They remain amongst the most expensive apparantly still.
JonnyDough - Wednesday, January 20, 2010 - link
I have an Enermax Liberty 500w and a Liberty 620w and they're both still going strong after several years.I'm really loving this Modu if there isn't anything better in a year or two when I finally upgrade my Opty 185 I may have to opt for this. It looks like its a bit easier to add/remove cables than my Liberty.
The gold fan is schweeeeet! At 140cm and with that blade design its gotta be darn near completely silent. Really great job Enermax. You're still my fave. :)
JonnyDough - Wednesday, January 20, 2010 - link
"Enermax will be modifying all of their PSUs to include the CordGuard function going forward, but we really don't think this is necessary."I do. Stupid cats.
Shadowmaster625 - Wednesday, January 20, 2010 - link
$150 for a power supply? Does it come with a glass pipe? Sheesh. What I'd like to see is a cheaper power supply that has a big fan like these, but only 300W. Only goofballs need more than 300 watts. I have a Q6600 system overclocked to 3.3 and it doesnt even pull 200 watts fully loaded. If I upgraded to a 5770 it should go to about 230 watts. So what is the deal with these 700W supplies?What I'd really like to see is a supply that outputs 50W at near 90% efficiency. Most new computers idle at 50 watts or less, and yet all these power supplies have atrocious efficiencies at that level. Not once have I ever read a review of a power supply that is actually specifically built & specced for 90% of the pc's that actually exist, ie those that idle around 50-75 watts and pull 120-150 fully loaded.
strikeback03 - Wednesday, January 20, 2010 - link
Probably because over 90% of the computers that exist are built by OEMs, and a high quality power supply is too expensive for that application. You are going to have a hard time selling consumers on "higher quality power" when that is something they expect to just work.7Enigma - Wednesday, January 20, 2010 - link
A patent on a 140mm fan? Seriously? What a load of crap. They should have made the 139mm 139.9mm and put a big red F in their booklet with the name of the patent-holder. What is this world coming to?7Enigma - Wednesday, January 20, 2010 - link
I have to say I am very pleased with the modular PSU's sticking with the same plug design. That would make cable management after installation a thing of the past which I think for 90% of us DIY builders is what keeps us from replacing a PSU mid-upgrade cycle. Instead just disconnect the cables from the old PSU, pop in the new one, and connect the cables again.I do want to mention a PSU I installed for my cousin about a month ago. I for the life of me can't remember the brand but it was definitely a high-end PSU. It was modular and instead of using the typical A/C plug style to connect the cables to the PSU, it had similar to a microphone plug; 3 pronged in a triangle fashion with a locking collar that you had to screw down. It was a VERY well manufactured piece and there was no issue with feeling the connection wasn't solid.
Anyways glad to see a PSU review again. I got burned a year ago when I jumped the gun on an early recommendation for a PSU you were just starting to test and have been unhappy with its rails and overall quality (Tuniq Potency). Penny-wise, pound-foolish and all. I've been trying to justify upgrading to a better PSU and I think the time has just about come. I just hate the though of doing the cable management again...definitely going to be getting a modular PSU again (previous to the Tuniq I had an Antec NeoPower 480w which was awesome in its day).
dukeariochofchaos - Wednesday, January 20, 2010 - link
the best i can find these for is ~$240 for the 600watt, and ~$275 for the 700watt.so far, i can't find the 500, or any of the "pro" series.
i guess they figure somebody spending that much on a psu is only going for the top.
Christoph Katzer - Wednesday, January 20, 2010 - link
Yes, unfortunately Enermax USA won't take all of these six units.strikeback03 - Wednesday, January 20, 2010 - link
So does that mean we won't see the 500W units?Well, at least there is still Seasonic.
Christoph Katzer - Wednesday, January 20, 2010 - link
I heard they will be bringing the Pro87+ 500 & 600W.dukeariochofchaos - Tuesday, January 26, 2010 - link
i have seen these come down in price in akihibara already.in the right places, they are ~$200 for the 600w, and ~$230 for the 700w.
i have also seen the "pro" models around for about $50 less for each.
cupoftea - Wednesday, January 20, 2010 - link
I meant first paragraph.Hoist. Petard.
cupoftea - Wednesday, January 20, 2010 - link
Pedant ON. Its not a square shape its an octagon, to match the octagonal hole for the fan and (most) of the metalwork forming the fan guard. Pedant OFF.rbarone69 - Tuesday, January 19, 2010 - link
I'm sure you're room temp isnt 50 degrees celsius... (122f)rbarone69 - Tuesday, January 19, 2010 - link
Sorry guys, didnt see you actually put it in an environment at 50c. (should read better before commenting)Just curious why you picked such a high temp to test. Do you find that there are cases this warm in rooms with no A/C?
JarredWalton - Wednesday, January 20, 2010 - link
It's a stress test to simulate a hotter case; if a PSU can handle 50C, it can easily handle the more common 30-35C.Christobevii3 - Tuesday, January 19, 2010 - link
Could you hook up some different power supplies and show the difference they draw from the wall versus these at idle and load with a basic quad core, 4GB ram, two hard drive, and 5870 setup? I'm curious if spending $50 more on a power supply is going to actually make that big of a difference over a year of computing cost wise for electricity.- Tuesday, January 19, 2010 - link
In most cases it's better to keep your current PSU rather than buy a new one. Sometimes if you have a very inefficient unit it's worth the upgrade. If you already have a plain jane 80plus PSU, then it would be a waste of cash to upgrade.For instance lets say your PC idles at 100w DC from the board. We will use a 500w power supply for an example.
Your plain jane 500w 80plus PSU idles at 80% efficiency and the fancy gold one idles at 87% efficiency. If you calculate it to the wall for the plain jane 100w/.8= 125w, the gold one is 100w/.87= ~115w. So we have a difference of 10w. If we calculate the idle power difference over a year at .10 per kwh then: ((10w*24*365)/1000) * .10 = $8.76 saved per year with your PC on 24/7.
If you bought a 500w gold unit say at newegg for $100 just to upgrade (and the braggin' rights) it would take you over 11 years to recoup your $100 idling your PC 24/7. I can see many peeps will proudly display their gold unit signature. :) Let's see if they keep their PSU for 10 + years!
If you were going for a new build and trying to decide whether to go for a plain jane 80 plus at $50 or the fancy gold one at $100 (for a difference of $50) it would take over 5 1/2 years to recoup your $50 idling 24/7. For some this might be reasonable depending on the price of electricity in their area, and how much they actually use their PC. If you don't use your PC a whole lot, the plain jane 80 plus will most likely be good enough.
Kibbles - Friday, January 22, 2010 - link
Don't forget the extra heat needs to be cooled during summers.But I agree, the savings is small especially since most people don't idle 24/7.
jasperjones - Wednesday, January 20, 2010 - link
Who pays $0.10 per kwh? Is that residential? I'm in NYC and pay ~$0.20.Calin - Wednesday, January 20, 2010 - link
Upgrade only if you have issues:*the air blown by the PSU is too hot
*computer is finicky (bad quality PSU could be the reason)
*you (actually) need more wattage
*your PSU is noisy, and you want a silent one
As seen in the page, one of those expensive PSU will happily provide you 15% or more power above nominal (no mention of the efficiency though, but it should probably be higher than 80%), while a low quality power supply might give you out-of-range voltages when reaching 90% load (or maybe even less than that)
beginner99 - Wednesday, January 20, 2010 - link
And not to mention that the fabrication of the PSU also consumes energy. If you throw away ur old 80% PSU that is still working to buy this one you are actually wasting energy. It's the same with cars. Manufacturing of a car (creating the steel, plasitics,...) consumes more energy than it will ever use while it's actually running. So trading in your old one for a new one is wasting energy.Main reason to buy this PSU is because of low noise. Efficient = less heat = lower fan speed = quieter. Simple.
Makaveli - Tuesday, January 19, 2010 - link
I also would like to see a PSU round up maybe in march time frame... :)I'm still sitting pretty with my Enermax Infinity 720 Watts right now, and you do make a good poing about Enermax PSU prices not dropping much.
rudolphna - Tuesday, January 19, 2010 - link
Very nice to see a new PSU review on anandtech, I was worried you guys had forgotten what made you popular- reviews of real products not just blog after blog. I have a suggestion, if I may. The Antec Neo Eco 400W power supply. I actually just bought one, it seems like a good deal. It has a 30 amp 12V rail (360W) a 120mm fan, and is 80plus certified. Not sure who the OEM for it is, I'm thinking Seasonic. But you guys should check it out. Great review by the way.papapapapapapapababy - Tuesday, January 19, 2010 - link
good luck finding a replacement for that gold monstrosity. so that make this crap a n buy for me. You see, i like to change the fans on my psu ( better fans) in order to control them myself.strikeback03 - Wednesday, January 20, 2010 - link
Might still use 140mm mounting holes, and just be a 139mm fan to avoid a stupid patent.Calin - Wednesday, January 20, 2010 - link
Hard to think you'll need a fan better than that - 50 Celsius for the vented air and almost totally silent even at maximum load?I have an old Seasonic 350W (12 cm fan) which I felt was totally silent in typical operation (closed case, computer under desk), and after about four years it still is totally silent.
papapapapapapapababy - Wednesday, January 20, 2010 - link
is not hard to think _ for me_ the big fan dsnt follow a standard, it has no other use for me, if a buy 4 120 fans i could give the multiple uses/ ( psu replacement fan, case fan, cpu fan, low speed fan, high speed fan, etc, - btw cases with big fans are terrible) one huge big ass fan? no other user ¡ difficult to find = no thanks.papapapapapapapababy - Wednesday, January 20, 2010 - link
is not hard to think _ for me_ the big fan dsnt follow a standard, it has no other use for me, if a buy 4 120 fans i could give the multiple uses/ ( psu replacement fan, case fan, cpu fan, low speed fan, high speed fan, etc, - btw cases with big fans are terrible) one huge big ass fan? no other user ¡ difficult to find = no thanks.Voldenuit - Tuesday, January 19, 2010 - link
Why use such a cumbersome term as Cable Management (which refers primarily to the neatness of cable routing) when 'Modular' is much more apt (and specifically referred to in the product name)?Nobody makes 'cable management' PSUs, but quite a few companies make 'modular PSUs'.
Mumrik - Tuesday, January 19, 2010 - link
More comparisons (especially in the benchmarking) to competing products (rather than just the other two in the series) would really be nice. I actually have come to expect it at Anandtech.To me, this came off as a bit more of a fluff piece. Not a disguised commercial but more like something I'd find at most other hardware sites.
ap90033 - Friday, January 22, 2010 - link
I thought this was a good article on specific hardware. But then again I am not the uber geek with no life like some seem to be around here....RaistlinZ - Tuesday, January 19, 2010 - link
Geez, and I thought the X-Series was overpriced. Sure, these Enermax PSU's are efficient, but certainly not $50.00 more efficient than say, an Corsair 750HX. If they come with a $30.00 MIR then they might be worth the money, but otherwise I'll pass.FaaR - Thursday, January 21, 2010 - link
You're too focused on price only. A PSU isn't something you buy every day. Better to get a great, efficient unit that has headroom to grow and will last you many years, even if it costs a little more.And yes, fifty bucks is a little more. Most people on Anandtech wouldn't whine if they have to pay $200 for a video card, and we all know how fast they go obsolete. Get some perspective here please.
The PSU is arguably THE most important piece of equipment in your whole PC. If it doesn't function well, nothing else will either. So there's nothing wrong with buying one of the best units out there, quite the opposite.
Kibbles - Friday, January 22, 2010 - link
Actually this is more like a $600-700 videocard amongst PSUs. Most will be happy enough with a HD5870. Many PSUs in the $100 range, like the HX620, are damn good. However like any other computer component, those extra 5% costs just as much as the first 95%.Spacecomber - Tuesday, January 19, 2010 - link
I happy to see another P/S review on Anandtech. I don't think that there have been any in quite a while. While these Enermax models are very nice, the price probably makes them impractical for any builds that I can imagine.However, one thing that I really like about these power supplies is their very low noise output. As I move away from building game-centric computers to computers that are likely to be used more as media servers, keeping the noise down to being virtually inaudiable becomes more important to me (especially for a music server). For these kind of computers I don't need a huge amount of power, and therefore I'm not looking to invest a huge amount of money in the P/S. I'm really looking for a power supply that can give me the quietest experience for the least amount of money. (To get a really quiet P/S, I accept that I'll be spending more than one would expect to spend on most "budget" power supplies.)
Anyway, this is just a suggestion that perhaps others are also looking for something more like this for their living rooms, instead of a kilowatt P/S to drive an overclocked quad core monster with multiple video cards.
- Tuesday, January 19, 2010 - link
The first three graphs on p.11 look like they need more labeling. Looks like you need to show which PSU for efficiency.mariush - Wednesday, January 20, 2010 - link
On page 10, I somehow doubt the readings were made at 50C room temperature (see chart headers)JarredWalton - Thursday, January 21, 2010 - link
As mentioned below, the tested was done in a temperature controlled chamber, so the ambient temp was indeed 50C. I would update the graphs, but Christoph custom-made these charts so I'll leave that to him. :)JarredWalton - Tuesday, January 19, 2010 - link
Fixed... the same graph was initially inserted on all three as you may have noticed.markshin - Saturday, July 24, 2010 - link
i bought a Modu87+ 700W, because i needed a new psu to replace my 5-year old 70% efficient unit..I don't intend to run this at 100% load, that's sheer madness. 30-60% is the sweet spot for today's PSU's, that's where they are most efficient.
and also, they're selling for about US$150 (at least from where I'm located).
:-)
MasonStorm@AnandTech - Friday, October 1, 2010 - link
Hi Chris,Thanks for the great review. Any chance you can update the results to include the new, 800W and 900W models they've just released? I'd love to see if those also stay silent at all loads.