Enermax Modu82+ II 625W PSU review
Posted by Hilbert Hagedoorn on: 03/06/2011 02:00 PM [ 0 comment(s) ]
Stability Testing the PSU
So during our tests we also monitor the voltage fluctuations as shown below in both IDLE and LOAD states of the PC. We write down the lowest and highest value we see within a certain PC state. The difference is the fluctuation. If a PSU is unstable we'd see a lot of fluctuation, differences and discrepancies which can result in system instability.

Once we gathered all results we can place them in an easy to understand chart. Look at the chart, the two lines show both the Idle and Load state of a specific voltage rail, the dark blue one the lowest voltage dip measured, the red one the highest fluctuation. That's your baseline.
So then, ATX specification requires that the PSU needs to stay within a 5% fluctuation; for example, each +12 Volt rail should remain between 11.4 - 12.6 Volts.

As you can see, the PSU when utilized stays very consistent, meaning that the PSU is functioning within ATX specified limits. During the load test, I several times checked to see if the PSU was warm, it was at best lukewarm in a full stress test with roughly 700 Watts power draw, which was over the rated 625W specification.
Though at 700W you can silently hear the PSU the fan RPM will remain relatively low, and as such so will the airflow noise level coming from it.
Sound levels (dBA)
As usual we grabbed our dBA meter, enabled the PSU by hot-wiring it and started to listen to see if it made any significant noise. Short and simple, it's really silent.
The human hearing system has different sensitivities at different frequencies. This means that the perception of noise is not at all equal at every frequency. Noise with significant measured levels (in dB) at high or low frequencies will not be as annoying as it would be when its energy is concentrated in the middle frequencies. In other words, the measured noise levels in dB will not reflect the actual human perception of the loudness of the noise. That's why we measure the dBA level. A specific circuit is added to the sound level meter to correct its reading in regard to this concept. This reading is the noise level in dBA. The letter A is added to indicate the correction that was made in the measurement.

(reference photo).
As always we measure 75 CM away from the product (usually the distance between you and a desktop computer), and yes... this test is always a tad subjective yet we measured 31~32 dBA and that's including surrounding noise levels, that's just perfect.
Under full PC stress we can measure the dBA level but all other components (fans/VGA/CPU/Chipset cooler) that make noise subjectively influence the results. The PSU remains more silent than them.
But sure, in a normal PC, you will not be able to hear this PSU. All in all, very silent and thus recommended to any of the audiophiles that like silence (yours truly included).
We review and test the Fulmo GT. Enermax has been going very strong with their power supply and fans. For a while now they also offer PC cases, and more recently they released what seems to be the biggest chassis I've ever laid my hands on. This chassis series has HPTX support for the bigger than biggest motherboards and some pretty cool features as well.
Enermax KW001 Briskie Keyboard mouse combo review
Keyboard kits come in all sizes, shapes and forms .. and that's next to a gazillion of manufacturers that offers them. Surprisingly enough a few weeks ago Enermax, the guys behind the best power supplies and the brightest fans also launched a keyboard/mouse combo. Briskie is all about value and as such for 25 USD/EUR you get a mouse and what we think is a very decent wireless RF keyboard.
Enermax Platimax 850W power supply review
Enermax always is able surprise us, they now have released the Platimax power supplies, that means a platinum certification and yeah .. that boils down to a 94% efficient product. Very few products get this certification. Today we'll grab a couple of older older supplies and see if what they claim is true, can we really save on energy. We fire off three PSU's at a P55 / Core i7 870 based system setup with a GeForce GTX 590. We then monitor power consumption in idle, CPU productivity (stress) mode and then lock into a gaming session.
Enermax MaxRevo 1350W PSU review
The MaxRevo is 1350 Watt .. with peak power available up-to 1620 Watt, yummie. Interestingly enough this is a nice small sized power supply, you'll hardly hear it, has plenty of modular options, wwell read is all modular and is 80 PLUS Gold certified. That makes the modular cables based MaxRevo PSU series 88-94% efficient @ 20-100% load.
