Lepa G1600 PSU review

Concluding

There are many words to describe the LEPA G1600, however impressive remains the keyword that sticks in my mind. The guys behind the Enermax brand delivered a product that is easily as impressive as the Enermax products themselves. 

Unfortunately there's no real way or manner for us to actually be able to stress a PSU towards 1600. In fact with our testing methodology we're not reaching even half of that. The numbers however that we get returned look good in terms of voltage stability and energy efficiency. So that makes the tests in this review subjective, and the article itself more of a showcase. Now I've checked some other articles where these PSUs have been load tested with expensive equipment and they all confirm our findings though, this PSU is pretty good.

The Basic Experience

We obviously had no issues whatsoever with what we threw at it and we reached over 730 Watt. While passing 700 Watt load we can confirm that the power efficiency remains very good as it performed smack down where it needs to be close to other Platinum tested models.

Stability wise we have very little to complain about but again, at 730 watts voltages remained synchronised and level. But we'll trust that some other reviews will show some ripple tests yet have no doubt the product will come out totally clean. Lovely are obviously the six +12V rail, it has just so much power to handle multiple heavy duty graphics cards. I mean 133 AMPs - one graphics card uses 15A on average these days -- you do the math.

The Aesthetics

The looks and feel then, for a PSU in the 1600~1700 Watt ranges you expect to receive the Big Ben amongst PSUs, and that just isn't the case. The PSU is only 3CM longer than your typical ATX based PSU and that allows for it to be installed in pretty much any modern chassis.

The looks don't suck either, the dark matter grey outside finish resembles Enermax alright, alongside the gold font it just is a very nice product to look at. The cables are done right in a dark black sleeved coating. Unfortunately the connectors themselves are not black, the PCIe graphics connectors are red, and that's not what we want in 2013. A minor remark though. The added modular benefit obviously is very clean looking wiring for that cool looking finish. The cables themselves are sturdy and a bit hard to bend though, you could be fighting with that a little during installation. 

Obviously, Modular designs are the way to go. Anno 2013 it seems it's not hindering efficiency any longer. You use what you need in terms of wiring, keeping the innards clean and tidy, plain and simple. And overall the G1600 is a nice looking PSU, merely a small hint longer than your typical ATX sized PSU.

Efficiency

Combined with the Gold factor -- the certified model at 90% efficiency at 50% load -- the PSU seems to be behaving quite well. Our tests show that the PSU positions itself where it needs to be and it was testimony of a grand PSU. Remember though that the best efficiency of a PSU is always at 50% load. But even with your PC in IDLE you are looking at 88% efficiency. Put it under roughly 50% load and with 230V it even creeps dangerously close towards Platinum levels.

The Money

Here's the real shocking thing, you'd expect a PSU of this class to be really expensive, at least 350 EUR right? Well, a quick peek in some EU price watch engines lists this product for 255 EUR already, and that's including VAT. We think that is just a terrific price for a great looking PSU that is fully modular and rated at 1600 Watt capacity. Warranty wise again we can't complain ... you receive 5 Years Manufacturer Warranty. And FYI Enermax is making the G1600 and also the G1000.
 

Final Words

The LEPA G1600 PSU (MA-EU model) surprised me in many ways, for its wattage capacity it remains very efficient, it has good looks, is modular, is stable, comes with all dark sleeved cabling. Then LEPA tops it off with a five year warranty. The 1500+ Watt PSU market isn't very crowded and for reason, only very few will actually need a PSU of this grandeur, it's for the enthusiasts, pro-overclockers, multi-GPU addicts and the guys that run 2-way processors on their motherboard. These guys will need to pay top dollar though. But good quality, efficient, very stable and affordable remain the keywords for this product here. I mean we spotted it for 255 EUR ... that is staggering really.

We can definitely recommend the LEPA G1600-MA-EU to anyone who is browsing that field. True value for money combined with excellent efficiency levels make this a value product within a very expensive category. Well done LEPA, you managed to impress us.

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