Enermax Revolution 85+ High Efficiency PSU
by Christoph Katzer on November 6, 2008 4:15 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
Internals
So far things have been pretty typical for a power supply review. After all, there are only so many ways to design a standard PSU chassis and provide cable harnesses. Now we come to the interesting part: the internals. Enermax did a tremendous job designing this power supply, but let's start at the beginning.
When I first saw the filtering stage, I asked the representatives at Enermax if CWT is the ODM. They responded by threatening to beat me up. ;-) Anyway, the filtering stage looks very good and has all of the necessary components. The coil sits on top of the PCB, covered with shrinking hose -- hence the similarity to CWT PSUs. Right nearby are the rectifier bridges, both without heatsinks. The PFC stage follows next and the coil is placed on a solid socket. Matsushita builds the three primary capacitors, rated for 220µF and 400V at 85°C.
Enermax is particularly proud of their transformers, since they synchronized both of them for quad forward circuitry. Two synchronized transformers will share the work equally, which makes the work more efficient. The power supply also features eight safety features such as OCP (Over Current Protection), UVP (Under Voltage Protection) for the AC part, UVP (Under Voltage Protection) for the DC part, OPP (Over Power Protection), OTP (Over Temperature Protection), SIP (Surge & Inrush Protection), and SCP (Short Circuit Protection).
This power supply uses a DC-to-DC topology, which means that the 3.3V and 5V rails do not come directly from the transformer anymore. The transformers can now be built for the sole purpose of delivering a stable 12V output. In DC-to-DC designs, so far the extra circuitry has been included on the main PCB in the secondary stage of the PSU. Enermax relocated this functionality to a sister PCB that we will describe in the next paragraph. The secondary stage in this power supply now only has to deal with the six 12V rails. The capacitors for this purpose are all made by Chemi-Con, one of the best but still affordable Japanese capacitor manufacturers.
So where are the 3.3V and 5V rails created? Let's have a look at the large sister PCB where the cable management sockets are located. The left side is where it happens. The upper part is for the 5V output and the bottom is for 3.3V. The output feeds directly into the cable harnesses, and from there on to the peripherals. Since this is done totally independent from the other 12V rails, this power supply can output 99% of its rated power on just the 12V rails, which we will verify in a moment. Other power supplies that generate the 5V and 3.3V rails from the transformer normally have problems with the voltage distribution if not loaded according to ATX-norm.
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dh003i - Saturday, December 6, 2008 - link
This is really horrible on Enermax's part. It was said that the PSU would be available at the end of the month (then Novemeber), at the latest; here it is the end of the first week of December, and the thing still isn't to be seen anywhere. Maybe Enermax will decide to bless us by making it available before Christmas.When you announce the availability of a product, it damn well better be available.
dh003i - Monday, December 8, 2008 - link
I e-mailed Enermax and got a respond from them saying "The revolution should be available in about two weeks." That's December 22nd, or just around Christmas. So we'll see if that ends up being the case.s1ugh34d - Wednesday, November 12, 2008 - link
Enermax PSU. My liberty 400w over spins the fan, So I pulled the fans cable out, and hooked it up to 5v, It's always quiet right around 800RPMs...My Q6600 dual 8800GT's runs on a 610w PCP&C silencer. There is only a few small situations were over 750w is necessary.
dh003i - Wednesday, November 12, 2008 - link
So-far, this sounds great, but almost like vaporware (except Anandtech has an actual working sample). I mean, when will this thing be available? I'm building a new workstation for myself, and have held out purchasing the CoolerMaster 1200W UCP because of this new Enermax Revolution 1050W, which is modular. But I don't know how long I can wait. It'd be nice if Enermax gave us some kind of clue as to when the thing will be available.Christoph Katzer - Wednesday, November 12, 2008 - link
Enermax says that the first shipments will arrive at the branch offices in the end of this month latest.gochichi - Monday, November 10, 2008 - link
Good point, cause Hybrid SUVs are still SUVs and this guy is a 1050W powersupply... definitely an "SUV".This thing is really GOOD looking actually. To those of you who ask, why even write an article of a 1050W power supply? I say, this is an enthusiast's site... of course it should be covered.
I unfortunately won't be buying this beauty, but if I were more enthusiast-like (kind of past the stage now sadly)I would certainly consider it. $330.00 is a lot of money, but it's not so bad. You figure in the things prone to become obsolete are video cards (two-cards at least for a system with this power supply yes?) Those will run $200+ each. CPU... say $300+, motherboard say $150-$200.00 and on and on. If you're going to do that sort of build you may as well slap this thing on there.
I'm happy with my switch to the sub-$500 computer space for desktops. But it's boring, and this power supply isn't. I also own a Corolla, it doesn't mean a Lamborgini Murcielago is "irrelevant".
Oh just in case you've been in a cave for a few years. $150.00 buys you an awesome video card. Even if you're old like me, you should really get one just for goodness' sake.
CEO Ballmer - Saturday, November 8, 2008 - link
I like the specs on this!http://fakesteveballmer.blogspot.com">http://fakesteveballmer.blogspot.com
iwodo - Friday, November 7, 2008 - link
Thanks for all the hateful comment. But as far as i read, even a CoreQX97xx with Geforce GTX 280, as stated in the Corei7 review, only uses 300W at peak. ( And Corei7 uses less then that )Double that, so you have a Dual Quad Core, Geforce 280GTX 280 SLI, you will still ONLY arrive to 600W at peak.
So may be the article "Debunking the PSU Myth" never got enough people read it.
And this may be the second dumpest question ever as someone would post.
MrBlastman - Friday, November 7, 2008 - link
Yes, exploded - as in a shower of sparks, loud bang and the force was so strong it broke the plastic mounting bracket where the heat sink attaches to my CPU...Along with thousands of other people's Enermax PSU's exploding, I am very afraid to purchase another Enermax PSU. I used to be a stalwart supporter of them - they made great stuff. But... after hearing of others warranty'ing their PSU only to get another one, or a third one that exploded, I decided to move on to something else.
I hope they have finally fixed these problems.
xaris106 - Friday, November 7, 2008 - link
how come don't you do step load tests?It would be really interesting and informative to see transient responses, settling times and overshoots. Please consider it.