Enermax Platimax 750W - 80 Plus Platinum Arrives
by Martin Kaffei on February 10, 2012 6:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- PSUs
- 80Plus
- 750W
- Enermax
- 80Plus Platinum
Conclusion
The Enermax Platimax 750W is a very efficient and expensive power supply. There are no significant disadvantages with the design and technology, though you'll have to pay for the privilege. The connector configuration is very good, and both the choice of components and the power supply case are very high quality. Enthusiasts looking for great performance will find this power supply a suitable solution.
Internally, Enermax uses a modified Modu87+ design with better semiconductors. The PCB material and the electrolytic capacitors in this PSU are top quality parts. The output side of the resonant converter is complemented by full-wave synchronous rectification (with MOSFETs), minimizing switching losses and the voltage drop the Schottky diodes usually have. There are a few other smaller changes as well, such as the buck converter for -12V and the "improved" EMI filtering with fewer components. We mentioned the low power output on the +3.3V and +5V rails, but this is not necessarily a disadvantage. As always, the required power depends on the system.
A modern PC pulls the majority of the current from the +12V output(s), so it's not so much the quantity but the quality of the smaller outputs that is important. Some sensitive logic gates on the motherboard need a stable 3.3V output but only low currents. The voltage drop under high load is negligible and is simply a reflection on the sizing of the converters. A low output ripple and noise is more decisive. During the load test +3.3V drops to a minimum of -3.63% below the reference value while +5V drops by as much as -2.4% to -2.60% during overload.
Even at 10% load the Platimax 750W reaches 86.93% efficiency, a remarkable value. The power factor is also very high. Low ripple and noise on most output voltages is advantageous as well. With 0.9% ripple (1% is allowed) +3.3V is the worst output. We would like to see better results here, since this is a high-end product. Apart from that the Platimax hardly blinks when confronted with our crossload tests. The voltages are always very close to their ideal value. If you don't put too many amps on +5V and +3.3V, you might even say Enermax shows flawless results.
In any case the noise of the fan is impeccable. Enermax has promised to use a low speed regulation for the Twister fan, which is true. Apart from the audible noise under full load the PSU is always nearly silent. There's also no noise from the electronics (not that we would expect anything less from a high-end PSU).
Enermax delivers an adequate cable configuration, similar to what other manufacturers offer. Four 6/8-pin PEG and 16 peripheral connectors are fairly average in this performance class, as are the 4+4-pin and 8-pin connectors for CPU power. The colorful sleeving can be described as high-grade (even if gold and red is the "wrong" color for this PSU) , and the contents of the package are satisfying. For the larger Platimax models you can even get a case fan for free. Enermax offers everything you might want from a PSU, with a few extras just for good measure.
The Platimax series includes 600W, 750W, 850W, 1000W, and 1200W models—and several of the lower wattage models have mail-in rebates available, if you're interested. The 750W we're reviewing can currently be had for $200, with a $30 MIR bringing the cost down to just $170. The largest competition for the 750W Platimax might just be Enermax's own Modu87+ 700W, which has a lower base price of $180 but no MIR. According to our research that model is not fundamentally different and is sometimes (depending on rebates) cheaper. However, when we are talking about power supplies, even small details make the difference.
Note that the only direct 80 Plus Platinum alternative comes from SuperFlower/Kingwin. The Kingwin LZP-750 (made by SuperFlower) is just as expensive as the Enermax Platimax 750W (slightly more, actually), and it's missing some features such as OCP, a MOV, and similar protections. Beyond that the LZP-750 (or SuperFlower Golden King Platinum—which is even worse than Platimax as far as names go!) offers fewer connectors. For that reason we would recommend the Platimax 750W, but only for those who demand every ounce of efficiency. If you're more of a mainstream user and can live with 1-2% less efficiency, you can certainly save some money, but it's clear that Enermax is a leading company for high-quality products.
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colonelciller - Friday, February 10, 2012 - link
call me a newb... but why would I want a power supply such as this?honest question. Won't other computer components will be designed around more standard power supply output characteristics anyway?
wifiwolf - Friday, February 10, 2012 - link
PSU is one of the most important components.You don't want PSU to fail on you ever.
It starts with spiky stability and in time components start failing and you never relate it directly to power supply until you monitor those voltages.
Probably everyone looking at this article gone through that until they wised up.
When you just use Word and Excel on your computer, you probably survive with system hanging once a month in a stable environment. But when you push a bit harder on your system, sometimes the result can be a computer burning literally.
medi01 - Sunday, February 12, 2012 - link
Except that more efficient PSU that race for higher numbers tend to be much more complex, which definitely does NOT help with reliability. (at least as far as my personal experience with Enermax Modu 82+ goes, broke within first 2 month, occasional to frequent reboots 2 years later =/)Iketh - Friday, February 10, 2012 - link
LOL NOOBwhat wifiwolf said are the main reasons, but high quality power supplies also lower power bills considerably on high-watt systems (crossfire/sli/overclocking etc...)
the 2 rules of thumb when building your own system is 1) don't skimp on powersupply 2) don't skimp on motherboard. You can skimp on CPU/RAM and everything else because you can make adjustments on those components so that they work, as in megahertz or RAM timings and the voltages to those components, but you can't adjust how capacitors on motherboards and powersupplies deliver said power.
you have to experience the headaches associated with cheap power supplies before you completely understand.
bji - Saturday, February 11, 2012 - link
False dilemma.The choice is not only between this power supply and "cheap power supplies".
There are also power supplies at 1/2 the cost of this one that would likely have performance and reliability that would be so similar as to, for most people, be indistinguishable.
Therefore the question of, why would this power supply be a better choice than a good quality power supply that is much less expensive, is a valid question and not one that should be so easily dismissed.
I paid something like $130 for a Seasonic 650 Watt gold power supply and I am not sure what I'd really be getting with this Enermax supply that is tangibly different.
bji - Saturday, February 11, 2012 - link
Just checked my newegg order history; I actually paid $120 with free shipping in October 2010 for a Seasonic X650 Gold. It is 1% - 2% less efficient than this Enermax.Let me reiterate that I think it's valid to question the value of this power supply rather than dismissing the question outright.
Iketh - Saturday, February 11, 2012 - link
Well I should have mentioned that I'm not endorcing this power supply whatsoever, just answering his question about "standard" vs good.Minimum quality I use in my own systems is Antec 80-plus bronze.
beginner99 - Saturday, February 11, 2012 - link
I good power supply is of course important but its like with CPUs. The top notch model i overpriced compared to what it offers. So yeah, a 120$ Seasonic Gold sure is better value for most people assuming they last the same time (that's the big question as a power supply usually is re-used for the next build).cfaalm - Saturday, February 11, 2012 - link
I guess it's still like what wifiwolf said still. It depends on how hard you think you're going to drive your system. Hardly any of the manufacturers like Asus, Dell or Acer are going to bother with these PSUs. They can settle for anything that goes up to 75% efficiency on 50% load. If you build your own just for fun but still don't drive it very hard, you'll be OK with a "standard" PSU.For everyone else, serious OCing, gaming, heavy duty video and audio etc. you don't want to skimp on the PSU as you know you'll be asking for the last drop of CPU/GPU power your system can muster.
just4U - Sunday, February 12, 2012 - link
I think the days of the cheap PSU (save maybe for OEMs) is gone. Even $50 power supplies are fairly decent these days.