Enermax Gold: Modu87+ and Pro87+
by Christoph Katzer on January 19, 2010 1:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
A look Inside
When opening this unit we couldn't really see anything different inside than you'd see in other power supplies. If you take a closer look you will find a few differences though. In fact this unit uses some of the same technology as Seasonic does in their latest X-series. Enermax's so called Dynamic Hybrid Transformer technology, part of the "resonant topology", is nothing more than a kind of gearbox for the components. This way Enermax can regulate the voltage that goes into the capacitor ranging from roughly 330V to 400V. If the load on the DC output is low the voltage to the capacitor will be lower as well, resulting in better efficiency. The same goes for the frequencies which will be decreased with higher loads and increased when the DC load is lower.
In the secondary part we see two "DC to DC" sister PCBs where the 5V and 3.3V rails are created. Below these two sister PCBs we find capacitors attached to another PCB vertically. Enermax actually carries a patent for this arrangement which is space saving and enhances the cooling of the attached components. Oh and don't mention the blue heatsinks. They do look strange inside a black and golden schemed power supply, but as you can remember back at Computex the housing was still dark matte black with a red fan installed. It made sense at the time and Enermax unfortunately had already produced all of the heatsinks and were unable to change those when the new look was introduced. For component geeks, there is a Rubycon capacitor in the primary and a lot of Nippon Chemi-Con caps in the secondary. The solid-state caps are made in Taiwan, though.
The overall quality is as we would expect from Enermax, but they still managed to top former achievements. As they previously worked with PCBs made of synthetic resin bonded paper (FR-2), things always looked a little shabby inside. With the new multi-layer PCB it all looks much cleaner and adds a huge percentage of quality to the units.
The Fan
Since Enermax bought its own fan company a while ago they started producing a wide range of funky fans. Together with their twister bearing they have come up with some pretty good fans lately and are in fact able to diversify the product ranges according to their actual needs. In the case of the Modu87+ and Pro87+ for example Enermax wanted a larger fan; 140mm is the largest possible in an ATX power supply today and it's already patented, so Enermax decided to make a 139mm fan themselves. Together with golden blades this fan looks truly amazing, and we are happy that there aren't any LEDs. The fan carries the model number EA142512W-OAB. Enermax also worked on the Hall-IC inside the fan and made it possible to run the fan at incredibly low RPMs, which we will see later.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
59 Comments
View All Comments
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.