Enermax Gold: Modu87+ and Pro87+
by Christoph Katzer on January 19, 2010 1:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
We ring in the New Year with the introduction of some great new power supplies courtesy of Enermax. Enermax has always had a wide selection products ranging from mid- to high-end PSUs in a variety of wattages. Enermax is mostly active in the retail market so they've always had a good idea about how to design products that appeal to end-users. They have maintained a stable business in the retail market, especially in Germany. It comes as little surprise that Enermax was one of the fastest companies to introduce high efficiency power supplies to the market, with a lot of new features. That trend continues with their new 87+ series.
A little while ago Enermax introduced the Modu82+ and Pro82+ and we tested a total of four units. We thought it would be nice to continue with this trend and introduce all of the Modu87+ and Pro87+ series power supplies Enermax released this month. There is one feature on these new power supplies that helps them stand out in a crowded market: they are 80 Plus Gold certified. This alone doesn't make them unique as we already have many other 80 Plus Gold power supplies, but the Modu87+ and Pro87+ series both come with a starting wattage of 500W, making them far more interesting for a large number of end-users. Realistically, few systems really need a power supply that can output more than 500W, and getting a very high efficiency at common power draws is a bonus. Fortunately efficiency isn't the only noteworthy feature on these power supplies, but high efficiencies can only be reached with certain technologies. These technologies alone will make an overall better product out of a higher ranking 80 Plus certified power supply.
Both series are now available in three versions: of 500W, 600W, and 700W. There will be two more models rated at 800W and 900W in Q2 of this year. The good news is that the units we are introducing today have already been shipped and the first units should be on US shelves now or in the near future (we were unable to find any online as we publish this article). Enermax told us that there should also be some mail-in rebates and other incentives available to make these new power supplies even more attractive.
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FaaR - Thursday, January 21, 2010 - link
You're too focused on price only. A PSU isn't something you buy every day. Better to get a great, efficient unit that has headroom to grow and will last you many years, even if it costs a little more.And yes, fifty bucks is a little more. Most people on Anandtech wouldn't whine if they have to pay $200 for a video card, and we all know how fast they go obsolete. Get some perspective here please.
The PSU is arguably THE most important piece of equipment in your whole PC. If it doesn't function well, nothing else will either. So there's nothing wrong with buying one of the best units out there, quite the opposite.
Kibbles - Friday, January 22, 2010 - link
Actually this is more like a $600-700 videocard amongst PSUs. Most will be happy enough with a HD5870. Many PSUs in the $100 range, like the HX620, are damn good. However like any other computer component, those extra 5% costs just as much as the first 95%.Spacecomber - Tuesday, January 19, 2010 - link
I happy to see another P/S review on Anandtech. I don't think that there have been any in quite a while. While these Enermax models are very nice, the price probably makes them impractical for any builds that I can imagine.However, one thing that I really like about these power supplies is their very low noise output. As I move away from building game-centric computers to computers that are likely to be used more as media servers, keeping the noise down to being virtually inaudiable becomes more important to me (especially for a music server). For these kind of computers I don't need a huge amount of power, and therefore I'm not looking to invest a huge amount of money in the P/S. I'm really looking for a power supply that can give me the quietest experience for the least amount of money. (To get a really quiet P/S, I accept that I'll be spending more than one would expect to spend on most "budget" power supplies.)
Anyway, this is just a suggestion that perhaps others are also looking for something more like this for their living rooms, instead of a kilowatt P/S to drive an overclocked quad core monster with multiple video cards.
- Tuesday, January 19, 2010 - link
The first three graphs on p.11 look like they need more labeling. Looks like you need to show which PSU for efficiency.mariush - Wednesday, January 20, 2010 - link
On page 10, I somehow doubt the readings were made at 50C room temperature (see chart headers)JarredWalton - Thursday, January 21, 2010 - link
As mentioned below, the tested was done in a temperature controlled chamber, so the ambient temp was indeed 50C. I would update the graphs, but Christoph custom-made these charts so I'll leave that to him. :)JarredWalton - Tuesday, January 19, 2010 - link
Fixed... the same graph was initially inserted on all three as you may have noticed.markshin - Saturday, July 24, 2010 - link
i bought a Modu87+ 700W, because i needed a new psu to replace my 5-year old 70% efficient unit..I don't intend to run this at 100% load, that's sheer madness. 30-60% is the sweet spot for today's PSU's, that's where they are most efficient.
and also, they're selling for about US$150 (at least from where I'm located).
:-)
MasonStorm@AnandTech - Friday, October 1, 2010 - link
Hi Chris,Thanks for the great review. Any chance you can update the results to include the new, 800W and 900W models they've just released? I'd love to see if those also stay silent at all loads.