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Enermax Noisetaker 470W Power Supply Review
Product: Noisetaker 470W Power Supply
Author: Weiye Zhou
Date Published: 07/16/04
Price: $90.85 + Free S/H
Purchased at: Newegg.com
Introduction
The name "Enermax" is usually associated with the words quality and reliability. A recognized brand, right up there with names such as Antec, Fortron Source, PC Power and Cooling, Thermaltake, Vantec, and Zalman. Besides power supplies, they also manufacture PC cases, CPU coolers, case fans, mobile racks, and other peripherals.
Features and Specifications (Taken from Enermax USA Website).
Separate 12V rails
Independent 12V rails supply to MB/CPU and drives in order to provide stable and clean current to noise-sensitive devices, such as: CPU, add-on cards.Meet UL 240VA safety requirements
Smart fan
After PC shuts down, cooling fans keep running for at least 2 minutes to effectively cool down parts and hardware's inside PSU and PC cases. Thus, ensure longer product life time of power supply and hardware's inside PC case.
ATX 12V V1.3 compatible
Support latest P4 and Athlon 64 platforms. For P4 platforms use 865 (Springdale) & 875 (Canterwood) chipset's and even new P4 Prescott and AMD Athlon 64 or later CPU.
S-ATA connectors
Connect your system to the faster S-ATA interface for better performance.
Manual and automatic fan speed control
8cm & 9cm fans automatically controlled by thermostat plus rheostat control over 8cm fan. Enable users to keep the balance between cooling effect and acoustic noise.
Extra Power connector
Extra 4-pin power connector provides high-end graphic card with stable current.
Reliability
OCP, UVP, OVP, OLP, OTP, and SCP circuits ensure system well-guarded from any dangers. Maximize safety for your hardware and valuable data.
Copper-shielding
Effectively reduces electro-magnetic interference that might affect MB and CPU from normal operation. (Valid for models with 370W and higher total power)
Dual Fan
The best cooling method for PC system, and is strongly suggested by AMD.
Silence
Acoustic noise is successfully reduced with two fans giving more airflow in less rpm and smooth mechanical design of fan guards.
FM & FC functions
RPM signal of 8cm exhaust fan is provided; EG xxx AX-VE SFCA/FCA models allow
MB to on/off control 8cm exhaust fan.
Specifications:
Model: EG701P-VE SFMA, EG475P-VE SFMA, EG425P-VE SFMA, EG375P-VE SFMA, EG325P-VE SFMA , EG275P-VE SFMA
Maximum Power: 600W, 470W, 420W, 370W, 320W, 260W
Input Voltage: 95V~135V or 180V~265V (selected by slide switch)
Input Frequency Range: 47Hz~63Hz
Input Current: 60A 115V/230V max. during cold start
Hold up time: 17ms at 115VAC or 230VAC, full load
Over Voltage Protection: +5V: 5.5V~7.0V; +3.3V:3.76V~4.3V; +12V & +12V2: 13.4V~15.6V
Over Load Protection: 110~160% of max load
Over current Protection: +3.3V : 55A (max); +5V: 48A (max); +12V1 & +12V2: 20A (max)
Over Temperature Protection: Operating Ambient 10ºC~40ºC, Storage Ambient -40ºC~70ºC
Humidity:
Operating : to 85% relative humidity, non condensing at 25ºC
Storage: to 95% relative humidity, non condensing at 50ºC
MTBF: Greater than 100K hours at 70% of full rated load; 230VAC / 50Hz input; 25ºC ambient
EMC: EN55022 Class B, EN61000-4-2 Class B, EN61000-4-3 Class A, EN61000-4-4 Class B, EN61000-4-5 Class B, EN61000-4-6 Class A, EN61000-4-8 Class A, EN61000-4-11 Class B, FCC Part 15 & Part 2, CNS 13438 Class B
Safety: Approval UL, cUL, TÜV, CB
Dimension: W150 x H86 x D140 (mm)
Packaging and Pictures
The first thing I noticed upon opening the package was how much it weighed. Curiously, I took out my trusty kitchen scale and meansured the PS, 4.5lbs was it's official weight. By comparision, a generic 300W PS usually weighs around 2-3lbs. Packaging wise, I have nothing to complain about. As usual, Newegg shipped the PS with tons of packaging peanuts plus fast delivery via Fedex, always a winning combo. Now here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure.
Here's the green box that the PS came in.
A nice shiny blue color.
Also included with the PS: a manual, two Enermax stickers, screws, and a power cord.
Rear of the PS, notice the High/Low fan control knob.
Amp ratings, approval stickers, and other miscellaneous info.
"Noisetaker"
There's a reason this thing is called the "Noisetaker." Even with the fan control knob on high, the PS fans are barely audible. That and my case fans are much louder than the PS's. If you don't want to worry about anything, you can also set the fans to automatic. It also has a nice feature where the fans keep spinning after the computer has been shut down to help reduce case and PS temperatures. After a couple of minutes depending on the temperatures, they will automatically shut off. Even when my computer is off and the PS is doing it's thing, I still can't hear it!
Installation
First thing I did was take out my old PS (which had a thick layer of dust) and installed the new PS. Screwing in the new PS was the easy part; the main power cord, on the other hand, was extremely stiff and hard to work with due to the extensive sheilding. Everything is shielded or sleeved, but for some reason Enermax decided to stop halfway on the upper power cord.
Connectors: 2 SATA, 2 Floppy, 6 Molex, 1 P4 12V, 1 Aux (Server), 1 Main, 1 3pin so your motherboard can monitor
the RPM of the fans.
The PS has all the connectors you would ever want or need, including real SATA connectors instead of those ghetto molex to SATA converters. It did take me a bit to get everything nice and tidy in my case, but eventually I got it the way I wanted.
VICTORY IS MINE!
Testbed
P4 2.6C @ 3.2Ghz / Abit IS7
Swiftech MCX478-V Heatsink / Vantec 92mm Tornado
3 80mm case fans
Radeon 9500 Pro
1GB Corsair XMS-3200C2PT RAM
Western Digital 36GB Raptor
Enermax 470W PS
Windows XP SP1
The Test and Results
For idle temperatures, I booted into the bios, waited a few mintues, then took voltages with a digital auto-ranging multimeter through the 20pin ATX power connector. For load temperatures, I booted into Windows, ran Prime95 for about 10 minutes then repeated measurements. The "(+)5%" and "(-)5%" in the graph below are the tolerances in the ATX12V v1.3 specifications.
All voltages are solid with very little change between load and idle measurements.
Analysis: the voltages are all in the high range, but this is probally due to the fact I that I have very little plugged into the PS (take a look at the picture above). Still, the voltages are within specifications and again, they changed very little between load and idle. Cheap PS's simply take a dive in voltages when subjected to a load enviroment.
Conclusion
If you're in need of a high quality power supply, Enermax should always be on your list. When I recieved this PS, I was very pleased with the packaging and the extras Enermax included. Installation wasn't too pleasant, but I got over it. In the future it would be nice if they reduced the stiffness of the cables. Noise? What noise? I can barely hear the thing... Makes me think it's broken or something. Solid voltages and highly recommended; the price is a bit steep, but you're getting a great power supply. Finally, these power supplies come with a three year warranty!
Pro's
Solid voltages
Nice extra's
3 year warranty!
A great power supply overall
Con's
Price may be steep for some
Very stiff power cords
Sleeving not complete on one power cord
