Enermax touts 82 efficient PSUs

ENERMAX IS ALWAYS on the cutting edge of PSU design, and this year was no exception. They also showed their prowess in several related fields.

One thing they have that no one else was showing off is 82+ certifications on the PSU. This means that the PSU runs at no less than 82 per cent efficiency for the entire working range. As they pointed out, this is easy to achieve with high wattage units, but gets progressively harder as you go down range.

Note the 12 pins

Enermax now has 82+ certs for even their low end lines ranging from 385 to 625W. In addition, higher end parts like the Modu and Pro lines all now have 4 PCIe GPU pin headers as standard. To top it off, the Modu line has 12 pin headers on the PSU side, so when PCIe3.0 comes out, you if it needs more pins, you simply need to buy a new cable.

Enermax is one of the few PSU makers that are doing the obvious in this regard as well, it is selling extra cables. Yup, you can go to the online store and buy more of those cables, and more importantly, you can buy new headers when they come out. The cost is reasonable, $5-7 or so, and Enermax isn't making any money on it, it is a service to the customers.

Moving on, the outfit has patented another interesting twist on fan control. The current way fan speeds are controlled is through a Hall Effect sensor, it basically changes the voltage to the fan on the fly. Because it needs a minimum voltage floor to run the sensor, the lowest RPM is fixed at around 850.

Enermax invented, and then patented the idea of putting the sensor on a separate voltage plane so it can drop the fan as low as it wants and not affect itself. It costs a bit more, but lets them hit 450RPM, effectively silent. That is worth a few pennies more in cost.

Aurora Wireless Keyboard

Most people don't realize that Enermax also makes keyboards, and it had two new ones to show off. The one that I liked best is the Aurora Wireless, a media center aimed unit with integrated trackball, scroll wheel and mouse buttons. This is a prototype, so things like the mouse ball will look a lot better on the finished units. They also had what they tout as the world's thinnest PC keyboard, that one will come out in Q3.

Magma batwing fan

Last up is a new take on an old product, the maglev fan. Enermax had a line of them a few years ago that didn't work out all that well. The new ones have learned from that experience and come in three lines, Magma, Everest and Cluster.

Magma is the one you see above, is meant for high temperatures and lacks speed control. Everest is the mainstream line with fan control, and Cluster is a more efficient model that has a metal halo surrounding it.

One neat touch is that they have 'batwing' blades with two distinct curves. This not only makes two vortices per blade, it also improves efficiency and lowers noise. For the bling bling set, the LED versions make a lightning shaped pattern when you light them up. Oooh. µ