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When
you hear someone mention the name Enermax, nine out of ten times that person
is talking about a power supply. Enermax is well known for and has been
producing high quality power supplies for a long time, and have built an
enviable reputation. Today we’re going to take a look at one of their latest –
the 485W Noisetaker EG495AX-SFMA 2.0. Featuring a sharp paint job and all the
right buzzwords, this unit appears to be an excellent contender for your next
high end system build. Let’s check it out!
Packaging &
Contents
The
Noisetaker arrived in a nicely done retail box. The box was also reassuringly
heavy!
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Inside is a nice sized pile of goodies…a manual, power cable, case badge, and
some screws. The manual hits the basics pretty well, in seven different
languages.
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Pulling the Noisetaker out for the first time, I was a little surprised at how
dark the paint was. The pictures on the Maxpoint/Enermax website look a lot
lighter than the unit actually is. The Enermax ‘almost a trademark’ gold fan
grilles are also back on this new model. The sleeving is also very pretty to
look at, although it is a bit of a short job. With a nod to the weight of this
beast, Enermax has included a bracket on the front that will allow you to
secure the Noisetaker to the roof of your case if you have a mounting point
there to help reduce stress on the rear panel.
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Some of our more observant readers may have
noticed the odd looking ring around where the cables exit the Noisetaker
chassis. This ring is designed to reduce the amount of electromagnetic noise
that can be transferred from the wall jack. Now, having your computer plugged
into an UPS essentially performs the same function and I wouldn’t be caught
dead running my expensive equipment without this protection. Having personally
seen a Cisco 2900 series switch incinerate itself on bad unregulated power was
enough to convince me that this is an important consideration…thankfully it
wasn’t my switch! I’m pretty sure this little ring does not perform nearly as
well as an UPS would, but any extra layer of insulation from EMP fluctuations
is certainly welcome.
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It is an interesting time for power supply
manufacturers at the moment. Keeping in line with the current ATX standard,
while also allowing for the new BTX format has presented a serious challenge
to producing power supplies that want to have forward compatibility. It is a
golden moment to see how each company thinks by checking out their unique
solution to the problem. Enermax has done a really nice job on this particular
point, and managed not to skimp on the connectors either. First off, we have
the motherboard connectors – the usual 4 and 20 pin connectors that we usually
see. The interesting part is that the last four pins can be pulled off the
connector, allowing compatibility with both 20 and 24 pin headers without a
bulky adaptor. There is also a fan speed header, one of the new six pin
connectors that will be used with PCI Express, and four SATA power connectors.
Last but not least are the seven 4 pin Molex and two 4 pin mini Molex floppy
connectors.
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The rear of the Noisetaker AX is pretty simple.
There are the two usual items, the 120V socket and the power switch, with the
addition of a knob that controls fan speed. Using a jumper, I fired up the
Noisetaker AX to get a feel for how loud it was. It is never actually noisy,
but it does get pretty close with the fans turned up all the way. However, it
does get to be almost silent once the fans are turned down. This is good news,
as it will allow you to adjust the fans to pretty much whatever level of sound
you’re willing to deal with. The Noisetaker can and will take over fan speed
if it starts to overheat, which is a nice safety feature. It also leaves the
fans running for two minutes after shutdown.
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One
of the nice things about this unit that is not readily noticeable from the
outside is that the Noisetaker AX uses dual 18 amp 12V rails. This setup
provides consistent steady power through isolation, and is a great feature to
have. Essentially the first 12V rail is dedicated to the motherboard, and the
second is dedicated to the Video Card, Drives, and Fans. This protects the
motherboard from much of the electrical noise that would occur on a single 12V
rail.
Specifications
Model:
EG495AX-VE SFMA 2.0
Maximum Power: 485W (supports both 24pins and 20pins
motherboards)
Input Voltage: 90V~265V (Auto Adjusted)
Input Frequency Range:
47Hz~63Hz
Input Current: 40A/115V and 80A/230V max. during cold start
Hold up time: 17ms at 115VAC or 230VAC, full load
Over Voltage Protection: +12V & +12V2: 13.4V~15.6V
Over Load Protection: 110~160% of max load
Over current Protection: +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)
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