Enermax Galaxy 850W EGA850EWL

Introduction

The power supply is often the most important component in a computer, yet often it’s the most overlooked component.  Often people will spend a whole lot of money on the graphic card, motherboard, processor, and memory, but they forget that power supply is the heart that’s pumping the needed power to get everything up and running.  If the power supply fails, then the whole system will not work (not to mention that a poor power supply can also damage the internal components). With computer processors moving into dual core, multi-processors, multi-GPUs (2 high end cards using SLI or cross-fire, even 4 cards via quad SLI), and multiple hard drives, the demand for a good quality power supply is not just reserved for enthusiasts anymore.  Today, we are going to take a look at one of the best power supply unit's that is currently available—Enermax Galaxy 850W EGA850EWL (probably the only other PSU that’s better than this PSU is the Enermax Galaxy 1000W model).

Many power supply companies have been offering high-end power supply that can deliver tremendous amount of wattage all the way up to 1kWs (we had a review on the PC Power & Cooling).  What sets this power supply aparts from the others?  Well, Enermax claims that their power supply is the first in the industry that has “five 12V rails (while others in the industry only has 4), which are an integral part of the upcoming revision of EPS12V PSU design guided by Intel”.  Not only that it has 5 rails, they are versatile enough to power “Quad Core & Quad CPU system as well as Quad graphics systems” (Triple Quad as Enermax calls it) simultaneously. In addition, Enermax emphasizes that this power supply is fully rated at 50°C.  Since power supply loses its delivery capacity as the operating temperature increased, by testing the power supply at 50°C, Enermax guarantees that the PSU will deliver the rated wattage at 50C, which is the temperature at which most computers operate at or below.  Okay, enough of what Enermax says, let’s see what is packed in this baby.

Features

• 850 WATTs
  CONTINUOUS POWER for ULTRA SYSTEMS.
• 816 WATTs
  12V COMBINED POWER for ULTRA CPU’s and GRAPHICS.
• 24/7 @ 50°C
  NON-STOP FULL POWER @ 50°C by design and components.
• 2007 EPS12V SSI COMPLIANT
  WORLD’s FIRST PSU compliant with upcoming 2007 EPS12V SSI design guide revision.
• WORLD’s FIRST FIVE 12V rails
  2007 EPS12V SSI specification for next-generation systems.
• WORLD’s STRONGEST +5Vsb output of 6A
  2007 EPS12V SSI specification for next-generation systems and multiple USB devices.
• TRIPLE QUAD + 24
  QUAD CPU,
  QUAD CORE,QUAD GRAPHICS,
  24DRIVES.
  SIMULTANEOUS! 
• 80-85% EFFICIENCY
  @ 20-100% load for the SMALLEST electricity BILLS 
• MODULAR connectors
  MAXIMUM SATA or IDE/SCSI drives (21+3 of free choice). 
• SILENT & COOL
  by 13.5 & 8cm dual fans.
• POWER GUARD
  4 ALERT MODES on PSU STATUS with RESET button.
• TRIPLE TRANSFORMER TECHNOLOGY
  the UTMOST in STABILITY & POWER.
• DUAL TIER MINIMUM LOAD design
  OUTSTANDING COMPATIBILITY with upcoming multi-core processors.
• DUAL TIER COMBINED POWER
  TOTAL SEPARATION of CPU(s) from the rest of your SYSTEM for maximum stability.
• RAM POWER CABLE
  WORLD’s FIRST PSU with a dedicated RAM power cable to support next-generation 32-64GB RAM systems.
• ACTIVE PFC & UNIVERSAL AC IN
  run your GALAXY from 90-264VAC with automatic adjustment and active power factor correction.