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Enermax Whipser EG365AX-VE(W) 350W Power Supply

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Brian Kristensen
Kurtis
Maxpoint
Aug. 27, 2003

Introduction

Enermax has been producing top notch PSUs for some time. They are stable, reliable, and powerful. These days power supplies are more than just power supplies; they are an extension of your case. We like the pretty cases with the automotive coating and fan controllers and quiet yet powerful operation. Lately I have seen some fancy looking PSUs that break away from the standard gray box, and a new market is opening up. Enermax, being one of the top power supply manufacturers sees this, and will be damned if they don't have some fun with it. Today I will be taking a look at the latest PSU from Enermax, the Whisper EG365AX-VE(W) 350W PSU which sports a sleek blue automotive paint job, temperature and manual controlled fan speed, "Whisper" quiet operation, and the usual Enermax quality.

A Closer Look

Along with the PSU comes a power cord, a 3 to 4 pin connector, two Enermax case badges and four mounting screws. The PSU has the standard ATX, Auxiliary, and 12V power leads for the motherboard, eight 4-pin connectors and two floppy connectors, and a fan connector for powering and monitoring the 80mm rear exhaust fan. The 3 to 4 pin connector is used to connect the 80mm fan to a 4-pin molex connector. With this setup, the 80mm fan will be running at full speed all the time instead of a temperature/manual speed.

The most noticeable feature of this power supply is its paint job. Enermax used a little style and went with a blue automotive paint job. The paint is smooth, deep, and reflective. Accenting the automotive coating are gold colored fan grills on the 80mm exhaust and the 92mm intake fans. The 92mm fan is clear, but it does not light up. The 80mm exhaust fan is black.

Located on the rear of the PSU is the usual 80mm exhaust fan, power switch, and power cord inlet. There is also a knob to control the 80mm fan's speed. One thing missing from the PSU is a switch between 110 and 220 volts. The PSU has Active-PFC, which means the PSU will automatically detect if it's plugged into a 115V or 230V wall socket. It allows for voltages from 90v to 264v which ranges from 47 to 63 Hz, which is one less thing to worry about. This power supply is also Intel Certified ATX12V Ver 1.2 form factor.

Enermax decided to sleeve the motherboard power connectors (ATX, Auxiliary, and 12V) with copper shielding and black heatshrink. The copper shielded wires are inside a clear plastic tube. While all this does make for a nicer, cleaner look, it also makes those cables a little harder to bend and route through your case.

Interior

The inside of the PSU was just as I expected. The wires were organized neatly, the components were laid out nicely to allow for maximum airflow around the components, and the overall construction and components of the PSU was high quality.

Functionality

One feature of this power supply is the manual fan control knob located on the back of the PSU. This knob allows you to control the fan speed from 1500 RPM to 3000 RPM. While this may seem like a neat feature, it has its problems. First off, it is located right next to the power switch located on the PSU. While reaching around your computer and fumbling for the knob, you may accidentally hit the switch and turn off your computer. Second, during our testing, the difference in temperatures was little. There was around a 2*C difference in temperatures between high and low fan speeds. In the case of the PSU overheating due to the fan being on low speed during stressful situations, the PSU will automatically adjust the fan speed to cool itself down. This is a nice feature, and will allow users to keep the fan speed on low without worrying about overheating or a failing power supply.

Testing

Test Rig Specs

Soyo Dragon 2 PE
P4 2.4c
512MB Corsair TwinX PC4000
Geforce FX 5600
Sound Blaster Live!
200GB Maxtor HD
40GB Seagate HD
16x LiteOn DVD Drive
Mitsume Floppy Drive
2x 120mm fans
2x 80mm fans

Testing the PSU was fairly simple. I booted into windows with the PSU fan on low and read the voltages using Soyo's Hardware Monitor. I then ran Prime95, HDTach, and Splinter Cell and read the voltages again. I did the same with the PSU fan speed on high.

There was no difference in voltages when the fan speed was on high or low. While the system was idle, the voltages were well within the 5% tolerance level. When the system was loaded, the vcore dropped 0.03v and the 5v line dropped 0.05v. All voltages were still within the 5% tolorance level. This is a very stable PSU.

Idle:
Vcore:	1.48V
12V Line:	12.03V
5V Line:	5.13V
3.3V Line:	3.34V
Load:
Vcore:	1.45V
12V Line:	12.03V
5V Line:	5.08V
3.3V Line:	3.34V

With the fan speed on low, the PSU is virtually inaudible from a foot away. On high speed, the PSU is still very quiet, and most likely won't be heard over your other system components.

Conclusion

The Enermax Whisper 353W power supply proved to be very effective and stable during testing. The components are very good quality, and the interior of the PSU is clean and organized. The fan control knob does have placement issues, and at low speeds the temperatures only dropped about 2*C, but it does allow the PSU to live up to its name (whisper). The automotive coating is extremely stylish and would go well with some of Enermax's upcoming cases.

Pros

Slick automotive paint job
92mm intake fan
Temperature/knob controlled 80mm exhaust fan
Plenty of airflow
Quality construction and components
Stable voltages
Active PFC
Quiet

Cons

Fan speed control doesn't change temps much (2*C change)
Fan control knob placement awkward

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