A little stability goes a long way.
We have another success story, but this time with a twist.Enermax makes an essentially identical 1000W version of the Galaxy. Both it and this 850W little brother passed Big Willy. Both weigh the same and both are capable of outputting a hypothetical 24 amps on each of their five 12V rails. But according to the stickers, under stress, the rails on the 850 will only deliver a combined total of 34 amps compared to the 1KW version’s 41. But we couldn’t measure this difference.Of all the power supplies we tested, the Galaxy’s output voltages were the closest to ideal in every condition. It only dipped below 12 volts for half a second during the entire test, and that was during startup. Under load the average fell from 12.125-odd volts to 12.1-odd volts – results so insignificant they’re only worth mentioning to point out how stable it is.The supply is mostly modular: you get a lead of SATA power connectors and some PCI-e power in addition to the standard system cables you'd expect. We have one minor gripe that we shouldn’t really care about: the modular connectors have locking catches that all aim upward, so if you’re trying to unplug one on the bottom row it’s a little trickier than it could be.Are we pedants or what?Kudos to Enermax for making a solid and well featured PSU.
Issue: 111 | April, 2010