Enermax Digifanless 550W Power Supply Review

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PaulBags

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Why'd my commented get deleted? "This is a passively-cooled PSU, so you should install it with the top exhaust grille facing downward." is totally wrong advice, if you don't believe me read the warnings in the picture YOU took.
 
uglyduckling81

uglyduckling81

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"This is a passively-cooled PSU, so you should install it with the top exhaust grille facing downward. If you don’t follow this advice, hot air will be trapped inside the PSU"

Hot air rises. If you have the opening facing down you will be trapping hot air inside. Read your own comment "top exhaust". 'Top' means on top, 'exhaust' means expulsion of air not intake.
The PSU clearly has vents on the back and sides so I think it's a moot point either way but it's clearly a better idea to install it with the top opening facing upwards.
 
nukemaster

nukemaster

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I think your post got lost(forum bug maybe), not removed. I would see if it was removed and it was not.

I think this would depend on the case you are using to be honest.

System air will cool it.

If the power supply is at the top of your system putting its vent up will cause heat to have no place to go in many cases. Power supplies in the bottom of the case would be better served with the power supply vent face up.

The power supply has software to let you see the temperatures anyway so you can test. Tom's tests in a hotbox so it is not an actual case.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/how-we-test-psu,4042.html
 
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Aris_Mp

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guys sorry for this mistake. It is with the fan grill facing upwards and not down. This is how a single word can bring doom!
 
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PaulBags

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These are solid! I'd take a SeaSonic SS-520FL2 for $140 over this any day, though!
Click to expand...
I have the seasonic, I love it. I prefer the modular connector layout on it too, this emermax only offers a few oddly placed plugs by comparison. The cables arn't as good though, and you don't even get enough to populate all the plugs, although it's sufficent for most scenarios for a 520w PSU.

I'd very much like to see AC cable clips become standard, I've had the ac work loose on me before when I turned a case slightly to plug something in, glad I didn't have anything important up at the time.


To anyone who _would_ want the enermax over the seasonic I'm genuinely curious as to why. It's always good to learn and/or gain perspective.
 
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f-14

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I think your post got lost(forum bug maybe), not removed. I would see if it was removed and it was not.

I think this would depend on the case you are using to be honest.

System air will cool it.

If the power supply is at the top of your system putting its vent up will cause heat to have no place to go in many cases. Power supplies in the bottom of the case would be better served with the power supply vent face up.

The power supply has software to let you see the temperatures anyway so you can test. Tom's tests in a hotbox so it is not an actual case.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/how-we-test-psu,4042.html
Click to expand...

page 2 second set of pictures picture number 5 what does it specifically say? where does hotair go, where does cold air go, in a fanless case your argument is excellent advice on how to waste money and start a fire. if you are running an antec 1200 with all the fans unless this psu is mounted at the top with the vents down and all the other fans are set to intake into the case you are in great shape, however that mitigates the point of having a fanless psu, you go fanless because you don't want there to be any noise, much less a hoover vacuum for a case.

i haven't read the warranty card, but i am sure it says something about keeping the psu vents facing up when mounted at the bottom of the case, when mounted on the side that would be interesting.

nice psu, i will keep it in mind for the next time a customer wants a zero or low noise build.

someday there will be a liquid cooled PSU, i laugh because of water conduction electricity, but where there is a will, there is a way to circumvent conductivity and deal with all that heat i am sure.
 
rdc85

rdc85

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Well I'm using Enarmax NAXN for couple of years now..

Since both Enarmax and Seasonic is rare, here their price also screwed..
they priced quite similar here... (and corsair equivalent is much higher :( )...

They make good PSU but it's a shame they cannot compete in price..

edit: 550W is enough power than most people think..
and as someone who live at unstable power lines, good ups & psu is a must...
speaking from experience (unless u planning keeping the rig for 1 or 2 years max...)

 
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Aris_Mp

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"page 2 second set of pictures picture number 5 what does it specifically say?"

That you must keep the top vent clear on all cases. In passive PSUs if you block the top vent then the hot air will be trapped inside the PSU, causing problems after a while. Since all passive PSUs have OTP (Over Temperature Protection) there is no fire risk but still the lifetime of the PSU is greatly affected.
 
chimera201

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Can you do UPS compatibility tests with PSU reviews? You may have 24x7 stable electricity in your office but there are some parts in the world where trees fall on electric poles everyday which just makes the UPS a necessity. OR a dedicated article on UPS compatibility and recommendations would be better.
 
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Aris_Mp

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I will put some thought on this matter. In my area UPS devices are a necessity however there are many countries/areas where people don't even know what a UPS is, since their power distribution network is stable.
 
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Caanis Lupus

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"Stability" of the power grid does not always equal smooth/clean power signal. Anyone building a computer more than a few hundred(US) dollars should invest in an UPS (uninterruptible power supply).
 
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PaulBags

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I had a ups. One day the power cut out, then the ups batteries popped and melted my carpet. I can't afford to buy a quality ups every year or two to make sure it doesn't explode, and see little point when modern switch mode power supplies can handle at least 100v - 250v. If your more worried about quality than outages then invest in your own house transformer.
 
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Aris_Mp

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you only need a decent quality UPS and change its batteries with reliable ones once they die (most likely every couple of years). I have 7 UPS in my home ranging from high-end ones to mainstream models and never encountered a single problem. On the contrary I strongly believe that kept me out of trouble in many cases since I never encountered a PSU fail all these years that I use them.
 
rdc85

rdc85

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Agreed, I have tried lots of brands (although they are "cheap" backup UPS, not true online or sine UPS)..
Some PSU more sensitive than others, ..

my Enermax as example, a reputable local brands is no go, no maters how big the UPS capacity (VA)/watt is..
they sometimes works sometimes don't.. strangely they works fine for office use.. (computer, printer, network, cctv, everything??? ).. so I sold mine ("failure one") to the office hehehe.........

Not promoting brands, but after changing to APC ones (for 3x price of local brands, also same cheap "backup UPS") it works okay...
 
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Aris_Mp

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the problem is that I already need too much time for each PSU review and my review sample pile is getting larger day by day, so I have to be dead sure whether a new test worths including in my methodology or not.

My shining new (and umber-expensive) AC source allows me to run UPS simulation tests in case I decide to include them, but as I already stated these tests will make me devote even more time for each PSU review.

 
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