Enermax Announces The Smallest 1.2kW PSU

Update, 9/15/17, 12:37pm PT: Enermax announced that this PSU is now available, although at the Amazon link it provided, there's apparently no stock yet.

Original article, 8/11/17, 6:45am PT:

SilverStone has been leading the charge to shrink PSUs, but it's found a new rival in the high capacity region. Enermax announced new Platimax D.F. units, with the flagship EPF1200EWT offering 1.2kW max power despite having similar dimensions to a 750/850W unit, thanks to a restricted depth of 16cm. It seems the power density competition will be the next big thing for PSU-makers, and Enermax is making a strong impression.

Besides its super compact size, the EPF1200EWT features a fully modular cable design, a semi-passive mode of operation, and Dust Free Rotation technology that allows its fan to instantly blow dust out of its internals by spinning in the opposite direction during the PSU's start-up phase. There's also a switch that allows you to enable the DFR operation at any time during the PSU's operation.

The modular cables are of high quality—they consist of individually sleeved wires and are highly flexible, so it will be easy to route them inside a case. We really hated the cables of the old high capacity Enermax PSUs, which made cable management a pain because their thick gauges made them rigid. The EPF1200EWT also uses a twister bearing fan, which promises up to 160,000 hour lifetime, according to Enermax, and all the electrolytic capacitors in this platform are provided by a Japanese manufacturer and rated at 105°C.

Finally, the PSU has all the necessary protection features, and its temperature rating follows the ATX spec's recommendation, since Enermax said it can deliver full power continuously at up to 50°C ambient. (At some point we should put to the test those claims for 24/7 operation at 50°C, since we seriously doubt that any normal desktop PSU will be able to survive long under this usage scenario. But we haven't run those tests yet.)

Enermax and  SilverStone are among the very few big brands that have yet to enter the warranty race by providing 7-12 years of support to their high-end products. The Platimax D.F. 1200 is covered with a five-year warranty, which we believe is satisfactory for any PSU.

It is a great shame that the EPF1200EWT is only equipped with six PCIe connectors. Normally high-end 1.2 kW PSUs have at least eight PCIe connectors. Every PCIe cable has two connectors and with the exception of the two lower capacity models (EPF500AWT and EPF600AWT), all Platimax units use separate cables/wires for each PCIe connector instead of using extension cables, which usually have thinner gauges, for the second PCIe connector. But, it is nice to see that even the 750W Platimax unit features a couple of EPS connectors.

The EPF1200EWT (along with the rest new Platimax D.F. units) will hit the market in September with an MSRP of $250. The EPF1050EWT will cost $230, the EPF850EWT $210, and the EPF750EWT will have a price tag of $185. The EPF500AWT and EPF600AWT, meanwhile, have been available for a while now and cost $125 and $160, respectively. For those of you who may have missed it, we've already reviewed the EPF500AWT.