Published: March 18, 2009 | Source: Enermax | Author: James Napier

Enermax Liberty ECO 500w ATX PSU

Cables & Internals

Despite the Liberty ECO being a ‘modular’ PSU, both the ATX and EPS-12v connectors are hard wired into the unit. This is actually quite a common practice among most modular PSU manufacturers as both of these cables will be required at the very minimum to power a PC system. Hard wiring these connectors into the PSU also reduces the chance of poor connections or increased resistance due to an ill fitted modular plug.

Following on from the gold fan grill tradition, Enermax have also re-used the gold laced cable sleeving seen on most of their previous units. Whether this appeals to you or not is certainly a matter of taste, but I guess you can’t blame Enermax for wanting to break away from the boring black stuff. One thing we can blame them for however is just how much bare wire is on show at the end of each connector. Granted that some of this is unavoidable as certain connectors such as the ATX spread out significantly towards the end, but other modular connectors such as the ‘joined’ PCI-e cables would be much better sleeved individually and right to the tip.

A total of 4 modular cables are included with the 500w version which is actually quite poor considering the unit has connectors for up to 5 modular cables. In fact, this has to be the first time ever I’ve seen a modular PSU that doesn’t come with enough cables to utilise all of the available connectors on the PSU. To compound matters further, one of the cables has a rather daft arrangement of SATA and Molex connectors on a single cable which might not suit all system layouts. A full list of connectors can be seen below:

Enermax Liberty ECO 500W Connectors ATX Connector Native 1x 24 Pin EPS-12v / P4-12v Connector(s) Native 1x 4+4 Pin Molex Connectors Modular 5x Floppy Disk Connectors Modular 1x SATA Connectors Modular 5x PCI-E Connectors Modular 2x 6+2 Pin

Moving on to the internals, the Liberty ECO is extremely tidy and spacious with plenty of room between each of the components and all cables entering the unit bunched tightly with zip ties. Two yellow transformers take centre stage in the middle of the unit, with the smaller of the two being responsible for the 5VSB (Stand by) rail and the larger one for everything else. Cooling comes in the form of two fairly small black aluminium heatsinks that run in parallel down ¾ the length of the unit.

An EMI filtering circuit has been installed just behind the AC inlet on a rather tidy PCB. This should help to keep any internally generated noise from the MOSFET’s and other components contained within the device, while also preventing any external AC line noise from entering the PSU.

The primary capacitor is manufactured in Japan by Panasonic Corporation and carries a specification of 330uF / 400V / 85°C. This may not be quite as high spec’d as the 105°C capacitors used in mid-range units by companies such as Corsair, but it’s still far from poor quality, and should perform perfectly fine inside a 500w unit.

At the output end of the unit (image below-right) several capacitors manufactured by jP (CE-TUR series) can also be seen in several sizes and specifications.

Cooling comes in the form of a 120mm fan labeled up as an Enermax EB122512H. This fan is rated at 0.30A (12v) and is automatically controlled by the on-board fuzzy-logic controller which monitors both load and temperature levels to determine the best fan speed. Further specifications for the fan are extremely thin on the ground with no official dbA or CFM statistics being listed anywhere on the Internet.