Enermax MAXREVO 1350w PSU Review

 

“More power…arr arr arr”

Those who remember the US TV show ‘Home Improvements’ will more than likely have the above phrase permanently engrained in their memory. As spoken in a gruff voice by actor Tim Allen, what normally ensued was attempts at ‘modifying’ a domestic appliance beyond its capabilities ultimately leading to an explosion or other catastrophic, yet humorous failure.

I suppose the life of an editor here at Overclock3d could be likened to the same.

For example, 9:30am the postman arrives with a large box containing what can only be assumed to be a hot piece of hardware. At 9:45am after making a quick brew, the unwrapping of said box is met with lots of manly grunts of approval.  What’s inside is a brand new PSU rated at 1350W. By 10:00am the PSU is wired up to the OC3D testing equipment and before we even begin to think about testing it sensibly, a load of 1700w is dialled in and we all run for cover snorting and grunting along the way.

What happens next? You’ll have to wait and see….

 

Enermax MAXREVO Review

Bit of a tongue twister isn’t it? Enermaxmaxrevoorevoo! Argh, try again.

Anyway, what we’re looking at here is Enermax’s latest and greatest PSU to hit the streets. Essentially an improved version of the Revolution series that was extremely popular and highly acclaimed a few years back, the MAXREVO sets out to improve both performance and efficiency to remain competitive with some of the Gold/Platinum certified units that have hit the market recently.

  

The packaging is simple but effective and continues to highlight Enermax’s obsession with gold (I do sometimes wonder if one of the directors lost his genitalia in an unfortunate smelting accident?). The front of the box simply gives the name of the PSU, the wattage, a couple of other basic credentials and a little sticker at the top-left that lures you into making the purchase because it comes with a free pimped out LED case fan.

Round the back things get a bit more juicy with some pictures of the PSU circuitry, a couple of tables showing the rail layout / number of cables included and finally a long list of specs as per below:

FMQ Design
Innovative Design for the entire usage of the four magnetic quadrants of the transformer, in order to make the maximum of efficiency and outstanding stability possible.

90PLUS® Ready @ 230V
90 to 94 percent efficiency @ 230V and 20 to 100 percent load. MaxRevo is certified with 80 PLUS® Gold.

ErP Lot 6 ready!
Helps systems to meet EU eco-design directive ErP/EuP Lot 6 (
Copper Bridge Array“ Transmission Technology
Innovative and patented transmission technology for direct signal transmission with reduced wire-resistance. It heps to achieve higher efficiency and save PCB space to increase air flow.

Stable and reliable
Six powerful and stable 12 V rails with extreme low ripple noise.

 DXXI ready!
Full support of most current DX11 graphics cards due to minimum two 6+2P (8P) PCI-E connectors.

Future ready and flexible
12P modular connectors for possible changes of upcoming high-performance CPU and graphics card generations.

Full modular
Full modular cable design for easy customized support of various system settings and better air flow.

CordGuard
Fixing the AC cord tightly to avoid accidental shutdowns of your PC.

HeatGuard
Keeping PSU fan running for 30-60 seconds after shut down to dissipate the remaining system heat and prolonging system lifetime.

SafeGuard
Industry-leading octuple protection circuitry of OCP, OVP, AC UVP, DC UVP, OPP, OTP, SCP & SIP.

SpeedGuard
The world’s leading patented fan control starting with unmatched 900RPM to a maximum of 2000 RPM for optimal cooling and minimum noise.

Air Cooling by Enermax
Integrated 13.9cm fan with patented Twister Bearing Technology ensures efficient and ultra silent cooling and long lifetime (100,000 hours MTBF).

100% 105°C Japanese electrolytic capacitors
Highest quality standards for maximum durability and stability.

Everything is as I’ve come to expect from Enermax. You get a whole host of safety features along with the promise of (up to) 94% efficiency, Japanese components and a multi-rail layout. The warranty provided with the MAXREVO is 5 years which is up there with some of the best manufacturers and if previous experiences are anything to go by, Enermax don’t mess around when it comes to warranty repairs.

What’s interesting here is that at a glance the rail layout of the MAXREVO 1350w and it’s larger 1500w brother are exactly the same. Both have 25A on the +3.3v and +5v rails, both have six +12v rails rated at 30A and both have the same outputs on the -12v and +5vSB rails. The important difference however, is that while the 1350w I’m looking at today can handle up to 30a on a single 12v rail at a time, if every rail were to be fully loaded, the total output of each rail would be limited to 18A.

    

  

Moving on to the packaging, it’s hard not to applaud Enermax for the effort they’ve put into making the MAXREVO feel like a true premium PSU. Sometimes here at OC3D we’ll get PSU’s that command a massive premium but arrive battered and bruised in little more than a shoe box. However with the MAXREVO you get a thick walled cardboard box with three pull-out drawers containing the PSU, cables and other accessories. This keeps everything tightly packed and well protected from careless couriers.

    

  

The unit its self is quite similar to a lot of Enermax’s previous models and sports an off-black crinkle coat painted finish along with a gold framing around the 14cm fan and a painted MAXREVO logo on both sides. In many ways it reminds me of the recently reviewed Cougar GX PSU, although with it’s fully modular cable configuration and twelve connectors for PCIe/SATA/Molex devices it is certainly better equipped.

Now let’s move on and see what the inside of the PSU has in store…