700W to 850W PSU Group Test

Enermax Infiniti 720W

Manufacturer: Enermax
Price (as reviewed): £143.92 (inc VAT)

Enermax is a popular brand that has been around for a long while. The company is usually the first to market with large power supplies and the latest connectors, and while the 720W Infiniti won't win any high-wattage power awards, it does have many features that the others don't.

Enermax includes the new 8-pin PCI-Express power connectors for the next generation graphics cards and features like PowerGuard, where the combination of internal speaker and LED tell you the exact state of the unit.

Additionally, CoolGuard keeps the system and PSU fans on for anywhere between 10 seconds and two minutes after your system has turned off, depending on the internal temperature of the PSU. This makes sure the system and PSU are kept as cool as possible, prolonging the life of your components.

Previously, Enermax had a couple of PSUs that weren't quite so wonderful, and speaking to some of the people that work there, they realise this; however, they are clearly very confident with the latest Infiniti range. Despite being the most expensive in the market, Enermax tries to convey the price reflects the quality of PSU and its extras.

The box is a plain cardboard affair without a carry handle. It does offer plenty of details on the outside including clear notification of the three year warranty period, specification, and information about CoolGuard and PowerGuard as well as pictures of the PSU inside.

Though the unit is bubble wrapped, there is no additional protection for the rest of the contents. While this is sufficient for receiving the product, trying to repack a PSU in the bubble wrap it came in is, at best, a stressful procedure.

The brushed silver-grey metal PSU is one of the smallest of the group test, ending up the same size as the Tagan and Seasonic at just 16x15x8.5cm. The PSU is 2.275kg in weight with one 8-pin PCI-Express, the 8-pin 12V and ATX cables attached. It has a 13.5cm clear bladed fan with gold Enermax branded fan grill on the top and honeycomb grill in the back.

Accessories

• Enermax branded fabric pouch for keeping your additional cables;
  
• Enermax lanyard;
  
• Detailed multi-language manual.

The fabric pouch is a nice touch for keeping your cables in one place, rather then having them all tangled and strewn in a bottom desk draw. The manual is also comprehensive in telling you all the additional technical details of the product, including which cable is applies to which 12V rail and how the modular plugs are designed to be used.

Supplied Cables

• One 50cm white and black braided 24-pin ATX cable;
  
• One 55cm white and black braided 4+4pin 12V cable;
  
• One 55cm white and black braided 6+2pin PCI-Express cable;
  
• Two 50cm, white and black braided 6-pin PCI-Express cables;
  
• Three 50cm, white and black braided cables with three Molex plugs;
  
• Three 50cm, white and black braided cables with three SATA hard drive plugs;
  
• One 50cm, white and black braided 4-pin 12V plug;

The white and black braided cables have an almost snake-like appearance, and the unit itself can support up to nine hard drives and nine Molex socket devices like optical drives or fan controllers. Despite this being "only" 720W, it certainly implies it has some serious grunt. The cables are all just one length though, which means despite being modular you are limited to a set size and three devices per cable in all cases, unlike Hiper and Tagan that supply a variety.

The modular sockets are solidly held in and are keyed to only accept a certain orientation. They are also coloured so as you can easily identify the red PCI-Express 6-pin connectors from the black hard drive and peripheral connectors.

However, it provides only an extra two 6-pin PCI-Express connectors and includes a single 6+2-pin PCI-Express connector from the PSU itself. This leaves it short a 6+2-pin for those wanting to run CrossFire or SLI and need a fourth 6-pin or second 8-pin in the future.

While the modular plugs are very functional, solid and easy to plug/unplug, they don't look particularly wonderful in comparison to the metal screw connectors of the Hiper or the flush connectors of the Tagan or Seasonic.