Enermax Galaxy EVO 1250W Power Supply @ [H]

FrgMstr

FrgMstr

Just Plain Mean
Staff member
Joined
May 18, 1997
Messages
55,764
Enermax Galaxy EVO 1250W Power Supply - When we buy new PSUs for ourselves here at HardOCP, a company that always makes our short list is Enermax. Its build quality and performance has been topnotch for years. Today we put its 1.25 kilowatt computer power supply to the test. Crash and burn or continue to shine brightly?

While the Enermax Revolution85+ 1050W really was a revolution running full course, the Galaxy EVO 1250W felt like a revolution gone too far as all the good things from the Revolution were just not quite as good when given to us as more and bigger, seemingly moderation in all things is still appropriate today.
Click to expand...
 
Wow, I expected to flip to the end and see a Gold Award....very surprised that your sample was so mediocre compared to the Revolution. Even though this unit is much more than I would ever need I had actually contemplated buying one due to the stellar reviews it had gotten previously.
 
Last edited:
Interesting... Performance of this unit is very disappointing compared to the one Wolf reviewed. I wonder if the line is inconsistent or if you just had bad luck with this sample.
 
Zero82z said:
Interesting... Performance of this unit is very disappointing compared to the one Wolf reviewed. I wonder if the line is inconsistent or if you just had bad luck with this sample.
Click to expand...

I had two samples, so I would venture to guess no this wasn't a bad sample.
 
Mine IIRC needed some attention to make sure connectors were tight before I wrote the numbers down. If the SM-8800 is anything like my 268, it calculates the load number based on reported voltages. If the connectors are flaky, that number can go down quite a bit and thus affect efficiency negatively. Especially with high loads.

That's assuming this particular unit had connector issues, of course.
 
Strange that your results are like polar opposite of the Johnny Guru review this is one of the best PSU's ever tested over there...so which review to believe? Having just ordered one of course I would prefer to believe the Johnny Guru review :p but of course something seems amiss in all this so how to decide wether i've gotten one similiar to the one tested @ johnny guru or one similiar to that tested here?
 
Last edited:
bluehaze013 said:
Strange that your results are like polar opposite of the Johnny Guru review this is one of the best PSU's ever tested over there...so which review to believe? Having just ordered one of course I would prefer to believe the Johnny Guru review :p but of course something seems amiss in all this so how to decide wether i've gotten one similiar to the one tested @ johnny guru or one similiar to that tested here?
Click to expand...

Maybe a good idea would be to have Johny & [H] swap units and retest. It would be a good way to know if it was the unit or the testing.
 
Paul_Johnson said:
I had two samples, so I would venture to guess no this wasn't a bad sample.
Click to expand...

Perhaps there are some differences between production batches? Inconsistent production quality would be an explanation. Not one we'd like to see, but considering the butched soldering job on the Revolution85+, I don't think it's such a stretch.
 
Elledan said:
Perhaps there are some differences between production batches? Inconsistent production quality would be an explanation. Not one we'd like to see, but considering the butched soldering job on the Revolution85+, I don't think it's such a stretch.
Click to expand...

Of course that could be the case, and if it is well then you are correct it still isn't a good thing.
 
Well got mine for 209 shipped so if it is bad can always sell it on Ebay and recoup my money. I don't have any type of gear to load it with will just have to load with i7 920 @4.6 and 295GTX @ 800 mhz and watch the voltage and see if it fluctuates, that is the main thing i'm concerned about. I've also got a ddc 3.25 pump and 12 fans running off it, should be a decent enough load to see voltage fluctuation according to the review. PSU should be here Monday or Tuesday will update once I install it.
 
race301 said:
So how does the kingwin stack up against the corsair 850 or 1000 hx stuff, that is a great price on it?
Click to expand...

What Kingwin? The 1200W? Obviously is is capable of powering more than an HX850, but I doubt it can equal the efficiency or ripple suppression at similar outputs
 
HOOfan_1 said:
What Kingwin? The 1200W? Obviously is is capable of powering more than an HX850, but I doubt it can equal the efficiency or ripple suppression at similar outputs
Click to expand...

So the 850HX is better buy than the Kingwin 1200?
 
The Kingwin only does 20a a rail at the rate graphics cards are going doesn't sound very future proof. I think we can already approach that with heavily overclocked 295's can't we?
 
bluehaze013 said:
The Kingwin only does 20a a rail at the rate graphics cards are going doesn't sound very future proof. I think we can already approach that with heavily overclocked 295's can't we?
Click to expand...

not if they want to adhere to the PCI-SIG specifications...and the rails the PCI-E connectors are on are limited to 35A, not 20A

However, only 4 PCI-E connectors on a 1200W unit is pretty ridiculous
 
Last edited:
HOOfan_1 said:
not if they want to adhere to the PCI-SIG specifications...and the rails the PCI-E connectors are on are limited to 35A, not 20A

However, only 4 PCI-E connectors on a 1200W unit is pretty ridiculous
Click to expand...


So getting the corsair 1000HX will be good for future everything? LOL for the most part?
 
race301 said:
So getting the corsair 1000HX will be good for future everything? LOL for the most part?
Click to expand...
For the most part, yes. I doubt that a 1000W PSU will end up not being enough for all but the most ridiculous systems for at least another few years.
 
HOOfan_1 said:
not if they want to adhere to the PCI-SIG specifications...and the rails the PCI-E connectors are on are limited to 35A, not 20A

However, only 4 PCI-E connectors on a 1200W unit is pretty ridiculous
Click to expand...

My bad, just looked it up indeed 2 rails @ 35a each. Intersting that you only get 4 pcie connectors though, kinda defeats the purpose of buying a 1200w psu.
 
I had been testing the Enermax 1250w on an Asus P6T7 and eVGA Classified 760 for a few days these past couple of weeks and now I'm in the process of RMA'ing it due to a serious compatibility issue with the Classified board. There is suppose to be a more recent revision of the Galaxy EVO 1250w that addresses the compatibility between it and the Classified so I shipped mine off to Enermax last week.

The issue with the Classified was that the board would fail to power on. The lights would come on and the fans would spin up for 1-2 secs and then would go back off and it wouldn't POST. That would then trip the circuit protect on the Enermax and the red light would come on. I was able to get it to finally power on though if I unplugged the PSU and then plugged it back up and tried to power on for the first couple of days and then that Saturday I went to try and turn on the computer and it refused to power on no matter how many times I unplugged it, discharged all the power, and plugged it back up again. A couple of users that had the same problem with the Enermax Revolution 85+ said they got around it by turning on the PSU and letting it warm up for a few minutes before trying to power on but that didn't work for me when I tried it.

Then to make things worse I believe the multiple failed attempts of trying to get the PSU to power on with the Classified may of damaged it as well with the circuit protect kicking in so much because I was noticing some possible power issues once I switched it back over to the P6T7. The system was randomly restarting every half hour or so with no BSOD and I don't think it was related to my OC being unstable.
 
There are supposed to be revisions of the Classified that prevented this problem...I haven't heard about revisions of the Enermax.
 
Based on everything I've heard, it's a board issue and not an issue with the PSU. The Classified is the only board that seems to be having any issues; everything else appears to be perfectly compatible.
 
Well got the PSU installed today and so far voltage regulation is not as bad as what you guys are showing in your review. Problem is I dont really have any idea what kind of load i'm pulling,I don't have a kill-o-watt or anything to check with unless I dissect a power cable and use my amp probe, maybe I will try that. Anyways have a GTX295 overclocked 776/1673/1270 i7 920 overclocked 4.6ghz, 6gigs ram 1800ish mhz 9 120mm 2000rpm fans, 2 92mm 1700rpm fans, laing DDC 18 watt pump, bigng, 2 HD's dvd drive and a bunch of usb stuff, sound etc...

Started prime blend with 8 threads and ran furmark while priming for 30 mins to stress both gpus and cpu 100%, voltage bounces between 12.04 and 11.96v every few minutes bouncing up to 12.11 for a split second, 5v between 5.05 and 5.00v, and 3v between 3.28 and 3.26.

Without Prime and Furmark running voltages are 3.30, 5.05 and 12.11v.

Not sure what any of this means :D I am happy so far though as my GTX 295 no longer screams like it did with my other single rail 1000w PSU, I have to put my ear right on the card to even hear it now so it was worth it for that alone.
 
Set point voltages vary from unit to unit. Voltage regulation depends on your load. So it is unlikely you will ever see the same exact voltages with your DMM that we see with the SM-8800. What you should see is the same general voltage regulation if you were to duplicate our loading.
 
Yea that's what im trying to do but it's difficult without knowing the exact load. I'm just guesstimating and comparing to your 330w numbers for no load in my case and 638w numbers for while prime and furmark are loading my cpu and gpu's. In this case the numbers on 3 and 5v match well with the review but the numbers of 12v are not as bad as you guys are seeing. They are closer but not as good as the numbers in Wolf's review. I realize this is by no means a scientific analysis...just an observance at best.

I am curious what my load is though because it is kind of disappointing that the PSU is already dipping below 12v and I know there is no way i'm anywhere near max load. WIsh I had a way to load the PSU more and see how far it drops.
 
bluehaze013 said:
I'm just guesstimating and comparing to your 330w numbers for no load in my case and 638w numbers for while prime and furmark are loading my cpu and gpu's.
Click to expand...
If you're using the system in your sig, your full load power draw will be closer to 330W. You're definitely not using 638W.
 
Zero82z said:
If you're using the system in your sig, your full load power draw will be closer to 330W. You're definitely not using 638W.
Click to expand...

bluehaze013 said:
Anyways have a GTX295 overclocked 776/1673/1270 i7 920 overclocked 4.6ghz, 6gigs ram 1800ish mhz 9 120mm 2000rpm fans, 2 92mm 1700rpm fans, laing DDC 18 watt pump, bigng, 2 HD's dvd drive and a bunch of usb stuff, sound etc...
Click to expand...

System in sig is like 2 years old lol
 
Zero82z said:
You should update your sig then :p.

And you're still not using 638W. Maybe 450-500W.
Click to expand...

Nah, maybe at stock clocks, but it's definitely more than that with my overclocks because it can trip OCP on an HX620. I think it's close because never hit OCP before adding the extra 9 fans and pump for the WC setup. Also the 295 use to scream with my Ultra x3 1000 with 70a on the 12v rail when stressing everything and it doesn't anymore with the Enermax so it sure would seem like it's close.

Of course I don't know for sure though, will have to pickup a kill a watt and get a better idea.
 
Found this from Xbitlabs article 502.8w for stock clocks gtx 295 and i7 920, that's without all the WC gear only 1 hd and 3gig ram:

]http://www.xbitlabs.com/images/coolers/system-wattage/p39.png

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/coolers/display/system-wattage_8.html#sect0

Add in 36w for the 9 extra fans and 20w for the pump plus however much for the bigng extra hd and ram and it's already approaching 600w without any overclocking at all.

Going to order a kill a watt lol i'm really curious now.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Last edited:
Zero82z said:
The HX620 doesn't have OCP: http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/371/9

And I did factor your overclocks into my estimation, although I suppose my estimations may have been a bit low. By the way, a Kill-A-Watt probably won't give correct readings with that PSU: http://www.jonnyguru.com/forums/showpost.php?p=49738&postcount=4
Click to expand...

Well it shuts down without blowing up somehow :D If it's not OCP I don't know what it is but it doesn't shut down with the Ultra nor with the Enermax, so I am assuming it was OCP in the Corsair, if not that I don't know what it is?

That sucks about the Kill A Watt, I guess I will find an old PSU cable and cut it up so I can use my amp probe on it.
 
Thank you for the review [H]. :)

It seems all to common for manufacturer's to take a wonderfully working platform and push it to the edge which gets it less than glowing reviews as the previous model based on the same platform.
 
Hey guys,

I have the EVGA classified(759) with the 1250 evo and at first I had the same boot problems and I called EVGA. They told me it was a problem with the PSU, but I could switch my 759 for a 760 if I wanted to. Then I talked to enermax and they asked for the serial number off my PSU and then they let me exchange it for a newer revision one from them. I got it about a month ago and it has been working perfectly with the classified with no problems what so ever.
 
Mackjam,
I'm looking at picking up a 1250 Evo sometime tomorrow from my local shop.
Just out of curiosity what is the S/N or batch number of the new unit you got.... So I can make sure I'm getting a newer unit.

Cheers,
 
I have the Classified 759 and I'll be having the Galaxy Evo 1250 next week. Could you give us the S/N, Rev, or something that we could distinguish the one that works?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top