Enermax ECO80+ 620W PSU Review

As an avid overclocker and enthusiast, it is often easy to forget that not everyone wants or needs a 1KW+ power supply in order to power massive quad-core systems with multi-GPU setups.  The fact of the matter is, the vast majority of the gamers and overclockers out there are running single GPUs, and many are still using dual core CPUs as well.  What this means is while the huge capacity 1KW+ units gather all the attention, there is still a huge market for quality power supplies for systems that have roughly half of the power needs that the top end units provide.

Of course, quality PSU manufacturers know this, and this is why we have a new ECO80+ 620W unit in our lab today.  While 600W+ power supplies have been on the market for several years, there is always room for improvement in terms of efficiency and reliability.  This is Enermax's push for this unit, advertising it as an environmentally friendly unit capable of 80% efficiency anywhere from 20%-100% load conditions, peaking at 86% at 50% load using 230 VAC input.  Not only that, the unit promises to follow Enermax's impressive reputation as a reliable workhorse, utilizing OCP, OVP, UVP AC, UVP DC, OPP, OTP, SIP and SCP protections to ensure the unit lasts a long time, and if it doesn't, that it will die gracefully.

However, regardless all the hype about environmental friendliness, gamers and overclockers are most concerned that a power supply will effectively provide the juice that their power hungry components need without complaint.  Does the Enermax ECO80+ 620W PSU keep up?  Read on and find out!

Packaging:

Just as you would expect from a power supply that is being advertised as energy efficient, there is a lot of green involved in the color scheme for the packaging.  Looking at the box, you can't help but close your eyes and imagine amber waves of grain, purple mountains of majesty, and whatever it is environmentally conscious people think about when they close their eyes and find their "happy place". 

However, once we get the unit out of the box, the environmental motif disappears, and we get something more fitting of a computer enthusiast.  Instead of green, we get black and bright orange.  Included with the power supply are the standard fare, such as mounting screws, power cable, and cable wraps. 

Now, to take a closer look at the unit itself; here we can see that the ECO80+ sets itself apart with the bright orange MAGMA fan and gold fan grille.  This PSU looks less like something that is environmentally friendly and more like something that emits radiation.  And that's a good thing. 

The environmentally friendly motif does creep back into the mix on the label, proudly showing the ECO 80+ logo prominently.  As we would expect from a modern ATX PSU, most of the power is generated on the 12V rail, providing 576W/48A.  The 3.3V and 5V rails provide a combined 140W. 

The other side shows off the finish of the PSU, which consists of a matte black finish with a rough texture.  At the bottom left of the unit is a stamped Enermax logo. 

Here, we have a close up shot of the rear side of the unit, showing off the honeycomb cutout design that has become rather popular.  Of course on this side we have the power outlet and power switch.