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VISUAL TOUR
The finish for the Eco80+ is matte black, which is pretty common these days. It's accented by a gold grill and the bright orange-red fan blades. In other words, it has enough paint to look passable but it's nothing too special. But then, appearance isn't really the best way to judge a power supply anyway.
MAGMA FAN (Twister bearing, Batwing blade, Buzzword loaded)
Despite the buzzwords, the fan is actually worth a closer look.
The "twister" bearing appears to be a variant of the magnetic bearing
used in Enermax'
Marathon fans. The technology piqued our interest when we looked at it before
because it was generally extremely quiet and exhibited very little increase
in noise as the fan speed increased. The double-ridged "Batwing" blades
are new to us, and it's hard to say how effective or ineffective they are. The
thermal results should tell us whether the fan is adequate when we get to that
part of the review later.
The fan is also available individually
from Enermax, and anecdotal feedback from SPCR forum members has generally
been positive. As with the Marathon fan that we looked at, the fan blade assembly
can be removed and cleaned, though we would caution most users from opening
their power supply unless they feel comfortable working with high power electronics.
Enermax also touts a long lifetime (100,000 hour MTBF @ 85°C) as one of
the benefits, but it's nearly impossible to verify such a claim. Power supplies
are high heat environments though, so it's good to know the fan is specified
for a high temperature.
When sold individually, the model number is UCMA12.
The double-ridged "Batwing" design is claimed to improve airflow
by 30% — a claim we are very skeptical of.
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The metal frame is tapered to minimize the gap between the fan and the frame.
Enermax' attention to noise extends beyond just the fan itself. The edges of
the frame around the intake are tapered downwards to minimize the gap between
the frame and the fan. The idea is to reduce turbulence, but given how many
other closely spaced components there are in the air path, it seems unlikely
to have a major effect. Still it's nice to see this level of attention to noise.
Strangely enough, Enermax has managed to obtain a patent for this simple concept
(eliminating gaps to reduce turbulence noise), though the relationship between
gaps and turbulence is hardly a secret.
When the fan was running, there was a significant amount of backdraft leaking
out from around the edges of fan blades. With the fan going full tilt, it was
easier to feel the air being forced backwards around the edges of the fan than
it was to feel the main current through the intake.
A clear plastic baffle masks off the front half of the airflow to prevent
"short-circuit" airflow in which the air would flow directly
from intake take exhaust without passing over the hot internal components. |
The fan is a four pin PWM controlled model, making it impossible for us to measure
fan voltage.
We have high hopes for the fan, but those who like fan swapping should note
that the Magma fan is a 4-pin PWM controlled model that cannot be replaced by
just any fan. This type of fan allows very precise speed control, but, as always,
it will be the quality of the fan controller that determines how noisy or quiet
the power supply is in actual use.
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