A Detailed Look

The Enermax Galaxy 1kW power supply is rated for a combined, continuous output power of 1,000 watts (1,100 watts peak).  The enclosure is painted gloss black and is a full 220mm long.  The Galaxy uses a large 135mm intake fan on the bottom and a single 80mm exhaust fan on the back for cooling.  The PSU includes universal AC line input and active PFC.  Enermax claims the Galaxy will support Intel’s forthcoming 2007 EPS12V standard, which refers to the next revision to be released in 2007.  Because there is so much power available on the +12V outputs (900 watts), they have been split into five: +12V1 thru +12V5.  The Galaxy also incorporates high-quality industrial grade components, which allows it to work at temperatures up to 50ºC.

 

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Specifications (from the Enermax website)

 

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On the back panel of the Galaxy PSU, located beside the On-Off rocker switch and IEC-320 power cord receptacle, is a status indicator LED and Reset pushbutton.  The PowerGuard status LED lights up different colors to indicate the various operational modes.  The reset button is used to clear a fault condition and/or silence the audible alarm, once the problem has been resolved (like an accidental short circuit, overload).  The following table from the Enermax website illustrates the different PowerGuard modes.  

 

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In addition to the PowerGuard feature, the Enermax Galaxy includes a full set of protection circuits.

 

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OCP — Over Current Protection

OLP — Over Load Protection

SCP — Short Circuit Protection

OVP — Over Voltage Protection

UVP — Under Voltage Protection

 

 

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Moving around to the front side of the Galaxy we see a unique combination of hard-wired power cables and modular cable sockets.  The main power cable that supplies the 24-pin motherboard connector uses extra heavy wire (16 AWG instead of 18 AWG) and all of the cables are sleeved.  In addition to the seven Native Cables, up to eight more Modular Cables can be plugged into the sockets.  This provides a huge assortment of different cable and connector combinations.  Note: the two red connectors are reserved for a 3rd and 4th PCI-E cable if needed.

 

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Enermax includes a black nylon pouch with the Galaxy PSU for storing extra modular cables that are not being used.   

 

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The Galaxy 1kW PSU uses a large 135mm intake fan on the bottom and a single 80mm exhaust fan on the back for cooling.  The fan speed is automatically controlled by the internal component temperature (speed up as the combined load and temperature increases).  An external cable with 3-pin fan connector is provided for monitoring the speed of the 80mm fan.   

 

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The smaller 80mm exhaust fan is manufactured by Superred (Cheng Home Electronic Co., Ltd. CHA8012DB-OA) and is rated for up to 44.3 CFM, 37 dBA at 3,600 rpm and uses dual ball bearings.

 

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The 135mm intake fan is made by Globefan (RL4T B1352512MB-3M) and is rated for up to 95.8 CFM, 40.4 dBA at 1,800 rpm and also uses dual ball bearings.  

 

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