Enermax Galaxy DXX 1000 Watt Modular Power Supply

Enermax has been in the power supply business for a while now, and they've been keeping up with what users want and need in their computer systems.  They are also well known for creating some of the most reliable power supplies.  Today, we are going to look at the 1000 Watt version of their Galaxy series of PSU's.  1000 Watts is more than enough power to run present and future enthusiast computers.  This power supply is equipped with the latest technology and connector support; including the updated PCI-Express 2.0 8-pin (6-pin + 2-pin) power connector. The Galaxy DXX supports what Enermax calls "Quad Quad Quintuple + 24", which means it can support a Quad CPU, Quad Core CPU, Five Graphics Cards, and twenty four hard drives / optical drives.  This boasts how much power that this PSU can supply.  When it comes to multiple graphics cards, the box does not indicate either SLI or Crossfire certification, but I'm sure it has enough power to run any current SLI / Crossfire based system.

Upon opening the box, you will find the manual, which features detailed test graphs and product descriptions; a pouch to store unused cables, a higher gauge power cable, unused modular connection covers ,screws, Enermax stickers, and a lanyard. 

Here are some of the main features and specifications from Enermax's website:

The Power Supply:

The power supply features a glossy black color, which looks professional.  It is much longer than most power supplies, at around 8.6"; case clearance issues may appear for smaller computer chassis.

Looking at the side of the power supply, there is an Enermax label which features the Enermax and Galaxy logos and a condensed specification list.  Note that there are five +12v rails, each supplying up to 24 Amps, which is great for peripherals requiring lots of power. The strong +5Vsb line offers up to 30 Watts / 6 Amps for USB peripherals and other components. It is also RoHS compliant.

The rear (outside of case) features a single 80mm fan exhausting air from the power supply and assisting the large 135mm fan on top.  There is a large on/off switch, AC Power Input, a status indicator light, and the reset switch if the alarm goes off.

There is a chart on the box and manual indicates what the buzzer and led lights indicate. This can be helpful in alerting users of potential problems, such as a fan failure, short, or overheating.

The Cables:

A lot of the cables are already pre-attached to the power supply and not modular.  These include the 24 pin ATX12V connector, a 8-Pin EPS 12V connector, two 4-pin CPU connectors that can combine to make an additional 8-Pin EPS 12V connector, one 6-Pin PCI-Express connector, two 6 + 2 pin PCI-Express 2.0 connectors, three Molex connectors and  three SATA power connectors.  There is also a 3 pin fan monitoring cable for monitoring one of the power supply fans, probably the larger 140mm fan. 

The modular connections on the Galaxy 1000W

The 4-pin / 8-pin EPS12V CPU Power connectors have labels describing that they are only intended to supply power to the CPU.

This power supply features the following cables:

-A 24-pin ATX power connector with removable 4 pin for backwards 20-pin compatibility.

-A 4+4-pin CPU ATX Power Connector and an 8-pin EPS +12v Power Connector

-3 6-Pin PCI-Express Power Connectors; 2 6+2-Pin PCI-Express Power Connectors.

-14 Molex and 2 Floppy Connectors.

-18 Serial ATA power connectors.

Adapters are included to convert the 8-pin EPS12V connectors into either a 6+2 Pin PCI-Express connector or another Molex connector.

As you can see, this power supply offers lots of power connection options.

Cooling:

There is a large 135mm fan on the bottom of this power supply. During testing, I could not hear any audible fan speed changes, at idle it is already a tad too loud for my tastes.  But, being a 1000 Watt power supply, I can understand why it needs faster spinning fans to cool it off.  A fan monitoring cable allows the user to monitor this fans speed.

There is also an 80mm fan on the back of the power supply to assist with cooling.

Inside the Power Supply:

* Taking this power supply apart will void the warranty.

Inside the power supply, there are two main heat sinks that offer densely packed fins to cool down the voltage rectifiers.  There are also two large transformers and one smaller transformer in the middle.  A large red copper coil can be seen in the bottom middle of the picture.  This power supply is packed with components, and utilizes most of the interior.  The Galaxy 1000W is a heavy power supply, and its longer length is determined by all of these components inside.

Testing:

For this power supply, the test system consists of the following:

-Antec Nine Hundred Case

-AMD Opteron 165 Dual Core Socket 939 CPU @ 2.9 GHz (1.62v)

-ThermalTake Blue Orb II Heat Sink

-DFI LANParty nF4 SLI-D

-2GB of Corsair XMS Platinum PC3200 Memory

-320GB x 4 Western Digital 16MB Cache Hard Drives

-2x nVIDIA GeForce 8800GTS Video Card @ 660MHz Core / 950MHz Memory

-Sound Blaster Live! 5.1 Digital Sound Card

-Sony 16x DVD-RAM / 18x Samsung DVD-RAM Drives

-3x 120MM fans, 1x 200mm fan

-2x CCFL Lights

(Multimeter Results)

*For additional / larger pictures of the Galaxy 1000W, Click Here

Voltages are at 'Max Load', running 3DMark06 CPU Test 1 and 2 / Deep Freeze HDR test, and read with a Multi-Meter.

The results are superb for this power supply. Everything ran fine during testing; the system was stable and performed the tests well.  During the tests, the fan speed never actually changed speed (audibly).  The power supply's dual fans are slightly loud to begin with. Although, the noise never became an annoyance.  I was satisfied with the noise characteristics during the testing.

Installation was easy, but it was hard to find hiding spaces for all the cables that are pre-attached to this power supply.  In my opinion, too many pre-attached cables are included on the power supply, making the point of modular cabling fairly useless.  It would have been helpful to make more of the connections modular. Also, I found that not all of the non-modular/modular cabling (SATA and Molex cables) was fully sleeved. This was also disappointing, because wire clutter is very apparent in this power supply's case, and fully sleeved cables would have been much better. 

Overall, the Galaxy DXX 1000 Watt at around ~$340, is a good deal for what it offers.  It offers 3 6-pin PCI-Express power cables for the latest graphics cards and a up to three 8-pin PCI-Express power cables for a future PCI-Express graphics card or possibly other add on cards. Basically, this power supply will not become obsolete for a long while, and is certainly prepared to take on future computer components. This power supply also offers lots of power cable connections for graphics cards, CPU's, devices that use Molex power plugs, and Serial ATA devices so users are not as limited as to what peripherals they can put in their computers and power up.

Pros +

-Awesome Power Delivery and Stability

-Modularized Cabling

-Ready for multiple next generation PCI-Express cards (8-pin PCI-E)

-Tons of power

-Carrying case for unused modular cables

Cons -

-Some cables are not fully sleeved

-Pricey for some?

Techaddicts.net would like to give this power supply a 9 out of 10 rating and the Techaddicts 'Recommended' Award for its power handling and next generation features. 

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