INTRODUCTION

    With both NVIDIA and AMD gearing up to unveil and release their latest CPUs and GPUs this might be the perfect time to upgrade your power supply unit with one of the latest PCIe 5.1 & ATX 3.1 ones (or choose one of those for your new system). We've talked about the benefits of all the new power supply units’ numerous times to date and what stands out most is their higher electrical efficiency, 200%+ power excursion (double for the CPU and triple for the GPU), cleaner and more stable electrical output and support for the latest PCIe 5.0 graphics cards (by NVIDIA so far) using the brand new +12VHPWR connectors. ENERMAX released their latest PlatiGemini line of PSUs and today with me I have the 1200W model.

    ENERMAX was founded in Taiwan in 1990 and is a world-renowned PC Power Supply manufacturer and maker of award-winning PC components such as chassis, coolers, fans, and peripherals, with recognition from consumers around the world. Our farsighted R&D capability is our key strength and we stick to our spirit of “Technical Innovation” and “Quality First” to create products that unleash the full potential of the system for every PC enthusiast. For more information, please visit us at www.ENERMAX.com

    The latest PlatiGemini line currently includes just the 1200W model which I have here with me today and well, it follows all the latest standards including PCIe v5.1, ATX 3.1 and even the brand new ATX12VO one (higher efficiency ratings and reduced production costs). Needless to say, it's a fully modular unit which adheres to the 80 PLUS Platinum electrical certification (92% electrical efficiency at 50% load) and comes ready with a single 12VHPWR (12V-2x6) GPU power connector (600W) and 3 8-pin (6+2) GPU power connectors. It also comes ready with a single powerful +12V rail (100A) capable of delivering 100% of the units’ total power output (1200W) , peak power output of no less than 1319.8W (peak should now be up to 2.6KW for up to 100ms - once again however this is not something i can test), full bridge LLC with DC to DC design, 135mm dual-ball bearing fan with patented Dust-free Rotation (D.F.R.) function and semi-fanless mode, high-quality Japanese capacitors certified for use up to 105 degrees Celsius, individual sleeved cables and a full array of electrical protections including over-current (OCP), over-voltage (OVP), under-voltage (UVP), short-circuit (SCP), over-temperature (OTP) and over-power (OPP). As for warranty ENERMAX once again covers their PlatiGemini 1200W power supply unit with a 10-year limited one.

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

ENERMAX uses a cardboard box that has their logo at the front and a piece of paper with a product picture and its main features.

A product description is placed on the right side just over an 2D barcode.

The main product features showcased with the help of 4 pictures are showcased at the rear right over the available connectors and next to the electrical table.

Packaging is very good with the PlatiGemini 1200W being placed between two foam spacers.

Along with the PlatiGemini 1200W its power cord and its power cables inside the box you'll also find a tester, 4 mounting screws, numerous individual modular cable holders, paper with ENERMAX social media pages on it and the user manual.

THE PLATIGEMINI 1200W EXTERIOR

All modular cables ENERMAX packs with their PlatiGemini 1200W are individually sleeved, yes including the 12VHPWR cable.

Measuring 150mm in length, 150mm in width and 86mm in height the PlatiGemini 1200W is a compact model.

The company logo is placed on the grill located just over the 135mm intake fan.

Typically, the company logo, model name and capacity are printed on both sides of the enclosure.

At the belly of the PlatiGemini 1200W we find a sticker with its electrical table on it.

All 14 modular ports located at the front of the PSU are tagged.

The usual honeycomb perforation along with the semi-fanless on/off button, the on/off power switch and the power port are all located at the rear.

THE PLATIGEMINI 1200W INTERIOR

The 11-bladed 135mm double-ball bearing fan by Zeta Group can reach speeds of up to 1800RPM (+-10%).

Interior layout is good, and this is actually the very first PSU model to arrive in the lab manufactured by Shenzhen RSY (OEM).

The two primary capacitors are manufactured by Nippon Chemi-Con and are certified for use up to 105 degrees Celsius.

Secondary capacitors on the other hand are manufactured by rubycon and again are certified for use up to 105 degrees Celsius.

TEST BED

TESTING METHODOLOGY

     Using a dedicated measurement instrument such as a Chroma or a SunMoon to test power supply units is without doubt the most ideal and accurate way (not to mention the fastest) to do that currently. However, it's certainly not the only way there is and so pretty much anyone can test a power supply unit just by using a test rig. Certainly, limitations do apply and so you can't really push a 1000W power supply to its limits if your system only uses 500W at peak loads and that's why over the years we saved certain hardware components for the purpose of building a dedicated PSU test rig. True it may not be as accurate as the above mentioned solutions, but it comes really close and is in fact much closer to real world usage. So as always, we ran several games with maximum graphic options enabled at a resolution of 2560x1600 in order to stress every hardware component and increase the overall power demands of the system. The Passmark BurnIn Test was also used to overstress the components in an effort to provide the most accurate results possible. As a final test we also used the latest OCCT 4.4 software and its dedicated PSU testing suite since it can really bring a power supply to its knees after inside a few minutes.

   Rail stability was checked/measured with the CPUID Hardware monitor and a Metex multimeter which also recorded the system load in idle and in load. As always try to remember that the power consumption numbers listed in the graph are the highest (Peak) ones recorded during the entire duration of the tests and not the average ones. Noise levels coming from the fan were recorded using the high precision HD600 ExTech Sound dBA Meter from the rear of the unit and at a range of no more than 5-10cm. Readings under load are recorded the exact moment we manually switch the fans of all graphics cards from full speed to almost zero, that way the fan of the power supply does not have enough time to slow its RPM and so by doing this we get very accurate noise level readings. Needless to say, in order to get 100% accurate readings, you need to have a noise isolated room for that exact purpose, something which is quite impossible unless you are working inside a real lab (some people use very small noise insulated boxes but due to their size both heat and noise exceed normal levels and so the results can't really be considered to be 100% accurate, nor realistic for that matter). Also do take into account that since all noise measurements take place from just 5-10cm away the final noise levels to reach your ears will be considerably less.

* After well over 10 years of testing PSUs the Intel Core i7-920 CPU of this rig failed and so we replaced it with a Xeon X5660 (we also swapped the GA-X58A-UD7 for the G1. Assassin).

TEST RESULTS

CONCLUSION

    The PlatiGemini 1200W power supply unit by ENERMAX is among the very first models to support the PCIe 5.1, ATX 3.1 and ATX12VO standards and even though these don’t really add much compared to PCIe 5.0 and ATX 3.0 it’s never a bad idea to get the latest available technologies. Now I was slightly surprised to see that the PlatiGemini is currently available only at 1200W, but my guess is that ENERMAX will fix that by introducing more models later. With that out of the way it’s clear from the charts that in terms of rail stability the PlatiGemini 1200W does very well and as for noise levels although not the lowest I’ve ever recorded they are quite good. The dust free rotation (DFR) technology even though most PC cases come with dust filters underneath the PSU area it could help a bit so not something bad to have.

    The PlatiGemini 1200W power supply unit by ENERMAX currently retails for USD249.99 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and for 239.56Euros inside the EU (Amazon.de) a price tag which is very balanced for one such model. At the end of the day if we leave out the fact that the PlatiGemini line only has this one model currently everything else checks out and that’s why the Golden Award is in order.

PROS

- Build Quality
- Very Good Rail Stability
- ATX 3.1, PCIe 5.1 & ATX12VO
- 80 PLUS Platinum Certified
- 12VHPWR 600W Connector
- Single Powerful +12V Rail (100A)
- Fully Modular
- Electrical Protections (OVP/SCP/UVP/OPP/OCP/OTP)
- Semi Fanless Mode
- 10 Year Limited Warranty
- Price (For Some)

CONS

- Available Power Outputs