Performance (40% of the final score) - this is going to get interesting. We'll start with the efficiency. Promised 80 Plus White for Europe, this unit delivered on that so no deductions there. The S&C point does take a small hit due to the power on spike on the standby rail, so half a point comes off there. Ripple control was very good on the 12V side of things, half a point off there, but the 5V rail was also out of spec by 5mV which will remove another point from the score (half for not being excellent, another half for coloring outside the ATX lines). And finally... the regulation. Under the old scoring method, this would do well. But this unit has hardware breaking readings in
both of the crossload tests, forcing me to change my whole methodology just to accommodate it. With the change, this unit comes in at an average of 13.54%... this is well outside ATX spec, which means it loses all scoring points possible for regulation. Since that part of the score stops at the 5% ATX limit, that'll be another 2.5 point deduction. What's that add up to? A
5.5 total score for this area. Barely above average, but that looks more than fair to me given where this unit is placed in the market.
Functionality (20% of the final score) - this unit is lacking in a lot of ways, here, but not in all the ways I was expecting. This is a bargain unit, and the number of accessories reflects this. I can't score against that. What I can and will score against is the usual stuff. No modularity? One full point off. Partially sleeved? Half a point removed. Cannot run below 200V? A full point down. Hardwired Berg connector from the 20th century? Half a point goes. But I'll stop there. Documentation was surprisingly good, and we still had thermal fan control. That's about all we can expect from a unit this far down in the budget pile.
7.
Value (20% of the final score) - believe it or not, though this unit seems to show up at Amazon, it's not the same exact unit. Remember, this thing is 230V only, so you can't get it here. We're going to India today, where this unit runs at 4,000 rupees at MD Computers. That's about $54 to you and me. It's the second cheapest they have, the Antec VP600P coming in at just a bit less money. Now, I have no idea how good the Antec is, but the Thermaltake Smart RGB 600W is going for 4,645 rupees. That's what... a seven dollar difference? For a unit with RGB fan and full worldwide voltage capability? Just go with that. I can't do more than a
4 here, and that might be pushing it.
Build Quality (20% of the final score) - hooboy... if this is Enhance's lowest grade of unit, and I sincerely hope it is, my estimation of this company has slipped a bit today. Ineffective undervolt protection? I'll take a point for that. Third tier capacitors? A point for that. A sleeve fan with only three years backing it outside four countries? Gimme a point for that. Not so good soldering? Half a point there. No thermal interface material on the thermistor for fan control and overtemp? Half a point there, too. 85 degree main filter cap? Half a point. Shocking me thrice? I'll let them be on that one. I used to score against that with the gutless wonders, but decided it was too harsh. Owners shouldn't be poking around in the guts of these, anyway.
5.5.
Summary
Just buy something else.
The Good:
- cheap
- very good to excellent 12V and 3.3V ripple control
- cheap
- near mythic voltage regulation on 5V and 12V, as long as you keep it from crossloading
- cheap
- 40 degree temp rating
The Bad:
- ineffective undervolt protection leading to hardware breaking crossload voltage regulation
- requires more minimum load than Haswell and newer CPUs need for advanced sleep states
- out of spec 5V ripple
The Mediocre:
- third tier capacitors
- some soldering related issues
- 3.3V regulation never was very good
- 230V only
- not so good fan backed by 3 year warranty except for four countries that get 5 years
Warranty Support Customer Service Center
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