Enermax has been renowned for making top quality PSUs for as long as I can remember, and their Noisetaker EG701AX is no exception. Outputting a mammoth 600W, the Noisetaker is amongst the most powerful in this group test. It is also one of the best in terms of connectivity, as it features 7 Molex leads, 2 mini Molex connectors for floppy drives, provision for 4 SATA drives, dual PCI-Express video cards and an 8-pin aux cable for the latest Pentium 4 boards. As with the Antec, the Enermax EG701AX-VE is one of the few PSUs to be ratified by nVIDIA for SLI operation, something that may be of interest to the more paranoid buyer.
Ventilation on the Enermax 600W is provided by a 92mm fan at the bottom of the PSU and an 80mm model on the back. This arrangement means it pulls air from the CPU and expels it from the case, making the PSU a good choice for those who do not have much case ventilation. The rear fan is RPM-controllable by use of a small dial at the back of the PSU. This has been a feature on Enermax models for many years, and one we never tire of seeing. Even at full load we found no need to increase the speed of the fan, as the Enermax ran quite coolly.
Noise wise, the Enermax is certainly a quiet model, but isn’t in the same bracket as the Antec or the Seasonic, whose single 120mm design makes for even quieter operation. Nevertheless, unless you have an otherwise silent PC, you are unlikely to be able to hear the Noisetaker over any of your other fans. Whilst the main PSU loom is nicely braided, as with Antec, Enermax has made little effort to make their cables look nice. This is a bit of a shame, because the anodised navy-blue unit itself looks extremely slick.
In terms of performance, the Enermax was completely on the money, with rock solid rails regardless of the level of load. It was also cooler than many of the other PSUs on test, which would be of great use to those wanting to minimise the number of case fans in their setup. A unique feature of the Noisetaker PSU is its ‘smart fan’, which continues to run after you have shut your PC down until the ambient temperature is less than 40 degrees.
Overall the Enermax Noisetaker EG701AX-VE(W) 600W is a great PSU, and one that comes highly recommended to all users.
