Enermax Ostrog Giant & Platimax 750W Review

[Noxvayl]

Unboxing & Initial Thoughts

The packages:



Enermax PSU:


I was very surprised to see the Enermax Platimax 750W PSU in the box. Turns out Enermax have upgraded all the prizes to the Platimax PSU, even luckier us


PSU Box Contents:


Included in the box is an EU power cord (luckily I have spare ones), cables for your components, a bag to keep your cables in, 2x Enermax Velcro bands(more for my growing supply, love these), an attachment to secure your power cord to the PSU(Enermax call it CordGuard), a Sticker and some screws as well as a little booklet.


Cables and length comparison:




The cables that are not modular are the same length as the older MODU 82+ unit and I have had no issues fitting these cables into the various cases I have so I'm happy in the knowledge that the new Platimax will fit in my 550D without any problems. The modular cables are a lot longer than the older ones and they don't have a shield. I suspect this is because they've designed them to be flat which I like, should make them less bulky when routed behind the motherboard. The spacing between each power adapter is also larger which will make it easier to fit between components that aren't close together; this is perfect for me but might not be ideal for someone with 3-4 HDDs in one cage because the extra length will need to be bent to remain in the case depending on what case you have.


Cable Bags:


The cable bags have changed over the years: the first one was like a wallet using velcro to close two flaps that held your cables(larger one on the right), the second one was a simpler bag with a zip(bottom left) and the latest one included with the Platimax is a simple bag with string to close the top. I think the second one that came with the 750W NAXN PSU is my favourite, it is more compact and easier to open & close. I don't mind the Platimax one but I would of kept the other one for all of Enermax's PSUs.


Unit comparison:



In the rear view picture the Platimax on the right has it's sticker upside down. It was easily fixed with the included sticker shown earlier so now it is the right way up I like the texture of the Platimax, feels premium and looks it as well when light bounces of it. The other two seem plane, which is ok I guess, these are only PSUs. The Platimax is larger than the other two, it is understandable considering its exceptional efficiency but this means that adding a fan to the bottom of my 550D or the Ostrog Giant means that you have to remove the fan to add modular cables which makes the modular aspect of the PSU less appealing.


Ostrog Giant:


The Ostrog Giant is smaller than I was expecting, not sure why considering I could easily have looked up the dimensions before hand but I expected the case to be bigger.


Ostrog Giant Front View:



The case looks more menacing in person than in the pictures, doubt I'd choose this type of case design myself but it does have lots of air vents which leads me to believe it will be a cool case temperature wise.


Ostrog Giant Side Views:



The thumb screws are easy to remove and the side panels come out with little effort, the panels do seem to slot back into the case better than my older cases but I suspect this is because of the extra rigidity the raised section provides. The raised section on the side panels also provides extra room to route cables behind the motherboard, better space than my 550D has. I don't mind having a side window, wouldn't rule out a case for having one or not, but I think the raised side panels are likely to get scratched easily during the cases life and they make the case look less aesthetically pleasing to me. The SSD cage is a welcomed addition, it is attached by thumb screws so can be moved to the top of the bottom HDD cage when the top cage is removed. The inside has lots of space for high end gear, can fit the longest graphics cards out on the market with ease and has plenty of room for a beefy CPU heatsink or if you prefer one of the AiO liquid coolers there is just enough room for one at the top of the case. The clearance at the top is 45mm from the case to the motherboard mounts, this means a 280mm radiator would need slim fans to fit without reaching the motherboard. A 240mm radiator should be ok because it won't be positioned as close to the motherboard but will be in trouble of touching heatsinks if the motherboard has them at the very top.


Ostrog Giant Included Bits:


As is normal you have the necessary screws required to fit the motherboard into the case. This case has some cable ties included and two Velcro bands which I got with my Enermax PSU's and use in my current build, I really like them. The speaker is an interesting addition, the last few cases I've had did not have one. I'm not sure what to think about the HDD mounts, they fit nicely into the case but they are more difficult to use than others I have experienced because the sides aren't connected together.

[Noxvayl]

Ostrog Giant Case Review

I was going to do some graphs with the temperature data I collected and give some analysis of it but I can't make sense of the data. I tried 2 different fan configurations for the Enermax Ostrog Giant and used only one of the fan configs for the Corsair 550D. The config that was the same in both cases was using extra fans at the top of the cases and one at the bottom, all of the extra fans were Akasa Venom high airflow PWM fans. Testing I had done on the 550D alone had shown that adding fans at the top of the case to increase exhaust and one at the bottom increasing intake was the best config, although the bottom fan only benefited the GPU. Unfortunately the data I gathered didn't show this to be the case, the results contradicted each other whether viewed as only the different fan configs in one case or the same fan config in two different cases. With the extra Akasa fans installed in the Ostrog Giant the GPU and System temperatures were hotter than in the standard config(this was taking ambient temps into account) while at the same time the CPU was coole. I don't know how the CPU could be cooler while everything else in the case was hotter, and the GPU result was baffling because I had a 120mm Akasa fan blowing directly onto it from the bottom of the case providing perfect airflow yet this was less beneficial than the standard config. The results using the same fan config for both cases was also strange, delta temps for the GPU were exactly the same but the CPU was hotter in the 550D while the System temp was hotter in the Ostrog.

I used the same components in both cases and I stressed the CPU using Prime95 while the GPU was running Furmark which I left running for 10mins and then left the system to idle for 10mins and recorded the results, I repeated this 5 times for each system and then averaged the results. To check that the results were good indications of actual temps these programs produced I left Prime95 and Furmark to run for an hour on each setup and then left them to idle for a similar period, the results seemed to be good enough so I went on to the next step. Ambient temp was recorded each time and rounded, this was then used to work out delta temps which I then used for analysis but I didn't get very far with the analysis. In the end I needed to do more testing to make sense of the results and I don't have time to do that so I'm going to leave the cooling results out and focus on what the case was like to work with. I suspect that I needed to leave the the stress tests running for longer and have the system idle for longer to get more accurate results, I couldn't do this from the beginning because I didn't have enough time so I guess I should of just left it, now I know better.

Lets start with some pictures of the case next to my beloved 550D:



Both cases are a similar width but the Ostrog Giant is shorter than the 550D in terms of both length and height. This results in the 550D providing room for a 140mm fan at the bottom of the case in comparison to only a 120mm fan for the Ostrog Giant but because of the 550D's design the Ostrog Giant has 2x 140mm fans at the front while the 550D only has 2x 120mm fans. Both cases have space for 2x 140mm fans at the top of the case but again because of design the 550D doesn't support a 280mm radiator at the top because there isn't enough space either side of the fan slots for the tube mounting holes on a radiator, both support a 240mm radiator but the clearance above the motherboard means there is no chance of having a push-pull configuration because a fan on one side plus 30mm of radiator takes you you to within millimetres of the motherboard, close enough to have trouble opening the ram latches on my Gigabyte Z77X-UD5H. These cases are not designed with water cooling in mind, I am doing some modding to my 550D so that I can fit the radiators I need into it.

Pics of the case with components built in:



The case has plenty of room to work in, it was easy to get the components in and simple to route the PSU cables round the back of the motherboard. I liked the result of my build in this case, looks very neat and tidy with lots of room for air to flow freely between the components. I also like the support for 2.5" SSD drives, because I only have 2.5" drives in my computer I'd prefer to have the option of only one small 2.5" hard drive cage leaving room for either better water cooling support or just better airflow. I do have one rather large complaint about this case, a big enough problem for me to not recommend it to friends for their builds, the hole to allow the 12V CPU cable to be routed behind the motherboard is situated in a place that makes it impossible to use if the motherboard has been installed. This meant that I had to take the motherboard out at the end of the build when I went to connect everything effectively making me install the motherboard twice because I couldn't get the 12V CPU cable behind the motherboard. You can see the badly situated hole in the following pics.




I've been building computers for 7 years now, using 6 different cases, and of the cases that support routing the 12V CPU cable behind the motherboard none of the ones I've had have got the hole supporting this situated in such a way that it can't be used when the motherboard is installed. This annoyed me a lot while building into the case and because of this design choice I won't recommend the case because I know other cases in the same price bracket offer better designed cable routing holes.


Ostrog Giant Top Panel:


The front panel is well designed. The buttons are large enough for the fattest of fingers and only activate after a decent amount of travel allowing you to accidentally lean on them without pressing them. You get the usual Mic and Headphones ports and both USB 3 + USB 2 ports, I would of preferred having only USB 3 ports with an adaptor included to connect them as USB 2 only but I guess that would be a bit more expensive. I like the storage hole behind the top panel, was useful for placing the thumb screws when quickly opening the case to change RAM. I guess it would be perfect for holding your phone but the position I have it in makes it less suitable for that use.


Ostrog Giant Lights:


When turned on the lights look really good, even during the day as the picture proves.


Conclusion

The case is an average size, offers lots of options internally(I particularly like the 2.5" SSD drive cage) and is easy to build into provided you make sure that you route the 12V CPU cable before you install the motherboard. There is lots of room for large components, my Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme would fit into the case nicely and my HD6950 had room to spare even with both HDD cages left in. The front fan lights are a nice touch, the power + reset buttons are well placed with good travel before activating the button and you get both USB3.0 and USB 2 ports on the top panel. The case has everything you need and if you like having your components on display and enjoy fan lights then this is probably the case for you. My personal preference would rule this case out based on the aesthetic looks and because I spend more than average on my computer I am willing to spend more than £100 so I would be looking at the Enermax Fulmo cases.