Enermax launches REVOLUTION DUO dual-fan PSU range

[HEXUS]

These PSUs employ a pair of patented Twister Bearing fans for long-term stability.

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[Platinum]

Wow old skool, takes me back to the PSU's of the late 2000's

[Valantar]

This makes absolutely no sense. At all.

First of all: unless both fans are intakes (with somewhere for the air to exhaust), two fans do not in any way increase airflow. They increase static pressure, so air might flow better through densely packed components (which is the argument for push-pull setups on radiators), but airflow will always be limited by the amount of air taken in by the intake fan. And with a 100mm intake fan, that PSU looks pretty weak.

Secondly: How on earth does this affect cases with PSU shrouds? It has exactly the same airflow pattern as every other PSU on the market (as it needs to to be ATX compliant ...). It takes in air from the bottom, and exhausts it out the back. Sure, some PSUs have holes and openings allowing some air to spill inside the case. But those are few and far between - and it really doesn't matter. The majority of airflow is bottom-to-back, no matter the (ATX) PSU. This is no different.

Third: The use of two fans allowing them to run at lower RPMs. See point one. Also, the fans are (much) smaller than competing units, and thus have to run at higher speeds to compensate. Not to mention that noise adds up. Two noise sources at the same dB(A) level next to each other add up to roughly 3 dB(A) more than either.

Fourth: "cases with PSU shrouds stifle air flow through the PSU compartment." And so what? What does it matter if you have airflow past the closed-off sides of your PSU? Not one iota. Even if your PSU has components mounted on the bottom of the PCB, using the casing for heat dissipation, this doesn't matter. Sorry, Enermax.

Fifth: The addition of a fan speed control knob is a dead giveaway. It pretty much says "you can have a hot, silent(ish) PSU, or a loud, cool one. Your choice. With this design, there is no automated 'best of both worlds' setting, like 99% of PSUs. Sorry."


Sixth: Where on earth is the journalism here? Shouldn't journalists actually question the veracity of claims like this? This is just PR-BS regurgitation. Seriously. You're supposed to be experts. You get paid to write about this. Stop being mindless markething shills.

[Raven74]

This makes absolutely no sense. At all.

First of all: unless both fans are intakes (with somewhere for the air to exhaust), two fans do not in any way increase airflow. They increase static pressure, so air might flow better through densely packed components (which is the argument for push-pull setups on radiators), but airflow will always be limited by the amount of air taken in by the intake fan. And with a 100mm intake fan, that PSU looks pretty weak.

Secondly: How on earth does this affect cases with PSU shrouds? It has exactly the same airflow pattern as every other PSU on the market (as it needs to to be ATX compliant ...). It takes in air from the bottom, and exhausts it out the back. Sure, some PSUs have holes and openings allowing some air to spill inside the case. But those are few and far between - and it really doesn't matter. The majority of airflow is bottom-to-back, no matter the (ATX) PSU. This is no different.

Third: The use of two fans allowing them to run at lower RPMs. See point one. Also, the fans are (much) smaller than competing units, and thus have to run at higher speeds to compensate. Not to mention that noise adds up. Two noise sources at the same dB(A) level next to each other add up to roughly 3 dB(A) more than either.

Fourth: "cases with PSU shrouds stifle air flow through the PSU compartment." And so what? What does it matter if you have airflow past the closed-off sides of your PSU? Not one iota. Even if your PSU has components mounted on the bottom of the PCB, using the casing for heat dissipation, this doesn't matter. Sorry, Enermax.

Fifth: The addition of a fan speed control knob is a dead giveaway. It pretty much says "you can have a hot, silent(ish) PSU, or a loud, cool one. Your choice. With this design, there is no automated 'best of both worlds' setting, like 99% of PSUs. Sorry."


Sixth: Where on earth is the journalism here? Shouldn't journalists actually question the veracity of claims like this? This is just PR-BS regurgitation. Seriously. You're supposed to be experts. You get paid to write about this. Stop being mindless markething shills.

At one point you are not right, yes two fans contributes to better airflow, airflow is the volume of air moved in a time unit, but if you have one fan you put lots of air inside but a lot fewer gets out (Exactly this is airflow, the volume of air that gets in and out, not just in or out).

[GoNz0]

I had an old Enermax with 2 fans in it, Galaxy 850w iirc!
It still ticks along in the father in laws PC.

[Valantar]

At one point you are not right, yes two fans contributes to better airflow, airflow is the volume of air moved in a time unit, but if you have one fan you put lots of air inside but a lot fewer gets out (Exactly this is airflow, the volume of air that gets in and out, not just in or out).

No, no, no. Airflow for a PSU is the amount of air flowing /through/ the PSU. Sure, two fans next to each other each provide airflow, and might as such be added to each other. But never when these are connected in series, one delivering air to the other. In a case like that, the second fan will only ever be able to move air provided by the first fan, and as such can only tangentially affecr actual airflow in the system. What you're describing is resistance to airflow causing pressure buildup. No matter the density of the PSU dedign, it won't realistically affect pressurization in any meaningful way, simply because PSUs have large openings for airflow. Whatever pressure potential there is will dissipate through the openings. Also, even if pressure buildup was to somehow happen, it would level out as soon as the fan hit its designated speed, at which time airflow through the system would be equal to what the fan can provide at that level of resistance. A second fan can lower this resistance, effectively increasing static pressure of the fan system, but airflow will still never exceed what the intake fan can provide.

At best, enermax is solving a "problem" they have created for themselves by giving the PSU ridiculously small fans and too small exhaust vents on the back. Unless, of course, the internal layout of the PSU is so horrendously bad as to actually require a push-pull fan setup.

[Spreadie]

The second (exhaust) fan induces a negative potential, drawing air in via the intake fan aperture - do you seriously think that has no bearing on airflow within the PSU when combined with the intake fan?

[maxp779]

Gotta agree with Valantar here. PSU's have had the same design for a very long time now, its a box with a 120mm intake fan. That is the pinacle of PSU design. This just seems like an attempt by marketing to "improve" and by "improve" they really mean just make something different that stands out. Nothing thats actually better than what we have.

It reminds me of that daft Gigabyte GPU we saw a few years back. The 7970 with 5 tiny fans instead of 2 bigger ones.

[Corky34]

This makes absolutely no sense. At all.

If you're assuming the amount of air being moved is relative to size of the fan then probably not.

[scaryjim]

... PSU's have had the same design for a very long time now, its a box with a 120mm intake fan. ...

That's actually a fairly recent design in terms of the entire PSU stack - it used to be reserved for high end PSUs, certainly back when I started building PCs. On entry level PSUs a single 80mm exhaust fan the standard design, with the next level up being the addition of an 80mm intake (and some manufacturer *ahem* Q-Tek *ahem* even added a second intake fan next to the cable position).

There are reasons for using push-pull fan combinations, and without reviews you simply can't know where it works for Enermax here. I suspect the engineers at Enermax know more than most hexites about engineering a PSU, and they obviously think there are benefits to this approach. Maybe it's purely to let them use cheaper fans and bump up profit margins. Maybe they've crammed more cooling fins into the PSU to help keep temps down. Without a review there's no way to tell. But I'm pretty sure that they won't have done thing for no reason. The fact that we don't know what it is doesn't really matter...

[AndyM2012]

This makes absolutely no sense. At all.

First of all: unless both fans are intakes (with somewhere for the air to exhaust), two fans do not in any way increase airflow. They increase static pressure, so air might flow better through densely packed components (which is the argument for push-pull setups on radiators), but airflow will always be limited by the amount of air taken in by the intake fan. And with a 100mm intake fan, that PSU looks pretty weak.

The exhaust fan will reduce the pressure in the enclosure better than the usual holes (remember that work has to be done to get the air through the holes, and that work is normally done only by the intake fan). Axial fans are better suited for inducing air flow rather than creating a pressure differential (as compared to other fan designs).

The density of the air in a PC PSU will never be a significant factor in the cooling ability whereas the magnitude of the air flow is.

Having two fans may also improve the flow path of the air. (You'll be familiar with the plastic sheet baffles in some PSUs.)

[Stu C]

At one point you are not right, yes two fans contributes to better airflow, airflow is the volume of air moved in a time unit, but if you have one fan you put lots of air inside but a lot fewer gets out (Exactly this is airflow, the volume of air that gets in and out, not just in or out).

Generally speaking, the volume of air going in also equals the volume of air coming out... otherwise, where is it going? It is not being stored in there indefinitely, or being destroyed!

[PsyaNyde]

Needs a full independent review, tested temps against comparable single fan PSU's to either prove or disprove any advantages.