Specifications

All possible protections are present so the unit, along with the system it powers, will be fully protected in all cases. Also the 50°C rating is a very welcome feature, although platinum units have less energy losses compared to lower efficiency ones, so their operating temperatures are kept low. The cooling fan, with the peculiar 139mm diameter, promises to be really silent and efficient at the same time, thanks to the twister-bearing it is equipped with. Finally, the depth of the unit is quite large for its 850W capacity and the warranty period is long enough, although the competition in this category provides seven years (Corsair AX850 for example).


We have four, pretty strong, +12V rails which can deliver almost the full power of the unit. This is very convenient since contemporary systems draw power mainly from +12V and only little current from the minor rails. So Enermax did right to set the max combined power of the minors at 120W.

Cables & Connectors, Power Distribution

The EPM850EWT has a solid 24pin ATX connector and not a 20+4pin one. Nevertheless this is not a set back and most likely will not pose a compatibility issue, since no one nowadays will purchase a state of the art platinum PSU to power an older mainboard, with a 20pin socket. Regarding the other connectors, the PSU is equipped with six PCIe connectors (one PCIe socket is free so if you get an extra PCIe cable you can have up to eight PCIe connectors) and two EPS ones with all available at the same time. The number of SATA and Peripheral connectors is adequate too.
The length of the 24pin ATX is 50mm shorter than what we would like to see and the fixed and modular PCIe cables are a little short too. Here we should add that all PCIe connectors are on a single cable which splits at a certain length: around 160mm for the fixed one and 340mm for the modular cables. Thankfully the distance among the SATA and peripheral connectors is the right one. Finally the 24pin ATX, all PCIe and EPS connectors use thicker 16AWG wires while the SATA and peripheral connectors use 18AWG gauges.


In the table above you may see eight PCIe connectors but Enermax provides only two modular PCIe cables (plus one fixed), so one modular socket is left free. Overall the power distribution is good, since the two EPS connectors are on a dedicated rail. Our only objection lies in the 12V4 rail which is overloaded with four PCIe connectors. So if you use the fixed PCIe connectors and need another two or four PCIe you should avoid connecting any of the modular PCIe cables to the socket that draws from 12V4; just use the other two.