NOX APEX 700W Modular PSU

The guys from NOX were kind enough to supply us with one of their new APEX power supplies. The series features modular cables and offers 600, 700 or 800W. We got the 700W along with the Coolbay HX chassis. The PSU ships in a sturdy, full-color cardboard box. The top has an image of the unit along with the number of Watts it can deliver. One thing I noticed right away was the lack of an 80Plus logo. NOX does mention 80%+ efficiency, but does not sport the logo. While this may not be a big deal when taking a look at the official Crossfire or SLI logos (which only cost money, but do not require any elaborate electronical design), the 80Plus certification is much more complicated. With such a logo, 80% efficiency may not mean that you can expect the same type of efficiency across the board, which you would usually find on PSUs with the 80Plus logo and certification. The sides of the box give you a list of all the connectivity along with the usual table of Rails, Voltage and Watt.


The unit is well packaged and all the cables are of very high quality. They come sleeved, but may still be easily bent, so routing them nicely should not be a problem. As you can see there are six seperate cables. This means that the PSU is not completely modular.

A Closer Look

The 24 pin ATX, two PCIe power and the 12V 4 and 8 pin cables are permanentely connected to the power supply. This is quite alright, as you will need most of these for a modern configuration. Just one of the 12V P4 power cables will be to no real use and cannot be removed.

A large 140 mm fan is used to cool the PSU, which should make it very quiet. Both sides of the unit are covered by large APEX stickers and the table with the output rating has been placed on the "underside" of the unit. This may be great for a chassis like the Coolbay HX, but you will loose sight of it, when the unit is installed traditionally, above the mainboard.


Even though NOX advertises the APEX with 110-230V on their website, the unit we received is only capable of running at 230V. There is a shiny sticker covering the area usually reserved for the voltage switch. The other side has three identical connectors for the modular cables. Three of the four rails feature 18A of power, while the forth can push 20A. Your guess is as good as mine, which one of these plugs is attached to which rail.