Enermax Triathlor ECO 1000W PSU Review
Until recently, today’s high-end PC would consist of the following components: Two GTX970 cards, an Intel Core i7 CPU, 16GB RAM, and a Maximus 8 motherboard. But what’s going to power all of those elements? That’s where the power supply unit (PSU) comes into play. Unfortunately so many first time PC builders buy a PSU last with whatever remains of their budget, and that’s a tremendous mistake. You just don’t want to buy a cheap PSU. By doing so, you take the risk of doing harm to your entire system. I’m talking about damaging the hard drives, graphics cards, RAM, CPU, and the motherboard. Building a high-end PC will empty your wallet. But you don’t have to buy the most expensive PSU on the market, to meet your high-end PC’s needs. Enermax has an economy version PSU. Don’t be fooled by word “Economy,” this power supply unit is a beast. Let’s take a closer look at this Enermax Triathlor ECO 1000W PSU review.
Design
We all remember what Peter Parker’s (aka Spiderman) grandad said: “with great power, comes great responsibility.” Running two GTX970 cards will require a reliable, hardy PSU to handle that kind of responsibility and Enermax’s Triathlor ECO 1000W 80 Plus Bronze PSU packs the punch of what many high-end systems would need. Now this Bronze certified PSU doesn’t have a Titanium or Platinum rating, it did come close to earning a Silver certification when Ecova Plug Load Solutions tested it. The Bronze has 84-88% efficiency at 230 volts. Enermax went with a +12V single-rail design which yields 83 amps of current. This volume of amperage can easily power three top graphics cards in your high-end PC with plenty to spare. Go ahead and build that 3-way CrossFire/SLI setup with the Enermax Triathlor ECO 1000W PSU.
All this power the PSU holds and the fans are barely audible. They’re silent if you’ve got an average pair of headphones on.
The Triathlor ECO PSU is semi-modular due to some cables already hard-wired: main ATX, one PCIe, and two CPU cables. The PSU comes with eight additional modular cables all fitting nicely in the supplied pouch. On my system, I added two cables.
It can get messy if you have a small case. I had to Tetris the cables in due to my GTX970 card taking up almost my entire case. If you have a big case, you won’t have this cabling problem.
System Components
- Intel Core i7-2600 CPU
- NVIDIA GeForce GTX970 Card
- ASrock P67 Extreme6 Motherboard
Conclusion
If your wallet has already suffered an emptying blow due to pricey graphic cards, then the Triathlor ECO 1000W PSU packs on the power, and it won’t cost you an arm and a leg. Currently on Newegg, the PSU sells for $125, and on Amazon, it sells for $133. The only other semi-modular, 1000W, Bronze-certified PSU’s around $100 are from Rosewill.
Have you purchased and currently use the Enermax Triathlor ECO 1000W PSU? Do you agree or disagree with our analysis? Let us know in the comment section below or via social media. We’re eager to hear your thoughts.
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The Triathlor ECO PSU come with a 3-year product exchange/repair warranty when purchased from an authorized dealer.
FTC Disclosure: Enermax, Inc. provided Beantown LLC with one Triathlor ECO 1000W PSU sample for review purposes. This writer’s opinion is 100% his own and not a paid product ambassador.
All photographs are the copyrighted property of Beantown LLC 2016.
