Enermax, with their PlatiGemini 1200W PSU, tried to achieve the best of both worlds by not only incorporating the latest ATX 3.1 specs into their PSU (which is already quite a challenging task for all the latest PSUs) but also making PlatiGemini 1200W an ATX12VO Standard PSU! This is something that has never been done before and clearly reflects what I stated in my review of Enermax D.F 12 Revolution 850W.
Enermax has thrown away its rookie badge and dialed up the innovation level to max 11!
Key Takeaways
- The Enermax PlatiGemini 1200W Platinum is our new chart-topper that leaves all the other PSUs we have tested so far to the dust with its unparalleled performance and features.
- You should go for the Enermax PlatiGemini 1200W Platinum if you priority overclocking-tier performance, silent operations, and good cable management.
- The only reason to skip the Enermax PlatiGemini 1200W Platinum is if its steep pricing is out of your budget.
Here are the specifications:
| Specification | Detail |
|---|---|
| 80 PLUS Efficiency | Platinum |
| Modular | Fully Modular |
| Cable Type | Mesh Sleeved Cable |
| Total Power | 1200W |
| Input Voltage | 100-240V |
| Input Current | 15-8A |
| Input Frequency | 50-60Hz |
| Fan Size | 135 mm |
| Operating Temperature | 50°C |
| MTBF | >100K Hours |
| Protection | OCP, OVP, UVP, OPP, OTP, SCP |
| Dimension (D x W x H) | 150 x 150 x 86 mm |
Packaging & Unboxing
The packaging is exactly the same as I saw in my Enermax D.F.12 Revolution 850 White Gold review. Looks like Enermax is saving some costs by using the same cardboard box with different white sleeves for individual PSU models. I love this idea, it takes out unnecessary inefficiency and makes things simpler.
The front has a picture of the PSU and some branding, including the ATX 3+1 + 12VO Ready logo (more on that later). Similarly, the back has all the key specifications and features listed.
Here is a closer look at the features.
The box opens up to a user manual and foam packing for protection. I love that they have used black foam and a black fabric pouch to match the design, just like they did with white for the DF.12 Revolution White.
Design
Of all the PSUs I have tested so far, the Enermax PlatiGemini has the most industrialist design of them all. The fan grill looks very good and mature.
At the back, you’ll find the patented D.F. Switch and input power connector.
Enermax has been relying on Dual Ball Bearing fans for all of its PSUs; though such fans do have better endurance, especially under high temperatures, they seem to be not that quieter compared to Fluid Dynamic Bearing fans that many manufacturers use in their PSUs. This can most likely be due to the Enermax’s Dust Free rotation feature that allows its fan to rotate in reverse direction during every startup for a few seconds, to blow the accumulated dust out from the fan blades.
Though this is an automated feature, still Enermax provided a D.F button on the back for manually triggering their Dust Free rotation feature, which I personally think is a completely stupid thing to do unless you have your PC turned on for months or even a year and somehow you happen to invite me in your house, and seeing that you’re using Enermax PlatiGemini 1200W PSU, I will just remind you to clean up its fan by manually triggering its D.F button.
Following the simple theme that we saw in the packaging, the PSU sides also have basic chrome stickers that get the job done.
Cable & Connectors
All cables are mesh-sleeved for a premium feel and have enough length for an ATX chassis. You also get a PSU comb for cable management and a PSU jumper to use the PSU without connecting it to a PC.
Here is the list of all connectors:
| Connector | Details |
|---|---|
| Motherboard 24 (20+4) pin | 1x 60cm |
| 12VO Motherboard 10pin | 1x 60cm |
| CPU 4+4 Pin | 2x 70cm |
| 12V-2×6 12+4 pin | 1x 60cm 600W |
| PCIe 6+2 pin | 3x 60cm |
| SATA | 2x each of 45/15/15/15cm |
| 4P Molex | 1x each of 45/15/15/15cm |
The fully modular design allows for a clean build with easy cable management. Plus, the 12V-2X6 connector is the latest edition of the 12VHPWR connector with improvements made for both current handling capabilities and safety.
Teardown & Component Analysis
Out of all the PC components and peripherals, desktop or ATX PSUs still seem to always receive the least innovation and major design changes in ages! Now, if you’re like, “Hey! Haven’t we gotten the latest ATX PSU specs from Intel already in the form of ATX 3.0 and 3.1 recently? Isn’t that quite a big change?” Well, a big and necessary change is indeed there in the new specs, but in power handling capabilities only! The actual PSU design still remains exactly the same as how they were ages ago.
Just to give you an example, many of our readers won’t be aware of the fact that there’s actually a -12V voltage rail still present in all of the ATX PSUs, which isn’t even used by any PC parts or components these days. Considering the fact that during the conversion of any voltage rail, there are always a few conversion losses that add up to total PSU inefficiency. What a waste!
In a 12VO (12V Only) standard PSU, the voltage from the mains (120/240V AC) gets converted to 12V only. No 5V and 3.3V minor voltage rails and not even 5V stand-by rail either. This significantly improves efficiency numbers as well as the final cost and makes it a lot easier for PSU manufacturers to get highest 80 Plus efficiency ratings in a much smaller package.
Ever since a few states in the US started to push mandatory efficiency numbers, especially during the Stand-by operation (when a device is on standby, it may still consume a few watts), Intel seems to wake up from the long sleep (only for changing the PSU design spec though, not for launching something good that can beat AMD, so don’t get your hopes high) and decided to introduce ATX12VO specifications for desktop/ATX PSUs.
Intel and a few PSU manufacturers have been trying really hard to make ATX12VO PSUs mainstream, but sadly, they come with the huge challenge of having absolutely ZERO Backward Compatibility! A 12VO PSU can not be fully supported on any other motherboard that’s not made for it. This is going to make it extremely difficult and nearly impossible for all the motherboard manufacturers to design and mainstream ATX12VO standard motherboards because such motherboards will have to add up for the missing 5V and 3.3V rails (for powering components like HDD, SSDs, NVME SSDs, etc directly from the motherboard itself) this will automatically increase the final cost as well.
With that said, let’s get into the teardown.
Just like their D.F 12 Revolution 850W PSU that I tested earlier, which performed really well in our tests, Enermax went with the same OEM for their PlatiGemini 1200W PSU. ATX 3.0 & 3.1 PSUs have been mostly dominated by a single OEM these days (CWT), making PSUs for many major brands with little to no changes. Though RSY is not a new OEM, it’s still good to see other manufacturers entering and trying to flex their muscles.
The platform is densely populated but still pretty neat with the help of separate vertically mounted PCBs.
Unlike most of the PSUs, RSY mounted APFC’s Boost Diode & Power MOSFETs on a vertical PCB, keeping them all cool using two flat aluminium heatsink plates on both sides. This approach not only helps in keeping the size small, but also maintains slightly better efficiency. We already saw excellent efficiency numbers in Enermax D.F 12 Revolution 850W PSU, which was using the same topology: APFC, Full-Bridge & LLC; we hope to see better results for PlatiGemini as well.
RSY is using a beefy transformer driven by 4 SMD MOSFETs (arranged in Full-Bridge) mounted on their separate board. The transformer is directly soldered to a vertical PCB which also houses 12V rail MOSFETs. There’s a small heatsink that goes around the board, acting as a heatsink for the SMD MOSFETs and, most probably, may also prevent slight EMI build-up, helping in ripple noise reduction. We will see this in our voltage ripple test.
Enermax seems to have taken an absolutely “zero-compromise” approach with PlatiGemini 1200W by using 100% Japanese Electrolytic and Polymer capacitors. This PSU surely won’t have any issues lasting well over its 10 year long warranty period.
I don’t usually fully teardown the PSU and take the entire PCB out of the shroud unless it’s an SFX PSU which has many of its components mounted on the back of the PCB as well. But because of the Enermax PlatiGemini 1200W’s lack of heatsinks and quite a compact design for a 1200W PSU that can deliver 235% of its rated power during power excursions, I was actually hoping to see thermal pads on its back for even better thermal management, and I was right!
PSU Load Testing
12V & Minor Voltage Rails Regulation
| Load in % | 12V | 5V | 3.3V |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20% | 12.15V | 5.06V | 3.31V |
| 50% | 12.12V | 5.06V | 3.30V |
| 70% | 12.10V | 5.05V | 3.30V |
| 90% | 12.09V | 5.05V | 3.30V |
| 100% | 12.09V | 5.05V | 3.30V |
Voltage regulation is kept extremely tight even at max 1200W, only dropping 6mV from the initial 12.15V!
PSU Efficiency
| Load in % | Efficiency | Power Factor |
|---|---|---|
| 20% | 93.75% | 0.936 |
| 50% | 94.90% | 0.980 |
| 70% | 94.44% | 0.983 |
| 90% | 93.58% | 0.981 |
| 100% | 92.95% | 0.980 |
As if we weren’t impressed enough with the Enermax PlatiGemini 1200W! This isn’t even utilizing a super efficient Interleaved PFC design on the primary side. Still, just a conventional APFC is able to provide these insane levels of efficiency numbers. What sorcery is this RSY?
Voltage Ripple Performance
| Load in % | 12V Ripple |
|---|---|
| 20% | 5.6mV |
| 50% | 6.4mV |
| 70% | 7.2mV |
| 90% | 8.8mV |
| 100% | 10.4mV |
When you have a new platform especially with all the extra bells and whistles that no one has even dared to implement into their own platform, there’s a high chance that it will end up performing mediocre or even worse in the Voltage Ripple test.
But somehow, RSY and Enermax simply defy such industry norms and surprisingly beat all of the competitors with their extremely impressive ripple performance.
Extreme Overclocking enthusiasts have finally gotten a newer and much less expensive PSU option in an even smaller size. RSY and Enermax’s innovation and ingenuity have surely sent a ripple of challenges to other OEMs.
Temperatures
Maximum temperature on the back was reported to go as high as 50.6C, at the same point where we saw thermal pad in the teardown section. For a 1200W PSU running at its max rated capacity, 50.6C is pretty much like a cool breeze.
The PSU ran very cool throughout and only kicked in its fan when the load exceeded 700W, thanks to its Platinum efficiency, which wastes very little power during the conversion. Most of its users, even when running extremely high-end PCs, will have their Enermax PlatiGemini 1200W running completely silently during normal operation/use.
Should You Buy it?
Buy It If
✅YOBO- You Only Buy Once: The best and latest ATX 3.1 specification PSU with rated capacity that can not only handle even the most power-hungry hardware of upcoming generations but presumably can also last the most annoying generation i.e your kids if we ever get to see motherboards transitioning to the ATX12VO standards in future.
✅You Prefer Silent Operation: Fan only getting kicked in at ~700W, users will find this PSU absolutely quiet in normal use and even on some not-so-much demanding games.
✅You Want A PSU That Is Good In Cable Management: With its premium mesh-sleeved cables and included cable management combs, you can manage cable routings with beautiful aesthetics.
✅You Plan Overclocking To The Max: With Enermax PlatiGemini 1200W’s superb voltage regulation and voltage ripple performance with even impressive power excursion of up to 235%, extreme OCers will find it the best fit.
Don’t Buy It If
❌You Want Affordability: Expensive for all the good reasons, but if you’re not running a very high-end Gaming PC and are not going to upgrade to the latest and greatest flagship Processor and GPU, then you will be better off with just an 850W or even a 1000W Gold-rated PSU.
My Thoughts
At this point, I have tested and reviewed almost every lineup from Enermax, and with our recent reviews of Enermax PlatiGemini 1200W & Enermax D.F 12 Revolution 850W ATX3.1 PSUs, I can say with utmost certainty that Enermax has finally entered in the arena which was previously dominated heavily by only a handful well-known PSU brands.
After seeing Enermax PlatiGemini 1200W beating some of the most expensive PSUs with even better design, I have got to say, “Yes, I have been entertained!”
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