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Etasis is a brand that we were not familiar with before this group test and we doubt many of you were either. Etasis is distributed by Nanopoint and as we were offered one for review we thought we might as well take a closer look at what it could do.

The EFN-300 is one of two passively cooled PSUs on test, the other one being from SilverStone. Up to now, most if not all PC power supplies have had some type of a fan, due to the heat produced when the electricity is converted from AC to DC. However, with noise levels of PCs on a steep increase the popularity of silent components has not gone unnoticed by the PSU manufacturers and the EFN-300 is proof of how well this can be done. The EFN-300 is quite heavy compared to other PSUs, which could be a concern in aluminium cases unless the case has a PSU cage that holds it in place.

It will also get quite hot over time due to the fanless approach, but even at 100 per cent load it never got hotter than 32 degrees Celsius, which is no cause for concern. As there are no fans that will indicate if the EFN-300 is switched on Etasis has fitted two LEDs at the back, one labelled TEMP and one PWR. The PWR LED indicates if the PSU is switched, in standby, or off. The TEMP LED is green unless the temperature of the PSU exceeds 55 degrees Celsius at which stage it changes to red. This is as a precaution so that you won’t burn yourself on the PSU in case it gets very hot.

As there is no fan in the EFN-300 there is no noise whatsoever. There’s a possibility that some of the components could generate some clicking during the power conversion, but this was not apparent during testing. In terms of connectors you get six Molex , two floppy and two SATA plugs as well as a 20-pin ATX connector and a 12V AUX connector. Only the ATX cable is braided, which means you won’t have the tidiest cabling inside your case, but as no cable has more than three connectors it shouldn’t cause too much of a mess.

As the model name suggests, the EFN-300 is rated at 300W, although it can cope with peak loads of up to 433W according to some stickers on the box. Every time you switch your PC or when you start a game and the 3D core of the graphics cards kicks in, a peak load occurs and it is good to know that the EFN-300 should be able to handle this without any problems.

We wouldn’t recommend that you use the EFN-300 with a high-end gaming system, but it is the ideal solution for just about any other PC, especially for a home theatre style machine. The EFN-300 performed well in all the tests and it is a very efficient PSU, especially at high loads and it performed well within spec in all of the tests. The only drawback is the high price, as at £81.08 it is the third most expensive PSU on test, but despite this it is impossible not to give it a Recommend award.

Manufacturer	Etasis
Model	Etasis EFN-300
URL	http://www.etasis.com.tw
Supplier	Scan
URL	http://www.scan.co.uk
Price	£81.08
Molex connectors	6
Floppy connectors	2
SATA connectors	2
20-pin ATX / 24-pin EPS	Y/N
12V connector	Y
AUX connector	Y
Six pin PCI Express connector	N
Deditacted Molex for graphics	N
Fan speed header	N
Other connectors	N/A
Fans and size	N/A
Extras included	N/A
Max power output (manufacturers rating)
3.3V	25A
5V	23A
12V	18A
Total power	300W

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