550W Roundup: Three PSUs at Different Prices
by Martin Kaffei on October 28, 2010 4:00 PM ESTAntec TruePower New TP-550
The Antec TruePower New (who puts "New" in a product name?) takes some cues form the EarthWatts line, as Antec uses no polystyrene for the packaging. You get a power cable, four screws, and a user manual. Instead of a cable bag for the modular cables, Antec provides a plastic jacket. The PSU is RoHS and SLI-ready and comes with an 80 Plus Bronze certification. The cable sleeving is rather cheaply done, but it's better than nothing.
The surface of the TruePower New is very robust. There are quadratic ventilation holes and a small power switch near the power plug. The fan grill does not stick out, and the housing has a length of 15cm.
| Cables and Connectors | ||
| Fixed/Modular | Main | 24-pin 50cm |
| ATX12V/EPS12V | 8-pin 65cm / 4-pin 55cm | |
| PCIe | 6/8-pin 55cm / 6-pin 55cm | |
| Peripheral | 3x PATA 55-85cm / 3x PATA 55-85cm / 3x PATA 50-80cm+ Floppy 15cm | |
| 3x SATA 55-85cm / 3x SATA 55-85cm / 3x SATA 50-80cm | ||
Antec has more cables and connectors than the other contenders. The problem is that you can't plug in all of the harnesses, as two peripheral harnesses will be left over. However, 55cm long PCIe connectors are nice and 50cm for the 24-pin cable is good as well. Already we begin to see the difference between the TP-550 and the lower priced alternatives.
Since Antec is using a Seasonic design, they had the option to use a Sanyo Denki or ADDA fan. This is a mainstream product so they're using an ADDA fan. It's a ball-bearing type fan with seven blades.
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Gonemad - Wednesday, November 3, 2010 - link
I had a Thermaltake ThoughPower (can't remember exact model) that performed fairly for 5 years. It operated non-stop for 1 year in-between that time. I bought it separately from a Thermaltake Case, that had several fans. Worth every dime, both of them.But...
I had to replace an original case fan, so I decided "what t'e hell' and slapped a cheap-o-dozen fan in its place. VERY. BAD. IDEA.
The whole thing worked fine for 6 months, then the ASUS metering software showed steady voltage dropping, curiously on the 3.3V rail as I later found out. Then it alarmed in an intermittent fashion, for no apparent reason, as it got to 10% Low Voltage on that rail.
Guess what? The fan LOCKED, and effectively pushed the PSU to 110% or above (who knows?), FOR FREAKING 6 MONTHS.
THE PSU DIDN´T QUIT ON ME.
As I opened it for regular maintenance (hey, 6 months, remember?) I found the locked fan, and a funny smell that could be felt only very near the PSU vent. You know the smell, don't you? That's the smell of a dying PSU. The fan almost burned my hand when I touched it, proving that the PSU was not at fault; in fact, it performed above and beyond any expectation, and possibly avoided a fire hazard. It was still operational when I removed it, but the smell was ever greater each time it was turned on, even for a few minutes, proving the whole thing had collapsed after all that operating time. The fan didn't short out, which would have triggered any safety (fuse, probably?) on the PSU, it just didn't rotate anymore on its bearings, and became a power drainer on the circuit, eating away the average life-time of the component.
The good PSU purchase decision not only proved a wise decision, it avoided me lots of hassle and grief. The cheap fan, on the other hand, destroyed a perfectly good piece of equipment.
"Caveat Emptor" indeed.
gurboura - Saturday, November 6, 2010 - link
It seems right from the start that you have something against TechSolo, you also talk about how it was loud at almost 30dbA, but yet, the Antec is at 32 and the OCZ tops at 26, still close to that 30dbA level."If you want to have a silent computer, please buy another power supply and protect your ears." Couldn't this have been said the same for the Antec since it was actually louder than the TechSolo?
When doing doing these type of articles your supposed to have an unbiased opinion and its pretty obvious from the start that that wasn't true.