Antec HCG 750W: Built for Gamers?
by Martin Kaffei on April 12, 2011 8:20 PM ESTConclusion: Good Performance and Value
It's not easy to find fair closing words for this power supply. On the one hand the Antec HCG-750 is a non-modular PSU with a moderately high price--we're within $12 of 80 Plus Silver 750W and with rebates you can get other 750W 80 Plus Bronze PSUs for just $80. On the other hand, the efficiency is decent for an 80 Plus Bronze model, the voltage regulation and ripple are good, and overall we really don't have any complaints. This PSU seems to be good for gamers with overclocked PCs and one or two high-end GPUs, who may not care to spend the extra $50 to reach the next echelon of features, quality, and performance.
The HCG-750 uses Japanese capacitors from Rubycon and Nippon Chemi-Con, there's a lot of space for cooling and airflow, and the result is reasonably quiet operation at most loads. The PCB material could be better and there is no MOV. Apart from that the EMI filtering is well equipped and most transistors are from well known brands like Infineon. The 135mm ADDA fan is a good choice for cooling.
The HCG-750 generates just 25dB at loads up to 80%, which is where most users will run such a power supply. At 100% load you definitely hear the PSU, and while 38 dBA isn't the worst result we have ever seen it's still very high. The important thing is that the PSU is almost silent below 50% load.
In terms of voltage stability, the worst +12V rail measures 11.96V during our overload scenario. +5V and +3.3V are also close to their optimal values, and even +5VSB is always above 5.02V. The ripple and noise results with no more than 50mV on +12V are well within ATX limits. Power factor could be higher with 230VAC input but up to 88% efficiency with this voltage is satisfying. At 115VAC this PSU reached up to 86%, so it meets the requirements for an 80 Plus Bronze product.
The cables are nice and long, with a 65cm ATX/EPS12V CPU cable and a 55cm long 24-pin cable. There are four 6/8-pin PCIe connectors on two cables and nine SATA connectors on three cables. In addition this PSU has six Molex and one mini-Molex (i.e. FDD drive connector), so there are plenty of connections for most PCs. Perhaps the cable sleeving could be better since "Gamers" might care about appearances a bit more, but if you're not using a windowed case it won't matter. The coating and thickness of the case are excellent, providing a very robust feel, and the 5-year warranty and support are welcome.
Most of us prefer PSUs similar to this, only with at least 80 Plus Silver rating and modular cables. You can get that with the Enermax Revoltion85+, but Enermax pricing on that PSU continues to be quite high and you have to move up to 920W. The lower price, moderate wattage, stable rails, and overall performance are good reasons to prefer Antec's HCG-750. Antec may not be putting any real innovation into this particular product, but it doesn't have any serious flaws either and would make a great choice for your next high-end PC. And if you're planning something less extreme, you can stick with PSUs rated at less than 500W.
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Mumrik - Tuesday, April 12, 2011 - link
I'm not really sure a PSU can ever be a "gamer' dream"...Don't you need an apostrophe somewhere in that title BTW?
L. - Wednesday, April 13, 2011 - link
Precisely ...Just what is that for a title ?
This PSU does NOT have a single 12V Rail.
This PSU is NOT modular
and it's not even interesting in terms of green-itude.
Alright it's cheap ... but Gamer's havent quite been known for going cheap so far - there wouldn't be any Fermi today if that was the case.
quanta - Tuesday, April 12, 2011 - link
I thought the High Current Gamer line is supposed to be a single 12V rail, instead of quad 12V rail as in the TruePower New series. Even though it has 40A per rail instead of 25A, I am better off with Cooler Master GX 750W, which is a single 60A rail. To Antec's credit, at least when it comes to factory rebate, Antec still pay cheques instead of credit cards.lacrits - Wednesday, April 13, 2011 - link
You are not better off with the Cooler Master GX 750! That PSU has high ripple, poor voltage stability and can't stay to ATX specs when getting close to it's specified max output. You can check several reviews of the CM GX750 from Hardwaresecrets, jonnyguru and HardOCP.strikeback03 - Wednesday, April 13, 2011 - link
I wondered the same thing. If you aren't going to stick to the ATX spec for current per rail why not go all the way and just have a single rail and really not need to worry about what is on which rail?luker3 - Tuesday, April 12, 2011 - link
I have limited understanding of electrical terms, but as I understand it, whether you are on a 120v or 240v circuit you are going to use the same wattage. So, when looking at these efficiency numbers, the benefit is that the PSU is simply wasting less energy in the form of heat. Not, I save on my electric bill.Correct?
JarredWalton - Tuesday, April 12, 2011 - link
Efficiency will save on your electric bill a bit. For example, if you're 90% efficient, than a 200W load on the PSU will draw 222W at the wall; with 80% efficiency, you'd draw 250W at the wall -- so saving about 28W in that case. Running 24/7, however, that means you're really only saving about $20 to $30 per year. Turn off a light in your house and you save the same amount of money.The other benefit is lower heat inside the PSU, which means the fans don't have to spin as fast to dissipate the heat. It's one reason why modern PSUs are generally much quieter than old PSUs. If you run a game that uses 350W from you GPU + CPU + accessories, an 85% efficient PSU would have to dissipate around 62W of internal heat, a 90% efficient PSU would only need to cope with 39W, and an old 72% efficient hunk of junk would have to cool a whopping 136W.
As far as input voltages, 230VAC is easier to convert to the internal 12V. I don't recall the exact reasons, but generally speaking 230VAC will give slightly better efficiency at the cost of worse PFC.
mindless1 - Saturday, July 2, 2011 - link
The slight efficiency difference comes from two things.1) Which voltage it was optimized for, EU has tighter efficiency requirements.
2) Parts tend to have inherent resistive qualities or forward drop voltage loss, both of which increase nonlinearly with current. So, if you double voltage you draw roughly half current which makes that loss go down some, and with component forward drop, for example a rectifier bridge could cost 1.4V drop, which is 50% lower drop as a percentage of input voltage on 220VAC compared to 110VAC.
lacrits - Wednesday, April 13, 2011 - link
Higher efficiency has an effect on your electricity bill. How much depends on how long you use the PSU and what the difference is when comparing two PSU's against eachother. You can not decide if you run your PSU off ~110V or ~220V, you are at the mercy of what the wall outlet provides that you connect your PSU to.In most countries in Europe we have 220~230V outlets. In Americas I understand it's 110~120V.
METALMORPHASIS - Tuesday, April 12, 2011 - link
Most of the time you get what you pay for, and I always look for the best bang for the buck.Take your time,research,look at the reviews, and also count me in on any rebates.
Just let your smarts and pocket book guide you!