Power Supply Roundup: 730W to 900W

Antec TruePower Quattro - 850W

The Quattro 850 has a very difference appearance than other offerings. Antec painted yellow racing stripes on the black housing, which gives it a unique appearance. Whether that's good or bad is up to personal opinion; regardless, you won't see these stripes when the power supply is mounted in most cases. The cooling is provided by an 80mm fan located at the front of the power supply. The packaging is well built, providing protection during transportation. We found all the standard accessories in the box.

The label shows four 12V rails rated at 18A each. The lower voltage 3.3V and 5V rails have the standard 25A and 30A rating, respectively, which is more than enough in today's systems. The total maximum load for the 12V rails is described as 768W, which is good for demanding systems. Antec lists 100-240VAC input voltage on the label, but as with other units we tested the Antec with 90VAC as well and didn't encounter any problems.

Cables and Connectors

All cables are sleeved with a black mesh; this looks pretty but naturally increases the price. For an 850W power supply the TruePower Quattro has one of the highest amounts of cable harnesses. There are nine Molex and eight SATA connectors, which could power up quite a lot of hard drives. Of course, looking at the back of the power supply we see only three jacks for peripherals; the user can only attach three of the harnesses, but at least they can choose which cables they need.

Two massive heatsinks occupy most of the internal space; these are not only wide but also thick. This arrangement keeps the inside cool and we measured only up to 68°C with 50°C ambient temperature outside of the power supply. Heat is transferred quickly out of the power supply and the heatsinks leave plenty of space for air to cool the components on the PCB.

Antec uses quality components, with a Nippon Chemi-Con capacitor rated at 470µF, 450V, and 105°C taking center stage. The secondary side has several Teapo caps installed, which is a common choice. Overall, the topology makes a very good impression.