Antec Signature 650W Power Supply
by Christoph Katzer on October 1, 2008 4:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
Internals
The casing design is identical to the 850W. When we open the casing, we are greeted with a view of the backside of the PCB that holds the filtering stage and the primary side of the power supply. We need to disconnect a few cables and can then remove the first section. The whole power supply can now slide open, which removes both the sides and the rear. The upper part that contains the primary side is fixed to the rear section, which holds the jack for the power cord. The transformer and secondary side are located on the second PCB, which can be easily disconnected as all of the fixed wires go through the little opening in the side.
The filtering stage is packed, leaving no room for additional parts. In the picture of the left bottom side, we can also see the additional circuit to create the 5Vsb voltage. The primary side features two different main capacitors made by Rubycon and Nippon Chemi-Con. That is actually the first time we've seen two different brands used in the primary stage, but it seems to work out just fine. The Rubycon cap is rated at 450V and 270µF at 105°C; the Nippon Chemi-Con cap is rated at 105°C, 450V, and 220µF. Right after the caps you can see the connection that leads to the second PCB.
On the second PCB, we find the transformer in the top corner. Right on top of the large heatsink in the middle is a temperature diode that the fan control unit monitors, adjusting the fan speed as it deems appropriate. There are Nippon Chemi-Con capacitors all over the secondary side. Under the small copper plate, we find the two VRM that are responsible for the 3.3V and 5V rails.
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HOOfan 1 - Thursday, October 2, 2008 - link
There is really no comparison at all, other than they are both Antec, both made by Delta, and both rated at 650W. Beyond that not much to compare, the Signature is a server grade PSU, the Earthwatts is a very decent value line PSU.1) The Signature is Modular (that costs money right there)
2) The Signature has all fully sleeved cables (costs money)
3) The Signature has a PWM controlled fan (costs money)
4) The Signature's Voltage regulation is within 1% while the EA650 is only as good as 3%
5) The Signature is as much as 3%-4% more efficient than the EA650
6) Kris thought the ripple suppression was unimpressive for the Signature (really that is pretty weird) well the EA650 has 70mV ripple on the 12V rails as opposed to less than 9mV on the Signature
7) Last but certainly not least the Signature is good for 94W more power on the 12V rails than the EA650.
The EA650 is for people who want a decent quality unit for a great price, the Signature 650W is for people who want a rock solid, stable PSU and don't care how much they pay for it.
bob4432 - Thursday, October 2, 2008 - link
where did you find this info? i have been looking for a ea650 review for over a month now and never came up w/ anything...do you have a link to a full review?HOOfan 1 - Friday, October 3, 2008 - link
well I am not sure how much anandtech would appreciate me linking to another review, but their sister site Dailytech does it all the time, so here you gohttp://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReview...">Oklahoma Wolf's review of the EA650 at jonnyguru.com
bob4432 - Friday, October 3, 2008 - link
thanks for the link. i had even asked on jonnyguru's site in the past for a review, so now i get to read it :)dwvcore - Wednesday, October 1, 2008 - link
Antec makes some nice power supplies (I have used them many a times before), but they are not competitive with their prices at all ! Their Basiq and Earthwatts Series are O.K., but as soon as you step up to their signature or neo-watt series it skyrockets. An Antec 650 Signature costs $200, while you can get a 650w Corsair PSU for about $110 (newegg).JEDIYoda - Thursday, October 2, 2008 - link
Well if monmey is a factor then get the Corsair.The Antec Signature Series is supposedly the new standard by which all others are tested! -- according some knowledgeable reviewers
MamiyaOtaru - Wednesday, October 1, 2008 - link
No way in heck I am using anything smaller than a 120mm fan in my computers. Yes, that includes on the GPU, and yes that means I don't use the stock coolers. But I'm sure as heck not going for a PSU with a smaller fan. There aren't a lot of aftermarket PSU coolers out there that would let me replace the fan with a larger one.Goty - Wednesday, October 1, 2008 - link
I don't understand the stigma about smaller fans in PSUs. If the unit is designed well, you can use a smaller fan and get noise and cooling levels equal to that of a unit that uses a larger fan.erple2 - Wednesday, October 1, 2008 - link
I agree. What's the problem with a smaller fan? I think the problem is people are taking "rules of thumb" and applying them improperly. My computer chews through ~300W of power at peak loads (8800GTX, E6750, measured via my admittedly probably inaccurate UPS), and my (wasted extra) 750W power supply (PCP&C 750W Silencer) is essentially silent the whole time, with an 80mm fan. In fact, given my case design (PSU on the bottom), one of the 120mm fans would be worse for airflow than the 80mm fan I have now.I think the problem is people don't understand just how much power their computers require, and thus what loading their PSU's operate under. That dictates how much "noise" their 80mm vs. 120mm fans will generate.
SilthDraeth - Wednesday, October 1, 2008 - link
The height of a PSU isn't really able to house a 120mm fan. They can have them along the bottom, and leave the back vented, or put an 80 in the back. I don't really see what the problem is.