Antec Signature 650W Power Supply
by Christoph Katzer on October 1, 2008 4:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
Temperatures, Fan Speed, and Acoustics
Because of the low height of the installed heatsinks, they have a rather small volume. This means they hotter if they're not cooled correctly. The design of the Signature series is a bit different from other power supplies, so we can't directly compare the heatsink temperatures with other topologies. Regardless, larger heatsinks have a better chance to dissipate the heat. It's important to look at the difference between the heatsink temperatures and the exhausted air temperature, since this indicates whether the heatsinks are actually dissipating into the airflow effectively. The closer exhaust temperatures are to the heatsink temperatures, the better the heat dissipation. The Signature seems to have slight problems with dissipation, but it's nothing to worry about since the heatsinks only reached up to 80°C.
We have to admit that we haven't seen such a rapid increase in fan speed in such a short time before. The Signature stay very quiet up to 50% load, which is around 325W of power draw. After that, the fan quickly begins to spin much faster and reaches more than 3000 RPM at full load. That certainly isn't quiet anymore, with fan speeds similar to the PC Power & Cooling Turbo Cool 1200W.
As expected, the noise level increase matches the fan speed increase. The power supply is almost inaudible at only 17dB(A) all the way up to 350W of load, but then it gets louder fast and reaches its 33dB(A) zenith at full load and 10% overload. Of course, here we need to mention that with the provided connectors, users will have a difficult time reaching full load.
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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.