Antec Power Supply

zplugger

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Feb 12, 2008
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Looking at a Antec case and it has a True Power 2.0 550 watt power supply in it. Is this power supply any good or should it be changed. I like the case but not sure about power supply.
GAP35 DS3L
E8500
HD 3870
2Gig Mem
1-DVD Burner
1-DVD reader
1- HardDrive
 

nforce256

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Dec 30, 2007
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Can't help you with the PSU question. Antec makes quality power supplies in all the years I've bought their PSU's. I've only worked with the EarthWatts series, but I'm sure those PSU's are not bad at all.

Anyways, I have the same motherboard you picked out. Just to save you some money, I would recommend the E8400 instead of the E8500. I don't understand why you would want to spend that extra money for a 0.2GHz increase in clockspeed when it takes less than 5 seconds to bump the E8400 from 3GHz to 3.4GHz without messing with voltages and WITH the stock cooler.

And may I add, I would suggest the 8800GT 512MB over that HD3870. The 8800GT is available for cheap on Newegg and beats the HD3870 in benchmarks.
 

g-paw

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Jan 31, 2006
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Agree, very good PSU
 

happy_fanboy

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Sep 7, 2006
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Antec does not make power supplies at all.
They buy power supplies, stamp their name on it, then mark the price way up.
Quality will differ from model to model with antec because they choose different providers based on who is cheapest.
I will not buy them.
 

bob8701

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Feb 22, 2006
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it is true antec does not make psu, they select Oem factory make for them, Seasonic and Ehance are major OEm companies behind.
 
more then enough power.....can almost run your system 2x over

My system rarely goes over 330 watts @ full cpu(Folding @ home) load and gaming together. 370-280 if i burn a dvd and add ati tool(more power then games) and defrag 2 drives

Its true that Antec like most others contacts gets there PSU's from other manufacturers(currently Seasonic before CWT i think), but i have never had one fail yet :)

@ aevm - some people like to save wear and tear by using a DVD reader. but with the prices now most dont any more...i used to....since a DVD reader was ALLOT cheaper to replace then a DVD burner.
 

4745454b

Titan
Moderator
The only available Antec PSU to watch out for are the Smart power series. They are supposed to have a capacitor problem which causes them to die if you have one of the effected model. My SP 450W has been going strong for nearly 2 years now, so I'm hoping that mine doesn't have any problems. The TP, NEO, EW, don't have this problem that I'm aware of.

I do agree. Dump the DVD reader and just get two burners. They are only <$40, so its not a big cost item. 3870 vs 8800GT, 8500 vs 8400, 2GBs vs 4GBs, etc, is all personal choices. Good luck with your build.
 

g-paw

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Recently got one. Very satisfied with it and like the module cabling, first time I had them