Antec HCG1000 Extreme 1000W PSU Review: Good Looks For $150

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Performance, Value, Noise & Efficiency

Performance Rating

The following graph shows the HCG1000 Extreme’s total performance rating, comparing it to other units we have tested. To be more specific, the tested unit is shown as 100 percent, and every other unit's performance is shown relative to it.

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The HCG1000 Extreme achieves a high overall performance score, easily besting Corsair's celebrated RM1000x.

Performance Per Dollar

The following chart may be the most interesting to many of you because it depicts the product’s performance-per-dollar score. We looked up the current price of each PSU on popular online shops and used those prices and all relative performance numbers to calculate the index. Note that all of the numbers in the following graph are normalized by the rated power of each PSU.  

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Given a $149 price tag, it's no surprise to see the HCG1000 Extreme's value score so high versus the competition.

Noise Rating

The graph below depicts the cooling fan's average noise over the PSU's operating range, with an ambient temperature between 30°C and 32°C (86°F to 89.6°F).

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Thanks to a conservative fan profile, the HCG1000 is not noisy. If the semi-passive mode worked properly during our cross-load tests, this PSU would have probably been even quieter. We did reach out to Antec and Seasonic about the issue we observed, but couldn't get an answer as to why our sample's semi-passive mode had such a hard time activating. It might have been a sample-specific problem.

Efficiency Rating

The following graph shows the PSU's average efficiency throughout its operating range, with an ambient temperature close to 30°C.

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The HCG1000 Extreme's overall efficiency is high, surpassing the majority of 1000W 80 PLUS Gold-certified models.

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Aris Mpitziopoulos
Contributing Editor

Aris Mpitziopoulos is a contributing editor at Tom's Hardware, covering PSUs.

  • richardvday
    I am very curious why so many 1000W or larger PSU's ? How many of these do they actually sell ? How many people need a 1000w PSU ? 500-600W seems the sweet spot that most people would need. I have an 850W that I have been kicking myself in the head for ever since really. I need 500W so my efficiency sucks, wasting energy.
    Reply
  • totalinsanity4
    PSUs are actually most efficient when you're at about half load, so people with 500-600W loads will actually be seeing a slightly lower power bill with a 1000W PSU than, for instance, a 650W one
    Reply
  • richardvday
    And idling ?
    Reply
  • crmaris
    modern PSUs featuring LLC resonant converters also have good efficiency under light loads regardless capacity, given that their design is good. With LLC Burst Mode efficiency under light loads vastly improves.
    Reply
  • test_purch1
    Test Automation comment 1535112055212
    Reply