Antec Signature Titanium 1000W Power Supply Review

Antec Signature Titanium 1000W
Editor's Choice
(Image: © Tom's Hardware)

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Advanced Transient Response Tests

For details about our transient response testing, please click here.

In the real world, power supplies are always working with loads that change. It's of immense importance, then, for the PSU to keep its rails within the ATX specification's defined ranges. The smaller the deviations, the more stable your PC will be with less stress applied to its components. 

We should note that the ATX spec requires capacitive loading during the transient rests, but in our methodology, we also choose to apply a worst case scenario with no additional capacitance on the rails. 

Advanced Transient Response at 20% – 20ms

Swipe to scroll horizontally
VoltageBeforeAfterChangePass/Fail
12V12.302V12.158V1.17%Pass
5V5.096V5.011V1.67%Pass
3.3V3.365V3.229V4.04%Pass
5VSB4.956V4.912V0.89%Pass

Advanced Transient Response at 20% – 10ms

Swipe to scroll horizontally
VoltageBeforeAfterChangePass/Fail
12V12.297V12.153V1.17%Pass
5V5.097V5.014V1.63%Pass
3.3V3.365V3.227V4.10%Pass
5VSB4.956V4.907V0.99%Pass

Advanced Transient Response at 20% – 1ms

Swipe to scroll horizontally
VoltageBeforeAfterChangePass/Fail
12V12.296V12.215V0.66%Pass
5V5.097V5.019V1.53%Pass
3.3V3.365V3.227V4.10%Pass
5VSB4.956V4.912V0.89%Pass

Advanced Transient Response at 50% – 20ms

Swipe to scroll horizontally
VoltageBeforeAfterChangePass/Fail
12V12.290V12.193V0.79%Pass
5V5.090V5.002V1.73%Pass
3.3V3.359V3.215V4.29%Pass
5VSB4.917V4.880V0.75%Pass

Advanced Transient Response at 50% – 10ms

Swipe to scroll horizontally
VoltageBeforeAfterChangePass/Fail
12V12.288V12.190V0.80%Pass
5V5.090V5.004V1.69%Pass
3.3V3.359V3.216V4.26%Pass
5VSB4.917V4.876V0.83%Pass

Advanced Transient Response at 50% – 1ms

Swipe to scroll horizontally
VoltageBeforeAfterChangePass/Fail
12V12.286V12.188V0.80%Pass
5V5.091V5.007V1.65%Pass
3.3V3.359V3.215V4.29%Pass
5VSB4.917V4.886V0.63%Pass

The transient response at +12V is satisfactory since the average deviation with 50Hz load repetition rate is within 1% . The worst performing rail in these tests is 3.3V, which exceeds 4% deviation. 

Turn-On Transient Tests

In the next set of tests, we measure the PSU's response in simpler transient load scenarios—during its power-on phase. Ideally, we don't want to see any voltage overshoots or spikes since those put a lot of stress on the DC-DC converters of installed components.

There is a small voltage overshoot at 5VSB, and the +12V rail takes some time till it reaches the nominal voltage. 

Power Supply Timing Tests

There are several signals generated by the power supply, which need to be within specified, by the ATX spec, ranges. If they are not, there can be compatibility issues with other system parts, especially mainboards. From year 2020, the PSU's Power-on time (T1) has to be lower than 150ms and the PWR_OK delay (T3) from 100 to 150ms, to be compatible with the Alternative Sleep Mode.

PSU Timings Table

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T1 (Power-on time) & T3 (PWR_OK delay)
LoadT1T3
20%132ms322ms
50%144ms324ms

The PWR_OK delay is out of the 100-150ms region, so the PSU does not support the alternative sleep mode, which is recommended by the ATX spec.

Ripple Measurements

Ripple represent the AC fluctuations (periodic) and noise (random) found in the PSU's DC rails. This phenomenon significantly decreases the capacitors' lifespan because it causes them to run hotter. A 10-degree Celsius increase can cut into a cap's useful life by 50%. Ripple also plays an important role in overall system stability, especially when overclocking is involved.

The ripple limits, according to the ATX specification, are 120mV (+12V) and 50mV (5V, 3.3V, and 5VSB).

Swipe to scroll horizontally
Test12V5V3.3V5VSBPass/Fail
10% Load9.2 mV6.4 mV12.2 mV3.6 mVPass
20% Load11.6 mV6.5 mV12.8 mV4.1 mVPass
30% Load11.0 mV7.0 mV14.2 mV4.5 mVPass
40% Load8.6 mV7.4 mV13.9 mV5.2 mVPass
50% Load8.5 mV8.0 mV15.5 mV5.4 mVPass
60% Load8.9 mV7.4 mV14.9 mV5.9 mVPass
70% Load9.7 mV7.5 mV15.7 mV6.5 mVPass
80% Load10.6 mV8.7 mV16.4 mV6.6 mVPass
90% Load11.3 mV8.2 mV16.3 mV7.2 mVPass
100% Load18.0 mV8.5 mV17.2 mV9.0 mVPass
110% Load18.9 mV8.9 mV17.1 mV9.3 mVPass
Crossload 113.5 mV9.0 mV18.8 mV4.3 mVPass
Crossload 218.3 mV7.8 mV13.8 mV8.8 mVPass

The ripple suppressions is great on all rails. 

Ripple At Full Load

Ripple At 110% Load

Ripple At Cross-Load 1

Ripple At Cross-Load 2

EMC Pre-Compliance Testing – Average & Quasi-Peak EMI Detector Results

Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) is the ability of a device to operate properly in its environment without disrupting the proper operation of other nearby devices.

Electromagnetic Interference (EMI) stands for the electromagnetic energy a device emits, and it can cause problems in other nearby devices if too high. For example, it can be the cause of increased static noise in your headphones or/and speakers.

(Image credit: Tom's Hardware)

There are some spurs that exceed the limits, in the 300-600KHz zone, with the AVG detector, but there are no problems with the QP detector which is the most accurate. 

MORE: Best Power Supplies

MORE: How We Test Power Supplies

MORE: All Power Supply Content

Aris Mpitziopoulos
Contributing Editor

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

  • refillable
    This is the first review I saw on the Seasonic titanum platform. Looks good on paper but I'd personally avoid it. Are you not extremely concerned about that sky-high OCP? I mean 117 A, that's huge! What if something went wrong? Wouldn't that instantly fry something? Shame Seasonic doesn't bother having multi-rail OCP on a 1000W unit. Something like the HX1000 I think is a better option with multi-rail OCP. I think 1000+ W PSUs without multi-rail OCP is just asking for trouble.

    I wonder why you don't seem to agree with this and instead give this thing an editor choice award.
    Reply
  • mdd1963
    Just in time for the upcoming Comet Lakes!
    Reply
  • Aris_Mp
    refillable said:
    This is the first review I saw on the Seasonic titanum platform. Looks good on paper but I'd personally avoid it. Are you not extremely concerned about that sky-high OCP? I mean 117 A, that's huge! What if something went wrong? Wouldn't that instantly fry something? Shame Seasonic doesn't bother having multi-rail OCP on a 1000W unit. Something like the HX1000 I think is a better option with multi-rail OCP. I think 1000+ W PSUs without multi-rail OCP is just asking for trouble.

    I wonder why you don't seem to agree with this and instead give this thing an editor choice award.

    The HX1000 also has a single +12V rail: https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/corsair-hx1000-psu,5214.html
    Reply
  • refillable
    Aris_Mp said:
    The HX1000 also has a single +12V rail: https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/corsair-hx1000-psu,5214.html
    No, it definitely has multi-rail OCP around 40A, a huge difference from 117A seen in this seasonic platform. You said that here:
    https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/corsair-hx1000-psu,5214-6.html
    Reply
  • javiindo
    It would be nice to precise the use case for each power supply. Because the power supply is recommended, but you don't indicate for what. For 1000W maybe a threadripper 3990X with two 2080 ti in SLI?
    Reply
  • waltc3
    refillable said:
    No, it definitely has multi-rail OCP around 40A, a huge difference from 117A seen in this seasonic platform. You said that here:
    https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/corsair-hx1000-psu,5214-6.html

    Yes, the Corsair HX-850 has a single/multi-rail hardware switch for either a single 72A 12v rail or else 7 40A rails...;) https://www.kitguru.net/components/power-supplies/zardon/corsair-hx850-platinum-2017-power-supply-review/3/
    Reply
  • emgarf
    Please consider providing power-off rail sequencing as well as power-on. Both are important.
    Reply
  • Aris_Mp
    refillable said:
    No, it definitely has multi-rail OCP around 40A, a huge difference from 117A seen in this seasonic platform. You said that here:
    https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/corsair-hx1000-psu,5214-6.html
    LOL my bad, totally missed that :)
    Reply
  • refillable
    Aris_Mp said:
    LOL my bad, totally missed that :)
    So, which one do you prefer? The HX seems to as quiet despite efficiency difference, so I don't think the Titanium efficiency matters. Plus, the HX is also cheaper here and in many other countries such as the US and Australia. I think the HX is a much better choice, or at least should be honourably mentioned.
    Reply