Antec VPF Series 650W PSU Review

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Packaging, Contents, Exterior And Cabling

Packaging

The box is pretty small, and on its face is a photo of the power supply against a dark background, along with several icons depicting the 650W capacity, the 120mm fan, the 88 percent maximum efficiency and the Active PFC (APFC). In the top-right corner there are two more icons depicting the unit's 80 PLUS Bronze efficiency and its Haswell compatibility. The power specifications table, along with a cable list description, are conveyed on one side, while a small picture on the top of the package shows the PSU's dimensions. Finally, on the back of the box there is a multilingual features description and a small list of icons describing the unit's key features.

Contents

Since Antec used an eco-friendly wrapping, the box's contents aren't very well-protected. The PSU, however, is enclosed in a plastic bag. The box contains the basics, including an AC power cord, a set of screws, the user's manual along with a warranty leaflet and two cable ties, which can be used more than once.

Exterior

The PSU's exterior design is rather boring. To be frank, though, we didn't expect anything more from a PSU in this price category. We do think that the company could offer something better-looking than this ugly fan mesh. On the front of the unit, a small on/off switch is installed above the AC socket.

On the back of the VPF650 is a grommet at the cable exit hole. Since most of the cables aren't sleeved, the grommet is necessary to protect them. The naked wires look pretty weird—if not downright ugly. But we have to cut this supply some slack since its price is pretty low. After all, most folks with mainstream systems won't care whether their PSU has sleeved cables or not. On the other hand, this PSU could end up the top choice for a capable modder who prefers sleeving his or her own cables rather than buying one with poor-quality sleeving.

Cabling

Beyond only sleeving the main ATX cable, Antec didn't use any stealth wires. With that said, we prefer a company to spend more money on good-quality capacitors rather than sleeved cables, and it looks like Antec allocated its budget the way we like.

Aris Mpitziopoulos
Contributing Editor

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

  • iam2thecrowe
    I do like Antec PSU's, their range is very solid. Good write up. Good value PSU.
    Reply
  • CTurbo
    I hope Delta is not going to get out of the consumer psu business completely. They've been one of my go-to oems for years. Top notch reliability.
    Reply
  • Onus
    Antec has been one of my go-to standards for years as well. Though it has been surpassed in efficiency, I may need to put my SG-650 in my will because of its anticipated durability.
    Reply
  • 2Be_or_Not2Be
    When the author says "... Delta no longer has an interest in this market..." - what market is he talking about? I seem to recall that quite a few of my Dell servers had Delta OEM PSUs, and I think a number of Dell desktops had custom Delta PSUs as well. So is it only the consumer market that they don't want to supply anymore?
    Reply
  • iam2thecrowe
    16537381 said:
    When the author says "... Delta no longer has an interest in this market..." - what market is he talking about? I seem to recall that quite a few of my Dell servers had Delta OEM PSUs, and I think a number of Dell desktops had custom Delta PSUs as well. So is it only the consumer market that they don't want to supply anymore?

    probably. There is now too much competition in the consumer psu market for it to be really profitable for some companies. It would make sense if a company only wanted to do anything other than generic PC ATX psu's, because they can charge a lot more for it.
    Reply
  • Aris_Mp
    Yeap Delta is away from consumer market. They mostly make OEM PSUs now. As far as I know only Antec has a contract with them for desktop PSUs.
    Reply