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

Reviews
By Aris Mpitziopoulos
published

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Cross-Load Tests & Infrared Images

Our cross-load tests are described in detail here.

To generate the following charts, we set our loaders to auto mode through our custom-made software before trying more than 25,000 possible load combinations with the +12V, 5V, and 3.3V rails. The load regulation deviations in each of the charts below are calculated by taking the nominal values of the rails (12V, 5V, and 3.3V) as point zero. The ambient temperature is between at 30°C (86°F) to 32°C (89.6°F).

Load Regulation Charts

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Efficiency Chart

There was a small region where efficiency landed between 92 and 94%. You typically don't see that from 80 PLUS Gold-rated PSUs. It's more common in Platinum-rated models.

Ripple Charts

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Infrared Images

We apply half-load for 10 minutes with the PSU's top cover and cooling fan removed before taking photos with our modified FLIR E4 camera that delivers 320x240 IR resolution (76,800 pixels).

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Temperatures inside of the PSU remained under 90°C during our 10-minute half-load test session.

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Aris Mpitziopoulos
Contributing Editor

Aris Mpitziopoulos is a Contributing Editor at Tom's Hardware US, covering PSUs.

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5 Comments Comment from the forums
  • 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