Antec Earthwatts Platinum 650W PSU Review

1. Introduction2. Antec Earthwatts Platinum 650W (Bundle & External)3. Antec Earthwatts Platinum 650W (Internal)4. Antec Earthwatts Platinum 650W (Super High Res Gallery)5. Testing Methodology and Results6. Closing Thoughts7. View All Pages

The Antec Earthwatts Platinum 650W is a solid design by FSP and sure to catch the eye of the enthusiast audience hunting for a high efficiency power supply. The 80 Plus Platinum Certification is well earned in this case, as the Earthwatts Platinum peaks at around 94 percent efficiency at 50 percent load. This is an exceptional result for Antec and one any company would be proud to highlight.

Unfortunately it isn't plain sailing from here on in, as voltage regulation is not at the level we would expect from such a premium product. There was substantial regulation droop via both +3.3V and +12V when heavily loaded, dipping to 3.17v and 11.89v respectively.

Noise suppression is acceptable, although again we would have expected slightly better results that those we achieved. All output fall within tolerance specifications, but 60mV at full load from the +12V rail is higher than many cheaper supplies we have tested in recent months. Not a concern under real world situations, but worth a mention.

The cabling is actually our biggest issue. Firstly, the Earthwatts Platinum is not a modular design, but there are only two PCIe connectors which will cause problems for many gamers looking for a reasonable power output unit for a new Crossfire or SLI system build. This supply will only handle two entry level cards with a single power connector on each. Not ideal.

When we look at UK retail pricing, we can see that it is available for £89.99 inc vat, which is fairly reasonable. The only problem is, Antec are facing stiff competition at this price point from many other companies.

If efficiency is a key prerequisite for a purchase this should make your shortlist. It is a great power supply for a high specified media center, it is both quiet, cool running and very efficient if you need to run many hours a day.

Pros:

• Delivered over 700 watts.
• Very high efficiency.
• quiet.
• cool running.

Cons:

• Only 2 PCIe power connectors.
• voltage regulation could be better.

Kitguru says: Worth a shortlist and definitely worth buying, although there is no shortage of competition between £70 and £100.

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