Antec power supplies

Bozo

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Is it just me or has the quality slipped with Antec power supplies. In the past 6 months I've had 3 DOA in new Antec cases.
Now I have 3 more that the cooling fan has died. But, these have been running 24/7 for 4 years. Am I asking too much?

Bozo :mrgrn:
 

mangyDOG

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I have also had serveral DOA in the last few months and quite a few back where the PC will not boot up (fans start but nothing else). After replacing the PSU the PC works fine. Testing the PSU with an Antec PSU tester some test OK and some fail on the 5VSB line. I sent six back to my supplier a few weeks ago and they only replaced one and sent the rest back as no fault found. All of the faulty ones have been the base model 350w units out of the SLK1650 cases. None of the PCs were overly large for the PSUs (largest was probably an A64-3200, 160Gb HDD, integrated video & sound, DVD-Writer). Up until these units have started failing I have had no problems at all with these cases and PSUs. Looks like I will need to start shopping for another brand of case for my entry level PCs. Any suggestions?

Cheers,
mangyDOG
 

CougTek

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We use some RAIDmax 450W PSU in most our systems. They are no where near as efficient as the Antec (I haven't measured, but it's obvious). They aren't very noisy and so far, I haven't seen even one fail. They have a single 12cm fan at the bottom, no rear fan (but the rear is like a grid so the airflow from the 12cm fan is still quite good).

And they are cheap...
 

mangyDOG

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Looking for cases not just PSUs. The SLK1650 cases I am currently using are $92 ex tax wholesale, so a replacement brand will need to be similar.
I have used AOpen cases in the past and was very happy with them, but for some reason they never increased the output of their PSUs in their "budget" models beyond 250watts and their cases with more powerful PSUs are way to expensive for basic desktop PCs.

What I am after is a plain mid tower case (beige and maybe black, no silver or fancy silver trim and flash shapes - it's a basic PC not a fashion accessory) with a 350-400watt quality power supply for under AU$100.00 ex tax wholesale. Other features I look for are a decent cooling solution (the SLK1650s use a nice quiet 12cm rear fan), minimal sharp edges inside the case and decent solid construction (I hate budget case sides that warp in 5 minutes if you lean them up against a wall when they are off the case.)

Cheers,
mangyDog
 

time

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IMO, you're off-base in your approach. You're trying to buy a 400W power supply (and case) for a modest amount of money. The only way this is possible is to skimp on PS quality.

The configuration you described wouldn't stretch a decent 250W power supply - a 300W would be more than adequate. Aiming for higher wattage just reduces the quality you can afford.

HEC is distributed in Australia by FortuneTec. I *think* I've had a failed fan after a few years of 24x7, but that would be it. I can't imagine a DOA - ask Mercutio about HEC reliability. You'd have to settle for a 300W to meet your price point; 12cm fan mounts front and back are standard, although I've found the single included fan is too cheap for 24x7. The 400W 12cm PS option is very nice, but expensive.

A brand I've experimented with to reduce costs is Evercase, distributed by Cellnet. Power supplies are FSP (Fortron Source aka Sparkle) 300W with 12cm fan - not as good as HEC but still a brand with a good reputation for reliability. Case quality is probably higher than HEC.

Of course, your main problem in Ballarat is freight ...

Bozo said:
Now I have 3 more that the cooling fan has died. But, these have been running 24/7 for 4 years. Am I asking too much?
No, it's what I expect as a minimum. Even a fan failing means downtime.
 

Tannin

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Slip over and have a look at the Bliss cases we use, Scott. They will probably fit your requirements perfectly. They are, from memory, $75ex including a 300W Bliss power supply.

This is a plain non-fancy PSU that gives you a genuine 300W (i,e., much the same as the A-Opens you are familiar with, though a 300 rather than a 250). It is ample for entry-level systems. For larger systems (A-64 with medium-size video card, for example), we substitute a reasonably-priced Bliss 350 or 400W unit, keeping the 300W original as a spare to sell seperately (it works out that we sell more power supplies than we pull out of cases, so you won't get stuck with them, I shouldn't think).

The cases themselves are superb: plain beige (also available in black), tasteful, very solid build, plenty of room, no sharp edges, clip-in and screw-in drive mounting, no poxy mounting rails, BB 80mm case fan, space for more fans if desired (not needed in any sensible system though) .... in short, just about perfect.

You've probably seen them in our systems before. But pop over and have a look. (If you promise to be good, I'll even make you a cup of tea and make my small orange orangutan friend take the day off so as not to disconcert you.)
 

Tannin

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PS: we used to use A-Open cases too, and switched for the same reason as you. The Bliss cases are, IMO, a step up in quality - in the same league as an entry-level A-Open, but just a little more solid, a little better.
 

LiamC

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All this fan failing talk is very poignant. I replaced the 12cm fan in my SLK1650 last night. It was exactly 12 months old.
 

ddrueding

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Funny my Antec TruePower550 in my server had a fan fail quite a while ago...I'm just too lazy to fix it. The other fan is still working, and their is plenty of airflow from the other fans to keep it happy.
 

ddrueding

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I was just about to order some Antec P150 with NeoPower 380W PSs. for about $100US. What would you guys reccomend in that market?
 

ddrueding

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Wow, I just realized I'm up with all the people on the other side of the world...time to go to bed.

Have a good friday you guys!
 

time

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Ddrueding, fans are a relatively expensive component and case-PS combinations vary over time and from country to country, so I don't know if it's possible to recommend anything with full confidence. At least Antec is widely available, and I know you like the plug-in-cables and other gadgets. ;)

Some more details on my suggested brands for Oz:
  • Both Evercase and HEC use clamps/clips rather than removable rails
  • Optical drives can also be secured with screws
  • Hard drives are attached via rubber grommets - both brands come with special screws to avoid over-tightening.
  • Both have front audio (microphone and headphone) sockets
  • Evercase has 2 front USB sockets
  • You can relocate the Evercase intake duct to align with AMD CPU etc - great feature!
  • HEC has 4 front USB sockets + 1 front 1394 socket
  • HEC has removable dust filter (far better design than Antec)
  • HEC has large front vents and airflow for drive cooling is exceptional
BTW, I really, really like 12cm fan power supplies, but people need to realize that a decent 12cm fan is not cheap. I'd expect to pay more for such a power supply.
 

LiamC

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Thanks for this information time, I just came back to ask these questions, and you've already supplied the answer.
 

LiamC

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Tea, I think you should lay off of the fermented banana juice looking at the date and time you posted that!
 

time

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Perhaps Tea meant to say that it's a bit late to be wishing us well for Friday? It's now 10:38pm in Oz. :)
 

sechs

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Bozo said:
Is it just me or has the quality slipped with Antec power supplies.

Welcome to three years ago.

To my knowledge, Antec doesn't make their own PSUs, but it's been obvious for some time that they aren't managing their OEMs well, as quality has been going down since the TruPower series became popular.
 

ddrueding

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ddrueding said:
I was just about to order some Antec P150 with NeoPower 380W PSs. for about $100US. What would you guys reccomend in that market?

Well, I ordered said Antec P150 and it shipped with an Antec NEO(high efficency) 430W power supply wherre the fan doesn't spin. Great. Just thought I'd add my experience.
 

Bozo

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Temperature control fans are nice, but it makes routine checks of the computer unnerving. "Is the fan working, or is it dead" It would be nice if they would rotate at a very low RPM just so you know if it's working or not.

Bozo :mrgrn:
 

LiamC

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LiamC said:
All this fan failing talk is very poignant. I replaced the 12cm fan in my SLK1650 last night. It was exactly 12 months old.

Called the vendor I bought the case off, AusPCMarket in Sydney, and got the duck and weave—sorry, we only warrant the fan for six months. This is slime at it's worst and contrary to Australian law—if a product is warranted for 12 months by the manufacturer, you cannot (as a retailer) offer less. If this is wrong, can somebody let me know? As it turns out, I go to Antec's site and find out that they warrant the product for 3 years. I contact them about how to get a warranty return and they just up and shipped a fan from the U.S., no questions asked. AusPCMarket have a lot to learn...
 

Sol

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I think they acctually can offer less because they are only really warranting thier workmanship. The fan is, as you ultimately discovered, under waranty from the manufacturer and ultimately it is they who will replace it. Whilst it is obviously plain good customer support for the retailer to support thier customers with shipping the product back I don't think they are legaly required to get involved with the waranty process beyond ensureing that you have all the information you need to get the product repaired or replaced.

I could be totally wrong in that assumption though, and either way it's still a bit of a black mark for auspcmarket...
 

LiamC

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Your right. I wasn't clear.

The organisation responsible for warranty cannot downgrade a manufacturers warranty (according to Fair Trading and the ACCC), but according to the Antec site, warranty claims in Aus are handled by the place of purchase, which was Auspcmarket.

Murky, grey...
 

Clocker

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I agree that Antec has slipped in quality. I bought an SP-500 PSU about 18 months ago. It was DOA out of the box. I exchanged it at my local retailer and it worked good until tonight. I shut the computer down and it would not start back up. Not a peep...no fans would spin up or anything. So luckly I have my spare 5-6 year old 420W TTGI PSU that was great even for my old dual AthlonXP system. It seems to be running my current system just fine although it's not inaudible like the SP-500's are.

At least Antec CS is good. They've been great to work with getting case parts etc. I expect the same good service with the RMA request I just filled out on their website.
 

fb

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Funny, I had the exact same experience with my NeoPower 480 that I bought around October-November 2004, except that the computer had been acting flaky a couple of days before (as in the soundcard stopped working and some keys on the keyboard.) But one day, not too long ago, the computer simply didn't start.
Anyway, I bought a Seasonic S-12 500 the next day.
 
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