Antec True Power Quattro 850W Power Supply Review

[One4yu2c]

Antec, Inc. considers itself a brand of high-performance computer component supplier for the gaming, upgrading, and the Do-It-Yourself enthusiast markets. They are over 20 years old and most of us know them as a purveyor of quality PC cases. But the Antec product line is not limited to enclosures. They also market cooling accessories, media components, and (as you might guess from this article's title) power supplies such as the True Power Quattro (TPQ) series – their top of the line power supply series. Today we have one of those TPQ supplies in the form of a True Power Quattro 850 watt unit.

Designed with high performance (read as power hungry gamer focused) machines in mind, Antec boasts that the TPQ 850 supplies have +/- 3% voltage regulation on main rails, comply with the ATX12V v2.2 standard, can put out 850 watts continuously, and can do it with 80%+ efficiency over all loads. Them’s tough words – maybe we should run a few tests to see if those words are worth a hoot.

Jeb, grab yer shooter, let's see if this power supply can dance!
Chris Adcock

Antec True Power Quattro 850 Watt Power Supply

[RangerXLT8]

Well first and foremost very nice review, well done!

Some comments, that beefy main power cord is nice, that is a sign this is a high-end unit and I say that because one came with my PC Power & Cooling 510, and many other PSU come with the regular gauge power cord.. Think about it, close to 1000 watts is being pulled through that cord.

What seems a bit upsetting is how low the 12v rails dropped during heavy loads. I know that 11.7x is still within spec, but when you are pushing components hard like SLI and a 4GHz quad core even the slightest drop under 11.70 can cause the PC to freeze.

All in all it's a decent unit IMO. I say decent because I don't like multiple 12v rails, again just my opinion.

[MantaBase]

Originally Posted by RangerXLT8

Well first and foremost very nice review, well done!

Some comments, that beefy main power cord is nice, that is a sign this is a high-end unit and I say that because one came with my PC Power & Cooling 510, and many other PSU come with the regular gauge power cord.. Think about it, close to 1000 watts is being pulled through that cord.

What seems a bit upsetting is how low the 12v rails dropped during heavy loads. I know that 11.7x is still within spec, but when you are pushing components hard like SLI and a 4GHz quad core even the slightest drop under 11.70 can cause the PC to freeze.

All in all it's a decent unit IMO. I say decent because I don't like multiple 12v rails, again just my opinion.

Yeah - that one rail was wonkey. It actually had me looking at our setup because the way the unit is designed I should have seen 2 wonkey rails and not one. However, that's still only 2.7% Delta - AND - when we say 11.75, it's not 11.7 - it's 11.75 +/- 0.01. Our meter is stated at better than +/- 0.006V at 12V (depending on which we use - and the one we used in this review was actually better). Our meters have been recently calibration checked and are cross calibrated as well. If I say it's 11.75 - it may be off - but it's not 11.70.

Further, while we don't publish or score on DC ripple, I do monitor it - it was not a real issue in this unit - so again - not 11.70 - not that low.

But I gotta say, that rail would be supplying a PCI-E I think (don't quote me on that - I would need to look). If your system freezes at 11.75 on the PCIe - don't blame the PSU - or be prepared to really spend some bunnys on a PSU with less than 2% delta (which I have yet to see). The 12v1 is really the one you should look at in our reviews. Unless otherwise noted, thats the mainboard and EPS supply - that's the real stability rail.

The power cord is a very relevant issue. For fun, I tried a test on the same unit with a cord from a 600 watt unit. The Antec shut off at 700 watts. Those hefty power cords are pricey, but they do matter. And, the PSU you really need to worry about is the 800 watter that doesn't shut off with a sub-par cord - that's a fire waiting to happen.


Anyways - glad you liked it. We supply links when we can so you can get other opinions. But yeah - 11.75 from us is not 11.7x - it's (at worst) 11.74-11.76v at the connector we measure from (always the same one for a given test)

Arf - I said a mouthful - too much I am sure

Thanks for reading!

Manta

[Parker]

Great review Manta!!!
My dad used this PSU for his build he did last august.
He only has two 8600GTS's in the build and only needed about 550 watt's or so, but now he's got room to upgrade

But it's a great great PSU!
Just keep in mind that it get's very warm, or moreover hot. I could warm my hands every morning just holding them behind the PSU :)

[MantaBase]

Originally Posted by Parker

Great review Manta!!!
My dad used this PSU for his build he did last august.
He only has two 8600GTS's in the build and only needed about 550 watt's or so, but now he's got room to upgrade

But it's a great great PSU!
Just keep in mind that it get's very warm, or moreover hot. I could warm my hands every morning just holding them behind the PSU :)

Yeah - I saw very warm delta Ts. I think they get away with it from quality components allowing them to run at higher heat. And yet, somehow they kept efficiency at 80%+ or so - go figure.

Good for them , but it is a good PSU.

[halutzparilla]

the article was very well written and precisely straight forward, nicely done chris.

how about changing the fan inside the PSU [ps do only if your sure what your doing]?

[Quakindude]

Dugg and Stumbled.

Nice review. The paint job is very cool and I like the modular design.

[OcciferFriendly]

Looks like a nice unit. I think I'd try to rig up a second fan to get some more air introduced into it, try for lower temps if I can.

[Yellowhello]

Great review Chris, very through test. And Dugg!

[da0s44]

I have been looking at this PSU for a good while now. Its going to end up being this or the Silverstone DA850 Decathlon . Just have'nt figured it out yet. Both being modular and priced similarly its a tough decision.