Antec High Current Gamer 900W Power Supply Review @ [H]

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FrgMstr

Just Plain Mean
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Antec High Current Gamer 900W Power Supply Review - Antec is one of the best known brand names in computer hardware enthusiast circles. Many HardOCP editor's personally use its products and Antec is a "go-to" brand that remains on our suggested hardware list. Can even a quality company like Antec miss the mark? It does this time.
 
I like the Radeon-friendly color scheme. Too bad it fell short on performance
 
I was going to say something along the lines of this: "We hope to see Antec address these issues as this product certainly is a blemish on a very solid PSU reputation that it has built over the last few years.", but you said it so very well.

My way old TruePower 550 has been rocking four different machines the last 8 years. Quite a few of my friends owns or owned Antec PSUs based on my recommendation. They never had a problem with them either. Surely we didn´t torture or test them like [H], but still it is kind of shocking that Antec lets something like this travel all the way through development, QC and product launch to reach the market.
 
Seems to me someone got a little ahead of themselves with a 750w PSU. This is probably marketed towards the "bigger is better" crowd...an area which it will probably never reach its 900w "rated" output.
I expect better then this from Antec...let the cheap PSU brands play that game, and stick to offering reliable units that meet their rated power.
 
Wow. Just wow. Amazing review. I love these PSU reviews. [H] is awesome !!!

I've always been an Antec fan.. This is fairly odd tho.
 
I'm totally shocked! Not to say that a reputable company releases any bad products, but Antec has always been a tried and trusted brand.
 
Wow this is a shock indeed.

I bought my 850 SG antec because of the review Hardocp did. Reviews are top notch, Too bad Antec wasnt top notch on this PSU.

Very very bad Antec......
 
sad day. I like my little antec PSUs. I hope they discontinue this unit and re-release a new model quickly.
 
Before I decided to exclusively use Corsair PSU's, I have to say that this is a shocker considering how well Antec PSU's have served my various rigs over the years. I remember my first Antec 430 watt that served my AMD Athlon 64 FX51 with 6800GTX. Then there was that 550 watt Antec that I totally abused by running the Athlon 64 X2 4400+ with dual 7800GTX's in SLI. It ran well for 5 years until it did a short stint folding in a environment where temps were reaching as high as 80 degrees C. I believe it is still running in someone else's folding rig at this time.

Either way, I always love it when you guys whip out that big HardOCP Fail X at the end of a review!
 
I guess I am adding to the common thread here, what a shame. this is why I almost always recommend corsairs. I have never seen a bad PSU from them. And Antec is so close to being there.
 
Sounds like the OTP was kicking in based on the results Oklahoma Wolf had with his first sample: http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story3&reid=211

It's a little disappointing overall, but then these units are apparently not rated for such high temperatures in the first place.

As far as the missing wire guard, that's a complete non-issue, since the metal around the opening is folded around to create a blunt edge, and all the wires exiting the housing are sleeved.
 
Do you think they might be playing a specmanship game and at 220VAC in it would do 900 watts out?
 
mtrupi said:
Do you think they might be playing a specmanship game and at 220VAC in it would do 900 watts out?
Click to expand...

Not likely. It is just not configured appropriately for the thermal envelope. Antec had raised the OTP point on it supposedly by the second sample and that one did worse than the first.
 
mtrupi said:
Do you think they might be playing a specmanship game and at 220VAC in it would do 900 watts out?
Click to expand...
I honestly doubt that it would have any trouble at all doing 900W at 120V or even 100V if Antec raised the OTP point high enough.
 
Wow from a highly acclaimed Signature 850 to this. Antec must have been resting on their laurel and hope that their reputation will carry their sales.
 
I wasn't expecting that. After seeing Wolf's review, I was thinking it'd pass here too, Antec doesn't seem to have read that review? They should have fixed whatever was wrong in the meantime. D:

Edit: Ok, obviously nothing is actually wrong, they just don't do well at 45C. But if they aren't going to pass, why bother sending one in the first place. [H] tests at 45C and no lower. :/
 
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Honestly, I have had bad luck with Antec PSUs in the past so this comes to no supprise to me. I purchased a 750W unit at CompUSA (when they were still open here,) and this PSU lasted me less than a year before failure. I have had generic PSUs last longer than that. Right now I'm running a Corsair 750W in my primary rig and I have nothing bad to say about it. It has been rock stable. My rig has always been on the lower end of the enthusiast spectrum so I doubt that I come anywhere close to even 600W.

I hate to say it but the engeneers at Google have something right, the ATX PSU as we know it needs to go away. They sould only put out a solid 12V and make the device makers regulate and filter that 12 V to whatever their components need. Sure the price of components would go up some initially, however, in the end we would end up trusting less of our system to all these shotty made PSU units.
 
...oh and I forgot.. Great review guys! Thorough and reliable PSU reviews are rare on the internet, period.
 
Great, yet another god with feet of clay, although, after my PC Power and Cooling PSU died at the ripe old age of 6 months I'm not surprised that yet another brand has been caught stuffing melamine in the powdered milk supply.

:D
 
hpglow said:
Honestly, I have had bad luck with Antec PSUs in the past so this comes to no supprise to me. I purchased a 750W unit at CompUSA (when they were still open here,) and this PSU lasted me less than a year before failure. I have had generic PSUs last longer than that. Right now I'm running a Corsair 750W in my primary rig and I have nothing bad to say about it. It has been rock stable. My rig has always been on the lower end of the enthusiast spectrum so I doubt that I come anywhere close to even 600W.

I hate to say it but the engeneers at Google have something right, the ATX PSU as we know it needs to go away. They sould only put out a solid 12V and make the device makers regulate and filter that 12 V to whatever their components need. Sure the price of components would go up some initially, however, in the end we would end up trusting less of our system to all these shotty made PSU units.
Click to expand...

Same with me. I've had bad luck with antec PSU's in the past on more than one model. I have long since avoided them.
 
Hmm, unlike most psu failures, this one seems more attributed to the fact Antec had certain protections and settings on their psu. But it's pretty bizarre they figure out these issues before it got released. Well hopefully they fix things with the next revision, but I never did have interest in the HCG series, only the HCP was lust worthy.
 
I wonder if it is just a bad sample unit. The issues with that ATX motherboard connector for example are extremely odd.
 
Antec has been crap pretty much forever. Back when it was a well-known "good" brand, they had sleeve bearing fans and ran hot. Seen a few blow up in a shower of sparks... no thanks.
 
Thanks. Just wondered if improved performance at the higher voltage might have made it squeak by.

Paul_Johnson said:
Not likely. It is just not configured appropriately for the thermal envelope. Antec had raised the OTP point on it supposedly by the second sample and that one did worse than the first.
Click to expand...
 
jebo_4jc said:
I wonder if it is just a bad sample unit. The issues with that ATX motherboard connector for example are extremely odd.
Click to expand...
Paul tested two different samples. And as we've already discussed, the issue wasn't really the units themselves, it was the fact that the OTP is set too low.
GoodBoy said:
Antec has been crap pretty much forever. Back when it was a well-known "good" brand, they had sleeve bearing fans and ran hot. Seen a few blow up in a shower of sparks... no thanks.
Click to expand...
This is still not a crap PSU, despite the fact that it was not able to complete testing. For the most part, Antec's current PSU lineup is very good.
 
I feel sorry for people who purchase this unit by looks only without researching first. If the unit can't pass [H]'s thrashing then it doesn't have a place in my friends, family or client's systems.

Thanks for another excellent review!
 
I wouldn't feel sorry for people who get this. I doubt anyone is going to run into the issue most of the time. The problem will only occur near max load on the psu when the OTP kicks in. I doubt most people would even hit 700w, let alone 900w. Of course you want to get your moneys worth, so getting a psu that doesn't function at max load with heat is pretty lame. But anyone with this psu will almost certainly be fine. Note the voltage regulation and ripple are very good when it's working. Also if you do have a problem, Antec warranties are usually pretty good. I'd have been far more disappointed if the components and design themselves were terrible like the crap psus out there. They're got nippon chemi 105c caps, not exactly low quality there :p
 
I love my Antec Earthwatts to death (running strong, silent, and cool for 4 years now)...but I never want to buy an Antec PSU again because they're all over the place with quality. Some are downright awesome, and others just don't succeed.
I pretty much only recommend Corsair, SeaSonic and NZXT (HALE) now.
 
The OTP issue aside, the transient load testing was piss-poor. In my books that alone would designate the unit as a crap PSU.

Zero82z said:
Paul tested two different samples. And as we've already discussed, the issue wasn't really the units themselves, it was the fact that the OTP is set too low.
Click to expand...
 
For some reason, that FAIL logo always brings a smile to my face.

Most people would be fine with this PSU since you have to be really, really hard core to put an 899W load. On the other hand though, I would never recommend this unit. Too many better units for less money.
 
First of all, thanks to Kyle and Paul for this review. That "FAIL" logo looks a lot different when it's pinned to one of your products, I can tell you that much.

The HCG-900 is equipped with over-temperature protection that is set to shut the PSU off at 40c. This is the environment that we test and rate the HCG-900 at. As many of you have already noticed, the testing at HardOCP is done at 45c which, of course, triggers the circuit and shuts the system off to protect the components. Of course we're happy to know the protection is working but aren't excited to see that we couldn't complete the test suite.

I'm waiting for feedback on the transient load tests from our engineering team. As soon as I have anything back from them, I'll post again.
 
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J Macker said:
sad day. I like my little antec PSUs. I hope they discontinue this unit and re-release a new model quickly.
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Agreed.

Antec is pinnacle. I'm willing to give them a pass. Too good for too long.

Bound to stumble at some point but this was avoidable...especial if you're a company as highly esteemed as Antec. I'm going to give my good 'ol Tru 480 a good dust off...
 
Antec_Jessie said:
The HCG-900 is equipped with over-temperature protection that is set to shut the PSU off at 40c. This is the environment that we test and rate the HCG-900 at. As many of you have already noticed, the testing at HardOCP is done at 45c which, of course, triggers the circuit and shuts the system off to protect the components. Of course we're happy to know the protection is working but aren't excited to see that we couldn't complete the test suite.
Click to expand...
The problem is that a 40C ambient temperature is possible within a computer case, and it is conceivable that this PSU may actually shut off during normal operating conditions that it should be able to handle. OTP should be present to avoid damage to the PSU, but it should not be set so conservatively as to impact the unit's normal operation.
 
KVW said:
Same with me. I've had bad luck with antec PSU's in the past on more than one model. I have long since avoided them.
Click to expand...

+2 same here - Antec PSUs in a general purpose build seemed, adequate is a word that comes to mind, however when runnig a [H] type build(oc/ed i7/8 threads running, tol powermunga NVvidcard or 2, Auzen XFI blaster, bitta highend cooling;)), sometimes it seems fail, fail, fail:confused::confused:....I relegated my 2 Antex long ago, tried an T/take 850 which had similar connector issues to those mentioned in the article - the 24 pin needed to be jiggled/held in when using a P6T DLX v1 :mad::mad: however seems fine with a C2D build and a 5870:confused::confused:..got a Corsair HX1000 for Xmas last year - it fried first time it booted my sys, nothing else died, lucky:eek::eek::eek::eek: but the replacement has powered along nicely since, similar to most HXzzzzzz:eek::D:rolleyes:;)
Digressing a bit, regardless THNX guys for the article - the world of PSUs can be quite interesting when presented well..love ya work:):):)

PS - still have 1 of my Antec PSUs going fine, in a more conservative build - C2D/780i/2gig/8800gt/XP32/1hdd, works fine plus a much loved P180 that sits in the loungeroom housing abovementioned 5870 build running a 305t - point is mb I just had badluckski but it is what it is - for some Antec is great, works great.
 
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Have had many good Antec PSU's.
Only problem was with a Neo HE 550 and that was a compatability thing with only certain motherboards. Still powering a 939 X2 3800 for my kids to this day.

Actually doing an Antec build soon and using a CP-850 in the new 1200 V3. :D
Gonna really try to make it clean. There will be pics.


I gotta say though, it boggles my mind that these make it all the way to a site like HardOCP and Antec is like "we had no idea these were that shitty"...
Makes no sense.

Oh and thanks for the article and keep up the good work.
 
wrangler said:
Have had many good Antec PSU's.
Only problem was with a Neo HE 550 and that was a compatability thing with only certain motherboards. Still powering a 939 X2 3800 for my kids to this day.

Oh and thanks for the article and keep up the good work.
Click to expand...


:eek::eek: thatsit, thats/hes the 1!!! modular if i remember...???The TP i have(also a 550w) is my remaining Antec..as said bfore, works a treat.
and....lol, my daughter got the Neo(the 1) in her 'left home' PC...now, her ex owns it(hehe) as she has, err 'moved' on...and, she wants/probably needs another PC in her new abode..the joys of parenthoooood...sorry, this is wa-a-a-ay OT....:eek::eek:
 
Antec_Jessie said:
First of all, thanks to Kyle and Paul for this review. That "FAIL" logo looks a lot different when it's pinned to one of your products, I can tell you that much.

The HCG-900 is equipped with over-temperature protection that is set to shut the PSU off at 40c. This is the environment that we test and rate the HCG-900 at. As many of you have already noticed, the testing at HardOCP is done at 45c which, of course, triggers the circuit and shuts the system off to protect the components. Of course we're happy to know the protection is working but aren't excited to see that we couldn't complete the test suite.

I'm waiting for feedback on the transient load tests from our engineering team. As soon as I have anything back from them, I'll post again.
Click to expand...

nice to see things being looked into.
 
Out of the 4 Antec PSUs I've had, 2 were DOA. And out of the tons of Corsair PSUs I've had, 2 were DOA (AX1200 and I think the cx500).
 
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