| Article Index |
|---|
| Antec NeoPower 650 Blue Power Supply Review |
| Page 2 - More Information |
| Page 3 - Power Specs and Testing |
| Page 4 - Conclusion |
| All Pages |
Antec’s latest power supply expands on the already popular NeoPower range by adding more
power as well as some lighting for those interested in looks as well as performance.
The NeoPower range from Antec is their range of high-efficiency power supply units, with a claimed efficiency of up to 85% which (if accurate) is one of the best on the market. The model we’re looking at today is the most powerful NeoPower version available at 650W, and adds blue coloured LED lighting to make it a bit more interesting than its counterparts. Thankfully all the standard NeoPower features remain and the blue lighting adds only a small price premium over the standard 650W NeoPower version.
The NeoPower 650 Blue sells online for around AU$210, or around $10 more than the standard 650W version. While this pricing is never going to be the cheapest on the market, remember the old saying of ‘you get what you pay for’, and in this case, you’re paying for an Antec power supply, so you get quality which is backed by a 5-year warranty. I’ve been running an Antec power supply in my home PC for years and it’s never skipped a beat.
The NeoPower PSU’s all feature modular cabling, a feature which is all the rage at the moment and one which people just can’t seem to get enough of. Fair enough too, it helps keep your case nice and tidy so you don’t end up with a huge matrix of unused cables getting in your way every time you want to change something, which in turn also helps aid airflow through the case, so it’s well suited to the enthusiast market. The only cables on the NeoPower 650 Blue that aren’t modular are the motherboard power cables and PCI-Express x16 graphics power cables. All of the drive cables as well as a third PCI-Express power cable are modular.
The complete list of connectors included is as follows:
- 1 x 20+4 Pin ATX Power Connector
- 1 x 4-Pin +12V Power Connector
- 1 x 8-Pin +12V Power Connector
- 1 x 8-Pin (6+2Pin) PCI-Express Power Connector
- 2 x 6-Pin PCI-Express Power Connectors (1 via Modular Cable)
- 6 x 4-Pin Molex Connectors (via 2 Modular Cables)
- 4 x SATA Power Connectors (via 2 Modular Cables)
- 1 x Molex to 2 x Floppy Power Connector Y-Splitter Cable
So the NeoPower 650 Blue isn’t exactly overflowing with connectors when you compare it to other PSU’s on the market, but there’s more than enough for a normal mid to high-end gaming system, and being ATV12V v2.2 and EPS12V compliant, it will work with just about anything, including many high-end workstation and server motherboards. However it is obvious the NeoPower isn’t being made for large/full-tower systems with the main motherboard power cables at a modest 50cm in length, which may sound long, but it’s nothing compared to other models out there that are geared towards the larger cases with main cables at 75cm in length or longer. So it seems that mid-tower cases are to be the NeoPower 650 Blue’s domain.
