| 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.
The modular cables of the NeoPower are connected to the main unit via 5 x 6-Pin outlets near the outlet for the motherboard power cables, and as all the cables (including the modular cables) are sheathed in plastic mesh it’s very easy to keep everything neat and tidy inside your case.
The cooling of the NeoPower 650 Blue is taken care of with a single 120mm fan in the base of the unit, which varies its speed depending on the load and temperature of the PSU. We had the NeoPower running our standard test setup with an ASUS nForce SLI motherboard, Intel Core2Duo E6600 and dual GeForce 8800GTS video cards and it was nearly silent, the CPU and GPU fans were the only things in the system making any noise, I had to stop those two fans and put my head right next to the PSU to hear anything at all.
The fan is a clear-blade LED fan, but it is not like all the other LED fans that are out there. Most LED fans have the LEDs in the outer frame shining towards the hub of the fan to light up the fan itself, whereas this one has no LEDs in the actual fan, but rather 3 LEDs mounted inside the power supply, in the heatsinks and they shine through the fan so they can light up the rest of the computer case. So the actual fan will have a different look compared to what you’re used to from LED fans, but it will do a good job of giving your case a nice blue glow.
There is no secondary exhaust fan on the back of the power supply, as the 120mm fan seems to be more than adequate at cooling the unit, so the hot air finds its own way through a mesh of metal at the rear which gives the NeoPower a very neat and clean appearance at the back.
You may also notice that on the back there is no voltage switch to go between 110V and 220V for different areas of the world. That’s because the NeoPower has a universal input so it can be used anywhere in the world and there’s no risk of blowing it up by selecting the wrong voltage.
The majority of the NeoPower Blue’s 650 Watts of power is delivered through three individual +12V rails, which deliver a substantial 19 Amps each, with the +3.3V and +5V rails able to pump out 24 Amps each. Plenty of grunt for a decent gaming system, and then some. Antec claim this PSU can run at its peak load of 650W continuously, all day every day, which is quite a claim of reliability and backed up by its 5-year warranty – so go nuts with it.
When testing the PSU under load, we had our test bench (Intel E6600, 2 x GeForce 8800GTS’s in SLI) running 3DMark06 and the difference between idle and on-load voltages was negligible, around 0.01V to 0.02V difference across the board. The voltages were very well within tolerances when on idle, coming in at:
- +12V1 @ 12.11V
- +12V2 @ 12.07V
- +12V3 @ 12.08V
- +5V @ 5.01V
- +3.3V @ 3.34V
And again there was only the most minor variation in the voltages when under load. A good sign of a quality power supply unit.
Conclusion:
The Antec NeoPower Blue 650 is overall an excellent quality unit with some very good features. Its ability to run in near silence will make it very desirable for Home-Theare PC builders, and it has more than enough power to cater for gamers and more high-end enthusiasts. The very stable voltage levels also make it a good unit for the overclockers out there, and although it doesn’t have hundreds of power connectors for drives and peripherals like some models out there, it has enough for most systems I could imagine building – after all it still has a total of 10 drive connectors, how many do you really need?
The blue lights are just an added perk and only add about $10 to the price of the unit, but if you’re into making your case look fancy on the inside, they will be more than welcome. The NeoPower 650 Blue sells online for around AU$210, which is fairly mid-range for a power supply with this level of power, not the cheapest, but certainly not the most expensive, and given the quality of the unit and the fact it comes with a 5 year warranty, I think it’s excellent value. And if the blue lights aren’t for you, then save yourself $10 and get the standard NeoPower 650. I’m sure you won’t be disappointed with either one.
OzHardware Rating – 9/10 – Highly Recommended!
This product can be purchased online at www.techbuy.com.au (Direct Link)
