| Antec TP3-650 Rev. A2 TruePower Trio 650W PSU |  |
| Reviews - Featured Reviews: Power | ||||||||
| Written by Olin Coles | ||||||||
| Tuesday, 26 September 2006 | ||||||||
Page 6 of 6
Conclusion: Antec TP3-650 A2Presently, the Antec TruePower Trio 650W PSU SKU# TP3-650 is being sold as low as $69.99 at NewEgg.com. For that price alone, it is a bargain since far weaker power supplies are priced higher. Add to the great low price the fact that you will have a triple-rail power supply that can promise stability under the most demanding load, and you have yourself a sure thing. I highly recommend the Antec TruePower Trio 650W, it is the definition of function before fashion; the price and results prove it.
Antec has decided to improve its design of the TruePower Trio series by adding full cable sleeves to every cable group, not just the main. Even a new sticker helps detract from the cold-war era look of this unit, which I could rate just slightly higher if it were painted or finished. I love the fact that this is top-shelf technology for such a reasonable price, but it looks just like the old low-end stamped steel power supplies from a decade back. With the industry catering to computer enthusiasts, it surprises me that Antec was so involved with function that they totally abandoned fashion altogether. Perhaps future versions of this product will borrow design notes from nearly any of the other manufactures and the TruePower series will have an anodized or polished finish. That would make for a real treat: clean stable power and good looks. One can only hope that Antec agrees. Despite a minor quality control oversight in our test unit, the Antec TruePower Trio has been built with high quality construction. Antec is very well know for the quality product they deliver, and the TruePower Trio series is not exception. The 12V DC power dropped no lower than 11.81V during ripple testing, and this is very good. Although the maximum power out was well above baseline at 12.88V, this is not high enough to be cause short-term concern, and it is average for most power supplies tested with this wattage. In the end however, you are getting more then what you are paying for; which is why this power supply has already garnered attention from Federal Government IT departments. This review was designed as a follow up to the original, primarily because Antec offered enough new features in this revision to warrant additional coverage, and because Benchmark Reviews has recently spent hundreds of dollars on equipment to test AC current ripple and DC power regulation. There was also one comment from Susie Hughes (the LEWIS Global Public Relations representative for Antec) regarding the previous review conclusion: "(I) just wanted to drop you a line about your Antec TruePower Trio PSU review. It was a great article, but you note that it is an ‘eyesore' with its lack of paint and that is has no cable sleeves. Paint can potentially have a negative impact on a high-performance PSU, and TruePower is a high performance, no compromise design which is why it doesn't have paint or cable management." I don't agree with her statement, but perhaps the readers can provide more feedback to this claim? Pros:
+ Extremely quiet operation Cons:
- Unfinished/unpainted unit case Ratings:
Final Score: 8.6 out of 10.Discuss this article in the Benchmark Review discussion forum.
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