Closer Look: TPQ-850 Exterior Design

If I didn't begin this section by mentioning the racing stripes, this just wouldn't be a very good review. Obviously the new look is a titanic departure from the horrid unfinished appearance of past Antec power supplies; and it's great to see the new TruePower Quattro get started on the right foot. I can forgive Antec for past mistakes, especially since the new design really seems to have hit the mark in terms of generating excitement in a computer component which has very little thrill-factor to it.

The Antec TruePower Quattro 850W PSU TPQ-850 includes four +12V outputs that deliver safer and more reliable power to your system’s components. It also includes a variety of industrial-grade protective circuitry: OCP (Over Current Protection), OVP (Over Voltage Protection), SCP (Short Circuit Protection), and UVP (Under Voltage Protection).

TruePower Quattro power supplies generate less heat because they are designed for high efficiency. This keeps the power supply itself cooler and prolongs its working life. TruePower Quattro power supplies have achieved 80 PLUS Certification, the latest independent standard in power supply efficiency.

New to the TruePower series is the modular cable interface. Antec offers identical power supply-side connection receptacles. Small stickers on the underside of each receptacle indicate which device the connection corresponds to.

Antec has done a great job of sleeving each cable group on the TruePower Quattro TPQ-850. One particular area that seems to have been overlooked is the opening from the PSU chassis where the cables all extend from. This opening does not have a rubber grommet or plastic ring to protect from potential short circuits, usually due to a cable rubbing against it until wire is exposed. Ultra did a great job of preventing this in their X-Pro 800W Aluminum PSU ULT33185.

Antec has placed very few additional ventilation holes in the chassis outside of the front and rear vents. The TruePower Quattro series really does make good use of the active power factor correction, which in turn reduces the overall internal component temperatures inside the PSU chassis. During normal operation, I was hard pressed to feel more than slight warmth from the chassis.

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