ocaholic - PSUs > Antec High Current Pro 850 Review

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Preview

Page 2 - Preview

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Delivery and Specifications

non modular cables
Cable	Length	12V Rail
1 x ATX 20+4 pin	56 cm	1
1 x EPS/ATX 12V 4+4 pin	66 cm	2
1 x 2xPCI-E 6+2 pin	56, 71 cm	3

Modular cables
Cable	Length	12V Rail
1 x 3xMolex	56, 71, 85 cm	1,2,3,4
1 x 3xMolex + 1 xFloppy	56, 71, 85, 100 cm	1,2,3,4
2 x 2x PCI-E 6+2 pin	56, 71cm	2,3,4
1 x EPS/ATX 12V 8 pin	65 cm	2,3,4
3 x 3xSATA	57, 72, 89 cm	1,2,3,4

With the HCP-850 you get a semi-modular power supply. It's interesting to see that there are more cables in the delivery than there are actually connectors, which gives you a certain level of flexibility for your build.
The 12V rails are well done and cables can be attached in almost any possible combination and there shouldn't be OCP issues.

The design is based on one single 12V rail. However this 12V rail is then splitted into four Rails for distribution. The four rails are then OCP protected individually. In our opinion it is good that the manufacturer split the rail (also because of security reasons). Antec provides clear information about the rails and the OCP levels. Due to the fact that the rails can cope with almost any configuration OCP issues should not occur.

Specifications
Voltage	Current	Power
+ 3.3 V	25 A	160 Watt	850 Watt (Total)
+ 5.0 V	25 A	160 Watt
+ 12 V1	40 A	840 Watt
+ 12 V2	40 A
+ 12 V3	40 A
+ 12 V4	40 A
- 12 V	0.5 A	6 Watt
+ 5 Vsb	3.0 A	15 Watt

The HCP-850 has been 80Plus Gold certified. This means, that the efficiency of this PSU should be above 87% at 20% load, above 90% at 50% load and above 87% at 100% load.
Feature-list:

80Plus Gold
OVP, UVP, OCP, SCP, OPP, OTP
Dimensions (W x H x D): 150 mm x 86 mm x 180 mm
135 millimeter fan
Warranty: 5 Years
Price: 190 CHF

Page 3 - Delivery / Specs

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A Look Inside

The Design is based on a strong 12V PSU using the LLC resonance converter topology. 3.3 and 5V are generated from 12V using DC-DC converter. This topology is very common in modern PSU's.

Directly on the AC input there are two Y capacitors for burst pulse filtering. For the continued filtering the manufacturer placed an additional PCB, located between the Fan and the hot air exhaust, on the top side. Four Y, two X Caps one MOV, one CMR and a normal Choke are located on this PCB. On the main PCB there are two additional Y caps and a CMR choke. The rectification is done using two LL15XB60 (each 600V, 15A) on a small heatsink. The APFC uses three FCP22N60N Mosfets (600V, 22A, 0.165Ohm) and a SiC Diode. Three Rubycon (each 450V, 220uF, 105C) are used as APFC capacitors. The LLC Resonance converter is controlled by a CM6901. On the primary side there are four 20N60CFD (650V, 20.7A, 0.22 Ohm) Mosfets. In this PSU there are rather small heatsinks used in comparison to others.

The 12V rectification Mosfets are located on the bottom side of the PCB. Those are only cooled indirectly via the case. The case is strengthened with a metal Plate in the Mosfet area. On the secondary side extremely high end Nippon Chemi-Con and Rubycon capacitors are used for DC filtering. Because the non modular cables are connected directly to the main PCB, 3.3 and 5V must also be conducted on the main PCB. Doing this takes a lot of valuable space of the secondary side. Even the 3.3 and 5V converters are not located as usual on the back end PCB but on a daughter PCB just in middle of the secondary side. This makes the design a mess. There is not enough space for big heatsinks and the entire AC filtering on the main PCB. Overall there are too many components, which block the airflow and make this PSU rather inefficient from a cooling perspective, and that results in a 2400RPM+ fan for a 850 Watt PSU ...

Page 4 - A Look Inside

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Input/Output Power and Efficiency

Page 5 - Input/Output Power and Efficiency

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Result Analysis and Discussion

Efficiency 115V
Load	Pin(W)	Pout(W)	Efficiency
20 %	196.90	174.47	88.61 %
50 %	478.10	433.6	90.69 %
100 %	970.10	858.26	88.47 %

The 80Plus Gold certification requirements (87% - 90% - 87%) are surpassed especially at 20% Load. The full Load efficiency is a bit higher at 230V AC. This is the case with most of todays PSU's and it mainly originates from the reason of lower losses in the AC filtering stage and the PFC at 230V AC.

Output Stability
Load	Rail	Loading(A)	Output(V)
20 %	5V	3.18	5.1
	3.3V	3.18	3.35
	12V1	2.93	12.3
	12V2	2.93	12.3
	12V3	2.93	12.3
	12V4	2.93	12.3
	5VSB	0.53	5.08

50 %	5V	7.96	5.1
	3.3V	7.96	3.34
	12V1	7.3	12.2
	12V2	7.3	12.2
	12V3	7.3	12.2
	12V4	7.3	12.2
	5VSB	1.32	5.04

100 %	5V	15.92	5.0
	3.3V	15.92	3.32
	12V1	14.6	12.1
	12V2	14.6	12.1
	12V3	14.6	12.1
	12V4	14.6	12.1
	5VSB	2.64	4.98

Noise
Load
20 %	Noiseless
50 %	Audible
100 %	Noisy

The Voltage Regulation of this PSU is very good. It makes use of a DC-DC topology. This means, that the HCP-850 is mainly a 12V PSU and then generates its 5 and 3.3V from 12V. This is a modern approach, and since the Load is mainly on 12V it makes a lot of sense. For almost any PSU which makes use of this topology crossload tests do not present a problem.

Noise/Ripple
Voltage	Noise/Ripple Vpp
5V	0.035
12V	0.04
-12V	0.032
3.3V	0.028
+5VSB	0.021

The noise values are good. Only the 35mV at 5V are a bit high, but since the 5V ripple performance drastically improves with just little less 5V load, we don't judge this as a negative point.

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Page 6 - Result Analysis and Discussion