Antec PSUs becoming more unreliable?

[zenmaster]

Yes, the thread is about Antec, but Antec does not build all of it's PSUs.
Often it's nothing more than a sticker on the front.

If Antec was actually manufacturing all of their own PSUs, then you might be able to draw historical references from previous PSUs even though the conclusions you could have drawn would have been minimal.

Now that many of their PSUs are neither built nor designed by Antec, there is even less of a conclusion you can draw.

When you look at the ANTEC reviews from most places, you will find that few if any knowledgable folks recommend any ANTEC produced power supplies. The ones that get a lukewarm recommendation are the ones produced by Seasonic which also produces PSUs for PC Power and Cooling.

Now the parts that Seasonic uses for the Antecs is still not considered up to the same quality as for their own or the PC Power and Cooling PSUs.

And when looking at the PC Powre and Cooling PSUs, you need to look at who makes them since they make some of their own which are even better quality.

 

[The_Gremlin]

For what it's worth, I just thought I'd share my Antec RMA experience.

I purchased an Antec Sonata (ver. 1) Case in Feb 2005 that included a 380Ws TruePower (single fan) PSU. The PSU died in Jan 2007, with just under 2 years of continuous use. (only powered off during vacations)
I submitted my trouble ticket, and received their standard reply within 1 day, that included instructions for initiating their RMA procedure, which I followed. Their instructions indicated I would receive an RMA number within 3 business days of them receiving my RMA request info.
After hearing nothing for a week (5 business days), I resubmitted my RMA request, indicating it was the second time submitting the request. I received an RMA number in 1-3/4 hours.
2 days after they received my broken PSU, they emailed me with a ship notification and expected delivery date (6 days later ... to Canada) and it arrived as expected.
They replaced my 380Ws TruePower with a 430W Truepower Trio, an unexpected little upgrade.

Overall, I was happy with the RMA process. I wasn't in a hurry as I purchased a new PSU the day after the first died (I can't go 2 days without a functional computer). Yes, they missed the 3 day for an RMA number that they claim, but I sent my first request through an odd email method (mail2web) and forgot to CC myself, so there is some question if they even got it (although I'm assuming they did).

One could argue the PSU shouldn't have died, but considering the PSU was included with the case, ran 24/7 for almost 2 years, and my components rate to 376W (I just filled out an online PSU calculator) I'm not too sad. I got what I paid for.

 

[AdamBomb42]

Yes, the thread is about Antec, but Antec does not build all of it's PSUs.
Often it's nothing more than a sticker on the front.

If Antec was actually manufacturing all of their own PSUs, then you might be able to draw historical references from previous PSUs even though the conclusions you could have drawn would have been minimal.

Now that many of their PSUs are neither built nor designed by Antec, there is even less of a conclusion you can draw.

When you look at the ANTEC reviews from most places, you will find that few if any knowledgable folks recommend any ANTEC produced power supplies. The ones that get a lukewarm recommendation are the ones produced by Seasonic which also produces PSUs for PC Power and Cooling.

Now the parts that Seasonic uses for the Antecs is still not considered up to the same quality as for their own or the PC Power and Cooling PSUs.

And when looking at the PC Powre and Cooling PSUs, you need to look at who makes them since they make some of their own which are even better quality.

If Antec is putting their name on a product, they had better make sure that the quality is up to standard. It doesn't matter if they made it or not, they are in control of quality. I will never buy another antec psu! EVER!

 

[Blefuscu]

Power supply failure rate
Posted on 17/01/2007 at 16:21 by Marc


Today, we obtained the failure rate of power supplies recorded by a major French e-commerce. These statistics include products in shops since the first April 2006. At least 100 units of each product listed below have been sold. Statistics per brand are based on a minimum sample of 500 units:

Fortron: 0.7%
Hiper: 1.2%
Seasonic: 1.4%
Thermaltake: 1.6%
Tagan: 2.8%
Enermax: 3.0%
Antec: 9.5%

Fortron comes first in the list followed by Hiper and Seasonic. Thermaltake is next and is the last manufacturer to have acceptable failure rates. Tagan, Enermax and most of all Antec are above the limit. For Antec, the SmartPower 2.0 range including the 500, 350 and 400 Watts versions has very high failure rates: respectively 21.6%, 18.1% and 17.3%. Not a single product has a rate below 2% and the best one is the Neo HE 430 watts at 2.6%.

For Fortron, the figures are a bit more disparate from 0% for the most reliable model to 1.5% for the "least" reliable. Hiper's rates oscillate from 0.4% and 3.8%. The two models above 2% are the modular R 580 watts. For Seasonic, the leading products S12-500 and 600 are respectively at 1.8% and 0.9%.

Thermaltake's rates vary from 0% to 2.5% except for the Silent Power 680 Watts which is at 6.6%. Tagan's figures are relatively stable from 2.3% to 3.3%. Finally, Enermax' rates oscillate from 1.8 to 5.1% (Liberty EL620AWT).


From : http://www.behardware.com/html/news/?date=17-01-2007#8550

Hope this help!

Great post. Great numbers. Since these are retail statistics, I assume that all brands are used in a similar manner. Even better would be to compare different brands with the same rated power.

Conversely, I think any single user testimonials comparing different brands should be taken with a grain of salt because noone ever says exactly how the supply is used. If you only use half of the rated power and the intake air is cool, it is much less likely to fail. Also people mention time before crapping out, but not watt-hours of use before crapping out. If someone tells you Toyotas are unreliable because his died, without telling you that he redlines it daily and doesn't change the oil, the info is pretty useless.

 

[IcY18]

I've been using a Antec Smarterpower 2.0 500W for just under a year now. My computer very Rarely gets shuts down, its probably used about 6-8 hours a day while 3-5 of that is gaming which is the most strenuous my system would ever get. Unfortunately whenever my X1800XT requires more power to go into 3D mode the psu makes a high pitched noise. This happens anytime, like if i watch a movie/video or a game

If i am in game and i alt tab out the noise immediately stops but when i alt-tab back into game it starts again. I don't know if its a problem but i heard someone earlier say its due to bad capacitors. I really have no clue to what is the cause. Regardless its the kind of sound that doesn't sound good and makes me think about purchasing a new psu.

 

[dragonsprayer]

i must say i am impressed with antec - a neo 550w pushing a 560j @4.1ghz, a storage raid, plus os drive and 2 gigs of ram with an oc evga 8800gtx - is very impressive!

a customer of mine dropped in an 8800gtx in system i build 2-3 years ago - i was 50/50 on weather the psu would handle the 180w card but its high amp rating did prove itself

 

[IcY18]

thats probably closer to its limits, but i would be more disappointed if it didn't work...wouldn't you...

 

[clue69less]

If Antec was actually manufacturing all of their own PSUs, then you might be able to draw historical references from previous PSUs even though the conclusions you could have drawn would have been minimal.

So brand name means nothing to you? Have you had to deal with Antec customer service lately?

Now that many of their PSUs are neither built nor designed by Antec, there is even less of a conclusion you can draw.

Who do you think specs the units Antec puts their name on? Isn't drawing up a spec part of the design process?

 

[IcY18]

Gonna have to completely agree with Clue, i mean thats like saying just because other graphic card makers don't make the memory or heatsink, does that mean that they shouldn't be responsible for when something doesn't work. Any time someone's name is on the the label should they not be held accountable. Its complete bs to say Antec has no responsibility for there PSUs.