Final Thoughts
When it comes to power supplies it’s all about performance and how the stable the rails are. As you can see from the test the CP-850 is definitely more stable than the Truepower 1000W. Reading other reviews of the CP-850 it looks like it outperforms many high-end power supplies out there, which is very impressive. It looks like this new CPX form factor and dual PCB layout really give you the performance you need. Also this being an Antec product you know it is quality-made and in having installing the power supply it was very study and seemed well put together.
The large 120mm fan is a PWM fan so when you are not doing anything intensive the fan is whisper quiet and even during load it was not that loud at all. The way the power supply is designed also allows for better cooling. Being half modular you have enough cables for a basic system, but if you need extra cables you can just go ahead and add them.
The thing that is going to hold this power supply back from getting in the hands of a lot of people is the form factor. Only Antec cases will accept the CP-Series power supplies so you are very limited. Although is I was building a system with an Antec case the CP-850 would be a no brainier because of its impressive performance. Maybe given the performance other companies will start making CPX form factor power supplies.
Right now you can get the CP-850 for just over $100 online, which for the performance is a great deal! Once again if you are building a system or currently have one of the supported cases the CP-850 is a no brainer! Overall ThinkComputers gives the Antec CP-850 850W Power Supply a 9 out of 10 score and our Recommended Award!
Pros:
– Great performance
– Partly modular
– New form factor allows for better cooling and dual PCB layout
– Price
Cons:
– The CPX form factor will only fit into 3 cases (currently)
I'm a fan of this new form factor. Too bad no other companies have followed suit with cases and PSUs opted for it.
I even wrote Antec an enquiry asking about their policies regarding this form factor, but got no reply. 🙁
hmmm…I have a dual core setup with two hard drives and one 9800GTX+ vid card (nothing else) – this PSU just seems to wind out all of the time and sounds unbearable. I have to get rid of it and get a decent PSU. I haven't had much luck with Antec's so called silent and silent'ish products.
Seems like you've got a bad specimen or don't feed it any fresh air.
All reviews I've read indicate this is one of the quietest PSUs around.
I recently built a i7 computer. I used the antec p183 case as well as the cp-850 psu. Not only has it performed without issues, running the cables was easy like they designed the psu and case to work seemlessly. This is by far the most powerful computer i have ever used and it is eerily quiet. I can't hear the hard drive at full spin or anything else.
I am a huge fan of antec and their products. I would definitely recommend this company.
i7920,ga-ex58-ud4p,gtx-260,6gigCorsair,1tb.caviar black,Cp-850, antecP183
Our system had a 4870 X2, 4 HDD's etc and the power supply was pretty quiet. Have you talked to Antec about the problem?