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Antec TruePower 2.0 480 Watt Blue


Date
: 04/27/05 – 01:06:09 PM

Author
:

Category
: Power Supplies

Page 1 : Introduction

Manufacturer
: Antec

Price
: 125.00

The last time Antec made a headline appearance at O² was at the end of 2002. If you ask me, that was a really long time ago! Having been in the computer industry since 1986, we know Antec as one of the top chassis and power supply manufacturers around.

My first of two Antec product evaluations begins with the TruePower 2.0 480 Watt Blue, also known as the TrueBlue 2.0. Many years ago the original TruePower was regarded as a well-rounded power supply suitable for all your power needs. Today, Antec has made a complete update and released the TPII to "set the new standards for performance power supplies". I think that is enough dabbling for one page, let's move on and see what the TPII can do for us!

Page 2 : Package

The Antec TPII-480 Blue made its journey from Fremont, California, to my house in Toronto, Canada via UPS. Inside the brown box was the original packaging of the TPII-480 Blue. After pulling out the box and removing the cellophane wrapping, I was presented with a very simple, yet stylish box. There wasn't anything fancy or flashy, just a big shot of the product and the name.

On the back of the product box were some key features of the power supply and the specifications.

The two other sides also contain a few key features of the power supply.

The top of the box merely shows the company name and the model you just purchased.

The bottom of the box doesn't really have anything of real value – product name and some logos of other websites that have taken a look at Antec products.

Once you open up the packaging, you can tell Antec kept it really simple. Nothing all that flashy is included. You get 4 screws, a power cord, an instruction manual, a warranty guide and the power supply protected in bubble wrap.

The instruction manual and warranty leaflet come in a variety of languages. Since neither of them are very long, it is definitely worth your while to read over the material.

At first glance, the 4 screws and power cord aren't all that special.

Upon closer inspection, the power cord definitely feels thicker and heavier than your generic power supply cord. The power supply cord is fitted with 3 16AWG cables, one for each of the lines, rated at 105C. Your conventional power cord is often 18AWG. For those who are unfamiliar with this lingo, the lower the AWG, the thicker the wire. It allows you to safely transfer more power along the cord.

Now that we've gone through all the little extras, let's look at the power supply itself.

One of the beauties about the TruePower 2.0 is that it operates on a single 120mm fan, with the exception of the TP-550EPS12V which uses two smaller fans to cool the power supply. The single fan will result in a much quieter operation.

Along one side of the power supply is a holographic sticker showing the name and the specifications of the model you own. If yours, for some reason, doesn't have the holographic sticker with the words "Antec" printed on the background, you should contact your vendor immediately.

On the other side of the power supply is some random QA sticker and a punched out Antec logo.

The back of the power supply offers a good view of the contents inside. There is also an AC inlet, on/off switch and 115/230 volt toggle.

You can see that Antec opted for a punched out meshing to maximize the airflow out of the power supply.

Simply by
voiding
the warranty and opening up the box, we can get a good look at the components on the inside.

A good look on the inside shows that the power supply is quite full. The heatsinks aren't all that big, but with the 120mm fan, you should be perfectly fine with cooling.

Checking out the capacitors on the right…

These bad boys are rated for 200V, 1000 microfarads and have an operating temperature of a toasty 85C.

As mentioned, the entire power supply is cooled off by a single 120mm fan.

The big clear blades sure look better than the standard black ones. This particular fan is made in China by a company called Dynaeon Industrial.

At the time of writing, no information could be found regarding the Dynaeon DF1212BB-3. More research is currently being conducted on this mystery fan. If you have any information, please don't hesitate to email me!

If you're wondering where the blue LEDs are located, they can be found inside the power supply.

If for some particular reason you are unhappy with the included fan, Antec has made it extremely easy to swap. All you need to do is open the power supply (voiding the warranty), unplug the fan from the 3 pin connector and plug in your own.

Let's move onto the cables of the TruePower 2.0.

Page 3 : Cables

Antec sure loaded up this power supply with cables. Although not modular, cases are now being developed to incorporate cable management systems. This really means you can hide the cables behind some plate or something along those lines.

The TPII family comes with the 24 pin main power connection with a detachable 4 pin section so you can use it for 20 pin motherboards.

For those running on SLI systems, the TPII comes equipped with 2 PCI-E graphics power connectors.

There are also 4 SATA connectors.

The TruePower II features 2 fan-only connectors that regulate the voltage to reduce fan speed and noise levels. There is also the standard motherboard sensor so you can find out how fast the fans are going.

Last but not least, we have 5 standard molex connectors and 2 floppy connectors.

All in all, a hell of a lot of cables!

Page 4 : Specifications

The TruePower 2.0 family comes in 6 different varieties depending on your power and accessory needs. The lowest model is the TPII-380, boasting 380 Watts, and the next light weight is the TP-430, which offers 430 Watts. The two other power supplies, closer to the 500 Watt range, include the TPII-480 and TPII-550. Each model comes in 2 different flavours. The standard TPII-430 and TPII-550, 430 Watts and 550 Watts respectively, offer nothing different other than more juice. The TPII-480 Blue, the model I'm currently reviewing, has the blue LED illumination and the TP-550EPS12V uses a 2 fan cooling system and meets the new EPS 12V specifications.

Here are the specifications of the TPII480-Blue from Antec:

Some additional feature worth mentioning:

If you want specifications on the rest of the TruePower 2.0 line, look no further than this page.

Something to consider after buying a power supply is the length of each cable. It would be a damn shame if it couldn't reach your last optical drive! Antec doesn't have any listed information on this topic so I generated these numbers with my trusty measuring tape! Expect inaccuracies up to 1".

24 pin main power connector – 22"
4 pin auxiliary connector – 22"
Motherboard header – 18"
Fan only connector: 1st molex – 12" 2nd molex – 16"
PCIe power connectors – 22"
SATA connector: 1st connector – 21" 2nd connector – 28"
1st Standard molex connector: 1st molex 24" 2nd molex – 29" 3rd molex – 34" Floppy Connector – 39"
2nd Standard molex connector: 1st molex 24" 2nd molex – 29" Floppy Connector – 34"

Page 5 : Installation

Power supply installations are of no challenge. The first step is to remove your old power supply. This process involves opening up your case, unplugging all the power connectors and then removing the 4 screws securing the power supply to the chassis. After this, you swap the old with the new power supply, secure it to the chassis using the provided screws and plug in all the necessary connectors.

The system I installed the power supply to consists of the following equipment:

The system above should be a decent representation of a household machine. The shear volume of hard drives and the combined effects of the Prescott should put an ample load on the 12v line.

Page 6 : Testing

Testing a power supply for a review is no easy task. The true quality of a power supply is not how well it works 1 month after you receive the unit, but more along the lines of 5 years! The source voltage will be 120V filtered through 2 Belkin SurgeMasters.

My first task was simply to power on the unit with nothing connected. The basis of this test is to see how quiet the unit operates and to determine the voltages prior to
any
load.

Upon firing up the power supply, the 3 blue LEDs became visible.

Leaving the unit on my desk and sitting approximately 1 m away, the TruePower 2.0 offered a very quiet hum, almost inaudible and most definitely bearable. The source of the noise is most definitely the fan rotating away. It appears that it is not completely centered and the noise is not from it vibrating against the sheet metal. Voltages at this state were recorded and tabulated on the graphs below.

We'll now set up the system above, and boot. I let the system idle for 1 hr and then brought it to full load via RC5-72 for another hour. At the end of each hour, the voltages will be taken using a digital multimeter accurate up to 0.01 V. The voltages were also verified in the BIOS and through Albatron's Dr. Speed Hardware monitor.

Dedicated Fan Line

PCIe Line

4 Pin Molex Connector

24 Pin Main Power Connector

Judging by the graphs, there isn't much to say other than how stable this power supply is. The difference between load and idle was only a few percent.

The 12 V rail on the 24-pin main power connector was not read during the system operation. The multimeter leads would not fit in between the bundle of wires and into the back of the pin. While I tried to use a paper clip as an extension, this only led to dropping the paper clip allowing the 12 V rail to short circuit with the chassis. You get a big blue arc if you try this one at home. After that, the system immediately shut down. I should note that Antec and Overclockers Online are not responsible for any damages you may cause if you short your power supply with a paper clip! Needless to say, I powered the system back on and proceeded through my testing without a hitch. It's good to see the safety features incorporated, and active in the Antec TruePower 2.0! Not a single casualty was recorded in this review.

Page 7 : Conclusion

Antec has truly set a new level of standards when it comes to power supplies. The revised TruePower offers the latest in power technology with an ample amount of juice to power the hungriest machines. This 480 Watt supply will surly outlast many of your machines. All of the voltages were extremely stable and the dual 12V line, 18A each, will be sufficient for all of your overclocking and power drawing needs.

Although the MSRP is listed at 125.00 on Antec's webpage, at the time of writing this review, you can find this unit for less than 100 dollars! For that price, you're getting a high value product. Finally, Antec will have an award worthy of printing on their boxes….the Overclockers Online POWER Award.

Advantages

ATX 2.01 Compliant
24 Pin main power connector, convertible to 20 pin
Solid performance
Quiet operation

Disadvantage

Not modular

[i]Overclockers Online would like to thank Antec for providing us with this product for review.[/quote]