Antec 850 Watt TruePower Quattro

Introduction:

Recently, we've all seen the surge of 1000 Watt or greater power supplies offered as the last power supply you'll need to upgrade to for years to come. While this is very, very true, it is also not always the most feasible or viable option for that serious end user when the only really power using components are a dual or quad CPU, dual graphics cards, and maybe 4GB of memory. You would have to add a serious amount of extra storage components and upper echelon graphics cards just warrant the cost.

To give you an example, this particular system being used to validate memory has a Quad Core Q6600, ASUS P5N-E SLI Motherboard, 2GB Patriot PC2-9200, two Seagate 80GB SATA2 drives, one DVD ROM R/RW, one Koolance RP-1000 Pump Unit, NVIDIA 7900 GT PCIE, and Zalman's very handy ZM-MFC2 Fan Controller that has been regularly displaying 189 watts of power consumption while working on the article. When the system is pounding away using only programs that require full load, the wattage consumption reaches 425 Watts. The power supply typically used in this system is a Thermaltake 700 Watt Tough Power which is far more than needed if the system were to be used in a dual graphics or SLI configuration. Even then, the system doesn't reach 700 watts.

The average user can get away with 500 to 600 Watts which affords a little bit of room to grow in the next few years. Extreme gamers who like their SLI power will appreciate something from 650 to 750 Watts. The most extreme power users push the top of line of everything and use greater numbers of components. However, some people just don't like to calculate or guess what they are using so they opt for something quite high. If you happen to have a more serious RAID array and/or more large capacity SATA drives, then you can really start dipping in to the 700 watt range.

While my 700 watt PSU is enough for a while to come, it is fast becoming inadequate as newer power hungry graphics and motherboard components are arriving monthly. Graphics cards like the NVIDIA 8800 GTX and Ultra require the utmost clean power to achieve perfect stability and performance. And if your motherboard isn't receiving the same ample power, all your efforts will be for naught. One thing you simply can not leave to chance is a substandard power supply. Our friends at Antec have seen that need fast approaching and has continued producing some of the best, most stable power supplies possible. As the newest components suck every watt from your aging power supply, Antec has come forward to offer the Antec 850 Watt Truepower Quattro.

Specifications and Features:

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