Closer Look:

The 850 Watt Truepower Quattro is pretty much identical to what we saw at CES 2007. It would have been nice to add some pictures for the power supply at that time. But, being the honorable group, we followed Antec's directions and did not photograph their prototypes on the table. The only things that seem a bit different are possibly the finish, clear coat paint over the yellow stripes and the wiring that appears to be a bit more balanced between the gauge and flexibility.

Front

Back

Not much changes these days when it comes to power supply housing. Besides the obvious rectangular shape, the major visual changes to the Antec 850 Quattro are the vent locations and new, yellow racing stripes. If you're a sports car buff, then you've probably seen a similar paint style on something like the classic Shelby GT or a Nova SS. While those cars can go from 0 to 60 in about 3 seconds, this power supply goes from 0 to 850 watts in the press of a button. The two stripe yellow orb with the yellow 850 moniker give it a nice stout look. And at 850 watts, I would say that the look fits, especially on the 1000 watt model which it shares the same chassis as the 1000 watt model. And yes, the size does add on some additional weight.

Features

Open

The housing is painted quite well for a power supply including the yellow stripes. One thing I tend to do when receiving a power supply is to check how everything aligns and is finished all around. Antec is definitely one to have a great deal of pride in their products. It's pretty impressive when a company considers everything about a product no matter how minute the detail or how simple the component. Over the years, several makes and model Antec power supplies have found their way in to countless built computers including my own which have never let me down or needed replacement. This is the biggest reason why Antec is one of the top recommended power supply manufacturers.

Left Angle

Right Angle

The most important features everyone is concerned with are the four 12V rails. This is quite common with power supplies reaching 700 watts and higher. The separate 12V rails insure each peripheral gets plenty of power by supplying 18 amps of continuous voltage. The 5V rail provides 30 amps and the 3.3V rail provides 25 amps. The 5V and 3.3V, in my humble opinion, are about as perfectly balanced as any power supply can be. You will find cheaper power supplies that say 600 watts, but offer very weak 12V rails in comparison to the 5V and 3.3V rails. It's always commendable to see a power supply that offers more amperage to the 12V rails rather than giving the other rails anything above 30 amps.

Plenty of 12V Rail Amperage

Looking over wiring and cabling, you can see that the wires are once again top notch for best and most efficient conductivity. As with all gauge wiring, the better the gauge the greater the current which essentially is where you want all that power to go. The wiring is well insulated as well as pretty thick, but manageable given the density.  Working the wiring around your system whether a P182 or Soprano case should be easy. The wiring is also quite lengthy which has always been a great thing about Antec power supplies. Everyone hates buying a quality power supply only to come up short in cabling. This includes the wire braid quality as well since we definitely hate cheap, frayed braiding.

Back	Modular Connections

As with all top notch new generation Antec power supplies, this one comes with modular cabling for everything except the main 24pin, 8pin +12V, 8pin PCI Express, and 4pin +12v connectors. If you haven't read it by now, the main reason for keeping the primary power cabling hard wired is for best power transfer since modular cables can sometimes cause degradation of the electrical current each lead provides. Your main power shouldn't be left up to chance especially if you really need that maximum 850 watts. This fast becoming the necessary norm and is greatly appreciated.

Wire Bundle

Main Power Connectors

Black Braid Caps

And speaking of cabling, there are plenty of power connectors to go around. This PSU offers enough connectors aimed at the newer computer systems in the mainstream. Granted, this PSU could work perfectly for your current system no matter how out dated it might be. But, much of the newer components out today require less and less 4pin IDE connectors. Since the newer systems can really use this power, chances are you will need the more updated connectors like SATA and PCI Express. SATA connectors will soon replace most of the traditional 4pin Molex because PATA devices are now out with SATA connectivity.

You'll be happy to know that the peripheral cables are almost 29 inches in length. The main integrated power cables are roughly 24 inches.

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