Bad Antec experience, need a new PSU :(

[Oklahoma Wolf]

Originally Posted by PCBONEZ

Haven't run into Enhance's globby glue problem yet have ya...

Frequently. I review PSU's for a living

[PCBONEZ]

I know exactly who you are.
Which is why I was surprised you use Enhance OEM.

[Oklahoma Wolf]

I don't use them... I just find them a lot more acceptable for quality than most of the units out there. Seasonic's actually dropped quite a bit in my eyes lately now that I've seen an Antec Neo Blue 650W up close... I didn't think they were quite as cheaply made on the low end as that. Personally, I now actually have a higher opinion of FSP than those lower end Seasonics, and my view of FSP isn't real flattering right now either.

Of my three rigs, the PSU's I'm running are OEM Delta, CWT, and Etasis. The one running the CWT is in an HTPC case... it's only in there because I can't think of anything else I have that would be much better for that particular case. It's a Glacialtech that runs the fan after power off. Caps in there are all OST IIRC... I've been keeping an eye on it to make sure it's still behaving itself. It also goes fanless below a certain temp, but that case has never been cool enough to see the fan stop.

[PCBONEZ]

Seasonic-Seasonic is one thing.
Seasonic-OEM is another.
I wouldn't be surprised if Antec SPECIFIES the units be built ultra cheap.
Pondering if the Antec switching to FSP is because Seasonic told Antec to take a hike.

HTPC
Here's a suggestion for your occupational endeavors.
How about a roundup of 400w+ uATX units.
I haven't run across any I'd trust yet. (Either in person or reading reviews.)

.

[Oklahoma Wolf]

I wouldn't be surprised either. Actually, I think they're starting to drop Seasonic now because if certain rumors are true, Delta's turning out to be a bit more demanding with minimum order quantities than what Antec's used to. In order to get them to do the Signature, they had to let Delta do a bunch of other units too, in other words.

Fortunately, the Earthwatts 650W turned out to be a pretty decent unit anyway despite the drop in quality from the Sig.

I'd love to do a few of the smaller form factors, actually. I've done a 1U unit for Claypower that did pretty well in terms of site hits, so there's definitely interest out there. Problem is, I can't afford to buy review samples and have to depend on what these companies are willing to send. That said, I do have a Seasonic 1U in the review pile I'm anxious to get to.

Also have an Etasis built fanless unit coming up. That one may be replacing that CWT/Glacialtech I mentioned if I like it.

[agraham]

I have an Antec Phantom 500 that I bought in mid 2005. Do you think it might be bad?
I'm also not sure if it's actually big enough to run my system.
I've been having stability problems with my computer lately. I assumed it was the ASUS A8R-MVP mobo because I borrowed a power supply from work and the computer still was not stable but now I'm wondering if the PS from work was also too small.
Here's what ASUS had to say about PS:
...
Power is another issue that can cause instability to occur, as there are numerous power supply manufa cturers on the market it is not viable anymore to just go by what the manufacturer claims the wattage to be as 400 watts to 1 company may be considered to be actually only 300 watts to another.With this being the case it is more feasable to recommend that you check the amperage for each of the voltage rails of the power supply you are purchasing by looking at the sticker on the side of the power supply.On the side of your power supply there will be a sticker that has the dc outputs for each of the 3 voltage rails supplying power to your motherboard, we recommend at least 28 amps on the +3.3 voltage rail which supplies power to your CPU and AGP slot, at least 35 amps on the +5 voltage rail which supplies power to all of the IC chips on your motherboard and a minimum of at least 18-20 amps on the +12 voltage rail which provides power to your drives and fans. these are just recomendations and may need to be adjusted depending on your set-up and the type of hardware you are usin g as certain newer cards ie: sound and video cards are needing more power than some of their older counterparts.
...

Here's the stats off the side of the PS:
+5V:30A +12V(1):17A +12V(2):18A +3.3V:30A -12V:0.5A +5Vsb:2.0A

So it seems it's 5A short of what ASUS recommends for the 5V rail. Problem?

[agraham]

...think I have my answer...
Looking in the grille at the back of the PS I see this:

http://agraham.ca/shared/antec_phant...dcap_large.JPG

I assume that's cap scum and not glue on that purple cap.

So should I get this thing recapped and keep it or buy a new one with the recommended 35A 5V rail?

Goddamn.. I spent $238 on this power supply because it got reviews and it's so fricken heavy and huge and annodized and silent I assumed it would be rock solid plus I thought Antec was a good name. Now I find out they're jokers after all. That's the last $238 they'll ever get from me.

[momaka]

Originally Posted by agraham

we recommend at least 28 amps on the +3.3 voltage rail which supplies power to your CPU and AGP slot, at least 35 amps on the +5 voltage rail which supplies power to all of the IC chips on your motherboard and a minimum of at least 18-20 amps on the +12 voltage rail which provides power to your drives and fans.

Unless I'm missing something out, your mother board has PCI Express, not AGP correct? With that said, the above claims from Asus can be considered bs. Those numbers seem bloated (except the +12v since your CPU runs on that). Your PSU should be good enough for your computer.

Originally Posted by agraham

So it seems it's 5A short of what ASUS recommends for the 5V rail. Problem

Likely not.

I'm thinking your PSU is solid one, but it's probably that the damn Fuhjyyu caps inside that have vented. If the warranty has expired on it, open it and inspect. A recap will likely bring it back to life and I'm sure it will be much cheaper than a new PSU.

[agraham]

Antec needs to pick up the frackin phone! I've been filling out the RMA form on thier website every week since I made that post trying to get an RMA number - nothing.
I call thier RMA line during business hours - they don't pickup.
I leave a voice mail - they don't call back.

TopCat - tell your buddy at Antec that for every customer they pick up advertising on your site THEY ARE DRIVING ONE AWAY WITH THIS INFURIATING NONSENSE.

Low end caps in their high-end products? Won't even answer the phone or return a call for weeks on end? BULLCRAP!

[PCBONEZ]

I have seen your same scenario play itself out over and over online.

Antec actually pays people to troll forums and give the appearance they support their customers.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q...earch&aq=f&oq=

But when it comes to actually following through ->> rarely happens.

There must be a hellacious profit in costing down an otherwise good PSU to total crap [and then charging extortionate prices] for Antec to bother with [or afford] doing that.

Seems to me Antec doesn't ACTUALLY give a gave a rats ass about the end user.
They just want people to THINK they do.

- Actions (and lack there of) speak louder than words Antec.

.

[Logistics]

What's all this about hating Antec, etc., etc., on a site about recapping? Just recap it and use it. I have recapped Antec supplies and had great success. GO!!!

[KeriJane]

Originally Posted by PCBONEZ

I
Seems to me Antec doesn't ACTUALLY give a gave a rats ass about the end user.
They just want people to THINK they do.

- Actions (and lack there of) speak louder than words Antec.

.

Wow!
That sounds EXACTLY like the company I work for!

Lemme check and see if Antec is maybe a subsidiary....

Keri

[PCBONEZ]

I've had it out with "AntecRep" on 3 or 4 different sites now.
So, now any time AntecRep sees my handle show up he goes *POOF*.

[kc8adu]

Originally Posted by PCBONEZ

I've had it out with "AntecRep" on 3 or 4 different sites now.
So, now any time AntecRep sees my handle show up he goes *POOF*.

i think he left here with his ass on fire.
pages of evidence that the units are trouble is hard to refute.
i should not bitch too loudly as i have several i got free and recapped.
its a relatively easy job so just do it rather than fuss with antec,antecrep(shill),ect.
what good is an rma if it will fail the same way soon.

[acstech]

At least he made his identity known. There are a lot of companies that hire people to pose as standard users and improve the company image on internet forums.

This article, which I found google searching, seems to sum it up:

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/arti...62/363-Im-Evil

[Wizard]

Belkin is been caught by paying reviewers to do painting rosy reviews of their products.

Happened recently.

Cheers, Wizard

[agraham]

Well I called the customer support line instead of the RMA line. The guy says he replied to my web form I filled out weeks ago. Checked my spam folder - it's not there. I don't think he's lying to me tho so I guess Antec is not quite as bad as I said. It still doesn't excuse the RMA dept for not answering the phone or returning my voice mails tho. About two minutes after my conversation with the CSR the RMA dept finally returned my call. Not a coincidence I'm sure.

[PCBONEZ]

Trust me.
Antec IS as bad as you said.
Your only hope to get anything done is to make it public in places like right here.

You are still better off recapping it yourself.
You dunno what kind of craps will end up in an RMA replacement from Antec.

.

[agraham]

Yeah... you're right of course. But I would need to get a proper soldering iron. The one I have works for speaker wire and plumbing but I don't think I would touch it to my computer. Then I have to learn how to electronic solder again. That last time I did was around 1989 when I was in grade 9 electronics class.
... and I need to actually get the replacement caps.
At some point I do want to do it... but right now I want to put Antec to some expense for scamming me with this piece of crap in the first place.

[tazwegion]

Geez... you leave for a while and find Antec getting clobbered when you get back, weren't they sponsoring OR advertising with this site at some stage?

+1 they need to pull their socks up

But in the meantime I'm still happy to collect pre-owned Antecs and recap them, that's how I obtained my best PSUs!


FWIW I also recapped a new FSP too (to ensure reliability) and have had no complaints from the new owner as of yet, nice basic entry level PSU IMHO