Antec Phantom Users Poll

Share your experiences about noisy computers and components, and vendors responses to your valid complaints.

Moderators: NeilBlanchard, Ralf Hutter, sthayashi, Lawrence Lee, Devonavar

How is your Antec Phantom PSU working out?

Works great, no problems
62
50%
Works, but... (provide details)
18
15%
It failed (provide details)
44
35%
 
Total votes: 124

Shadowknight
Posts: 1283
Joined: Thu Aug 07, 2003 2:43 pm
Location: Charlotte, NC, USA

Post by Shadowknight » Sat Jun 25, 2005 6:51 am

Okay, I have some bigtime praise for the Phantom here.

This morning, I found out my computer, which I had left on overnight, was BURNING to the touch, especially the PSU (including the fan controller, video card, CPU heatsink, anything with metal in it). The compter wouldn't turn on. I had to leave the sidepanel off and let it cool down for 1.5 hours, everything worked fine (especially the videoa card, that I was worried had burned up like my last one, when I hadn't used a fan!). The fans wouldn't turn on with the rest of the computer, however.

From what I can tell, the thermal protection kicked in after awhile when the fans stopped working. My raptor has been getting flaky lately. When I noticeed the BIOS wasn't detecting it, I noticed it was getting no power. I jiggled it while the computer was one, getting the harddrive AND the fans to start working. For some reason, my damaged hard drive (which was NOT due to the Phantom) caused the fans to stop working last night, leading to the Phantom not getting any heating, and kicking in the thermal protection (and dumping all the heat by convection to the case).

So, y'know, Antec seems to have fixed the overheating issues, given the extreme issues I had this morning.

Longbow
Posts: 134
Joined: Sun May 09, 2004 12:14 pm
Location: Middle Earth

Post by Longbow » Sun Jun 26, 2005 2:41 am

my 0411 has been running for about a month and half. so far it's been great.

i have one nexus blowing out, and one nexus on the cpu cooler. the cpu cooler might be the main force driving air out through the bottom fins on the psu. when both fans set on 6V, the psu body inside the case touch slightly warm, on 10V it's very cool. the back plate is always cool.

madman2003
Posts: 182
Joined: Sat Jan 29, 2005 9:02 am
Location: Planet earth

Post by madman2003 » Fri Jul 01, 2005 12:41 am

I've had my phantom for a little more than 2 days, it's still working. I won't vote until it's older (a month or so). My unit is a D050200xxxxx, i'm glad i got a 2005 unit. (i asked them if they had 2005 units, they did)

Atm it gets warm/hot, i wouldn't want to put my hand on top(which seems to be warmest spot) for a minute or so. I will close a few holes in my case(i have a very open case) to let more air escape through the psu. Atm i'm happy with my phantom, when i had it outside my case to test some components i put my ear to it. Couldn't hear anything. I still have a few things to do, but so far i'm happy with the noise level.(as a first attempt)

Joovilhar
Posts: 4
Joined: Sat Jul 02, 2005 9:50 am

Mine failed today

Post by Joovilhar » Sat Jul 02, 2005 10:21 am

Mine failed today. I came in and found the computer buzzing (I'd left it burning two DVDs at once), which pretty much nailed the power supply as the cause. A replacement power supply, bought in a hurry and fitted just as urgently, confirmed the failure was the PSU; everything works fine with the new 330W Tagan I've fitted as a temporary measure until I get a new Phantom. Unfortunately I live in Germany and I bought it in the UK, but I'm due to visit the UK in just a few short days, so it shouldn't be too inconvenient.

I did wait for the PSU to cool down before attempting another power-on attempt, but no dice - it just buzzed for half a second and then went silent. No life. When I switched on the power to the PSU (but did not switch on the computer using the power button), I could see the three keyboard LEDs flash on my keyboard, so it was obviously getting standby power. Just no juice when you wanted to switch it on...

Anyway, the details:

Serial number: D04115401286
Purchased: Komplett.co.uk, on the 22nd of March, 2005.

Lasted me just over three months, although the PC in question was rather lightly configured (2.4C P4, 2GB of Corsair 3200XL memory, 2 x Seagate 200GB hard discs, 2 x Plextor PX-712A DVD writers, XFX GeForce 6200A fanless AGP card, Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS and a Terratec 1200 DVB-T capture card). All in an Antec P160 case with one 120mm case fan and a Zalman 7000B-Cu on the CPU (totally overkill I know, but silence was a priority for me).

I was hoping for more than three months use out of the PSU, though. :)

Joovilhar.

tojaso
Posts: 3
Joined: Sun Jan 30, 2005 9:19 pm

Two that work...

Post by tojaso » Sat Jul 02, 2005 4:40 pm

I have two Phantoms in daily use: D04125432202 and D04125445350. The first was installed in December 2004 in a fairly powerful system (watercooled P4 660 running at 4GHz, Radeon X700) and the second was installed in April 2005 in a relatively low power system (P4 3GHz, Radeon 9600). Both are in Sonata cases. Each case has one Nexus 120mm case fan exhausting air out the back. The watercooled system's radiator is mounted on the back of its Sonata using a Swiftech RadBox with a second Nexus 120mm fan blowing through it (this gets a lot of heat out of the case). Both systems are pretty quiet and both power supplies stay only slightly warm to the touch. So far, so good.

- Tom

CraiginNJ
Patron of SPCR
Posts: 21
Joined: Fri Feb 14, 2003 9:15 pm
Location: New Jersey

Post by CraiginNJ » Mon Jul 04, 2005 6:01 am

I wonder if it would be worthwhile to start a new poll that distinguishes the older vs. newer (D05...) models?

mexicoshanty
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Jul 05, 2005 5:03 pm

Post by mexicoshanty » Mon Jul 11, 2005 3:26 pm

My phantom 350 is exhibiting the same problems as mentioned in this tread. Restarts or shuts down randomly. It worked for about a month until it first started to reboot or shut down, sometimes when it shut down it wouldn’t turn back on again without pulling the plug for about 10sec. Originally I thought it was a software problem, then witnessed it restart before it got out of the bios startup. Then I thought it might be a heat issue, since it seems to do its restarting or shutting down in clusters. Sometimes it would stay on for a week, sometimes 2 seconds, but the last straw was when it was about 9ºC, I was freezing and under pressure to meet a deadline for a website and my server decided to go into a restart fit. Not Cool! Since then I’ve used another power supply without a problem, except for the noise! Here are some details on the environment the phantom was in.

Coolmaster Stacker Case
2 120mm fans pumping lots of air through the case
P4 2.4ghz
512mb ram
3 hard drives
DVD burner
Running Linux 24/7 with a webserver (never under lots of pressure)
The entire time the phantom was in the server it was protected by a Belkin Gold Series surge protector

The serial number for my phantom is D04095162188. I've already emailed antec and they're going to replace my defective phantom

timmytimmytimmy
Posts: 69
Joined: Wed Apr 06, 2005 1:17 am
Location: Sydney, Australia

Re: Mine failed today

Post by timmytimmytimmy » Mon Jul 11, 2005 5:37 pm

Joovilhar wrote:I was hoping for more than three months use out of the PSU, though. :)
Now you've got me scared(my phantom is around 3 months)... I thought phantoms, if they survived the three-week mark they would be fine....

poohbear
Posts: 96
Joined: Sun Feb 20, 2005 8:25 pm
Location: GTA, Ontario, CANADA

Post by poohbear » Sat Jul 23, 2005 12:04 pm

Finally picked up my Phantom 350 from RMA a few days ago. This time it's brand new sealed and still in shrinkwrap. Serial is D05015566420. Popped it in yesterday, hope third time's a charm. :D

Oh, and my Phantom 500 has finally shipped too! Woohoo!! Let's see which of the two last longer. :)

Sooty
Posts: 625
Joined: Mon Sep 22, 2003 5:15 am
Location: UK

Post by Sooty » Sat Jul 23, 2005 12:23 pm

CraiginNJ wrote:I wonder if it would be worthwhile to start a new poll that distinguishes the older vs. newer (D05...) models?
Agree. Also, maybe this thread would get noticed more if it was a sticky at the top of the PSU forum. Or make it a sticky and accessable from both the Consumer Advocacy / Feedback forum and PSU forum?

One
Posts: 47
Joined: Thu Jan 15, 2004 9:37 pm
Location: Sweden
Contact:

Post by One » Tue Jul 26, 2005 4:35 pm

Finally got a replacement after 6 months. :x But now there is a very loud buzzing noise when the computer is turned off. When I turn ON the computer the buzzing goes away! When I turn off the computer the buzzing starts again, but this time slightly louder, possibly heat related? I turned the Phantom off for 24+ hours, I turn on the back switch and buzzing again, but not as loud. I let the Phantom be on standby for 10 hours and when I wake up the buzzing is very loud, again the buzzing goes away when turning on the computer.

The loud buzzing is at the back of the Phantom near the IEC plug only when the 14 pin cable is connected to the motherboard, when it isn't connected there is only a slight buzzing when I put my ear close to the Phantom, this is the normal buzzing? I am not able to test it with another motherboard, they forgot to include the adapter when sending the replacement unit!

Changed the power cord, tried cleaner power (with a PS Audio Power Plant), still horrible buzzing, sometimes the buzzing is low and sometimes VERY LOUD. When I turn it off with the back switch the buzzing goes away after 3 seconds.

With my first Phantom I didn't have this problem. I will RMA again. :(

Serial number: D04125445545

Mari0-Br0s
Posts: 152
Joined: Sat Jul 23, 2005 4:15 pm
Location: Montréal, Québec
Contact:

Post by Mari0-Br0s » Thu Jul 28, 2005 8:37 pm

I've just ordered a Phantom 500 yesterday, and found this thread today!!!! Is there any of you who did had problem with the 500 watts version??? If not, then I'll sleep ok! :)

madman2003
Posts: 182
Joined: Sat Jan 29, 2005 9:02 am
Location: Planet earth

Post by madman2003 » Fri Jul 29, 2005 10:38 pm

I really wonder why all those 2004 units are still in circulation, the 2005 models are clearly better. (i have one)

cotdt
Posts: 295
Joined: Tue May 10, 2005 3:30 pm

Post by cotdt » Fri Jul 29, 2005 11:27 pm

I praise the Antec Phantom! It has very stable voltages and is dead silent, the upgrade from my Seasonic is definately worth it. No coil buzz or any other noise here. Also, I've been running it in virtually zero ventilation for three months with no case fans and it runs just fine. The Phantom blows away other Antec PSUs in terms of noise level.

I got a late 2004 version but with the purple stamped stickers.
Last edited by cotdt on Sun Jul 31, 2005 4:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.

hugekebab
Posts: 110
Joined: Wed Sep 08, 2004 6:25 pm

Post by hugekebab » Sun Jul 31, 2005 2:18 pm

just as a suggestion, but why dont spcr have a dedicated forum section just for polls on specific products reliability. it should be compulsory to enter a serial number (dont know if a poll could bemade to require a serial number entry before entering a poll answer?

Rusty075
SPCR Reviewer
Posts: 4000
Joined: Sun Aug 11, 2002 3:26 pm
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Contact:

Post by Rusty075 » Sun Jul 31, 2005 4:01 pm

hugekebab wrote:just as a suggestion, but why dont spcr have a dedicated forum section just for polls on specific products reliability. it should be compulsory to enter a serial number
the sticky at the top of this forum wrote:Such polls are intended to gather hands-on user feedback to help gain insights into areas that no single product review can hope to achieve, no matter how thorough and complete: Long-term Reliability and Sample Variance.
the very first post in this thread wrote:Also, please provide the serial number, purchase date and source of purchase if at all possible.
What we need is a way to require people to read the clearly labeled rules before posting.

eeweep
Posts: 1
Joined: Wed Aug 03, 2005 12:53 pm

Post by eeweep » Wed Aug 03, 2005 1:03 pm

Hi all,

I just registered on this forum only to post in this thread :) .I've just got one from eBay. It is preowned but I don't think it has been used much: still in original packaging, screws in small plastic bag, cables tied, ...
Works perfectly, even after my girlfriend pressed the powerbutton about 30 times in a row because she didn't hear the pc starting up and assumed it didn't :lol: .
It's the EU version, serial number starts with 04 as far as I can remember, but I can't see it now (I think I mounted it upside down) and I don't feel like getting it out again. After installing the psu when I lifted my case from the table I heard something crack. I was terrified and thought I had damaged *something* in my case, thank god it was only my back :shock: . Damn that thing is heavy, but I'm extremely pleased I got it!

Shadowknight
Posts: 1283
Joined: Thu Aug 07, 2003 2:43 pm
Location: Charlotte, NC, USA

Post by Shadowknight » Tue Aug 16, 2005 3:01 pm

Today, approximately 6 months since I've gotten it (back in February), PSU failed. 350w. Was leaving computer idle while watching a movie in my bedroom. Currently awaiting RMA response. Serial # was earlier in thread.

Mari0-Br0s
Posts: 152
Joined: Sat Jul 23, 2005 4:15 pm
Location: Montréal, Québec
Contact:

Post by Mari0-Br0s » Fri Aug 19, 2005 8:17 am

hum... it seems that this issue is most common with Phantom 350. I havn't seen any trouble with the Phantom 500 yet...

davsmith
Posts: 29
Joined: Thu May 15, 2003 5:18 pm
Location: Coventry, UK

Hissing Phantom 500

Post by davsmith » Sat Aug 20, 2005 4:42 am

Just had to swap out my 4 week old Phantom 500 PSU as it started to make worrying noises. Initially it start emitting loud bursts of hissing at long random intervals (few times a day). Now it is emitting a regular burst of hissing at intervals of a few seconds. In fairness it didn't actually fail before I swapped it out, but it certainly wasn't giving me any confidence and it certainly wasn't silent.

Have reverted to my Etasis unit, which has been very reliable and totally silent for a year. Shame the Etasis is only an ATX 1.2 unit, but otherwise I can't fault it.

nici
Posts: 3011
Joined: Thu Dec 16, 2004 8:49 am
Location: Suomi Finland Perkele

Post by nici » Sat Aug 20, 2005 9:04 am

Still no problems with the 350 Phantom, it must be a couple of months since i posted the last time.

ksquared
Posts: 2
Joined: Sun Feb 20, 2005 8:32 pm

Post by ksquared » Tue Aug 23, 2005 8:06 am

I bought the Antec Phantom 350W back in February. I was a bit worried about it based on posts in these forums. I emailed Scott Richards at Antec and he responded immediately, which was the first indication it was a good company to deal with. He said that there were a few initial problems, but it was such a small percentage.

So I decided to take a chance. I was impressed with the efficiency rating, since with the rates the local power company charges every watt-hour is a ripoff (but that's another story). I of course also was happy that it would be silent.

It has lived up completely to what it should do. There has never been any problem with it.

In my opinion it is a great power supply. I think many people who are happy with it have waited to post their good results until they have owned it for awhile.

zenith
Posts: 46
Joined: Mon Jun 07, 2004 4:09 am
Location: norway

Post by zenith » Mon Sep 12, 2005 11:55 am

I will be sending my unit for RMA tomorrow. To summarize, I bought my unit around March this year. It seemed stable, but during summer I suddenly experienced that my computer shut down for no apparent reason. During August the problem just got worse, and I began investigating.

My 6600gt card reported failures about not getting enough power. This was quite odd, I have a very simple system with pentium-m, two HDs and one DVD-RW. Anyway, I measured the 12v output with speedfan and it dropped as low as 10.46v just before the system shut down. Clearly an unstable unit.

I tested the PSU in another system, a P4 2.0Ghz, GeForce 4200ti card, one drive and one cd-rom. Same thing happened from time to time. Today it got worse, the system shut down 3 times during the day.

Anyway, this is the EU-version. The S/N of the unit is: D04115401708

dansun
Posts: 2
Joined: Thu Oct 06, 2005 12:11 am

Post by dansun » Thu Oct 06, 2005 12:23 am

I've had my Phantom 350 for a little less than a month. Its been working great, but this thread makes me anxious. I have a 2004 model and unlike most of the comments from other users that I've read around here, it gets HOT to touch (I don't have a way to measure the exact temp, but I can't touch it for more than 3 seconds without feeling burned). I have it installed outside my case, which I figured would make it run cooler, but apparently it still makes a lot of heat by itself. I don't think my comp requires a lot of power either. It basically is just an AthlonXP 3200+ @1.65v, 1 HD, 1 DVD, and an old Geforce3 Ti500. The S/N for the Phantom is D04125500607.

Locklear
Posts: 166
Joined: Mon Jul 04, 2005 2:08 am
Location: Norway

Post by Locklear » Tue Oct 25, 2005 7:06 am

S/N: DO508043xxxx (this series has 2xPCIE + 4xSATA connectors)
21.10.2005 from Santech Microgroup in Norway.

have yet to test it as it's intended for a new comp I'm building. Will update and vote as soon as i fire it up though.

Edit: Ok, so I took a little sneakpeak. Hooked up an old motherboard and just posted it without ram or cpu just to see if it got power. Was gettign a little worried there for a second until i saw the psu wasn't connected to the wall socket :oops:

We have power atleast, so it isn't DOA \o/

Ackelind
Posts: 467
Joined: Sun Mar 20, 2005 1:18 pm
Location: Umea, Sweden.

Post by Ackelind » Wed Nov 02, 2005 5:32 am

S/N: D05020045081
Ordered 05-10-11 from webhallen.com in Sweden.

I ordered it to replace my non-functional FSP Zen (The Zens does not seem to start with some low-powered systems, like mine) which had replaced my S12 430W.

The PSU works okay, it is warm to the touch but not hot at all. The cables are long enough to reach where they are supposed in the P180. I even ran the 4-pin AUX cable underneath the MB!

The only problem was the total mess where the cables exit from the PSU. All of them are twisted together making a large "lump" of cables that can't be sorted out! I would have to remove the molexes etc to straighten out the mess. This is really bad and I haven't seen any other PSU having the cables in this way.

AndrewD
Posts: 39
Joined: Mon Mar 28, 2005 2:41 am
Location: Australia

Post by AndrewD » Thu Nov 03, 2005 2:05 am

My Phantom 350W just died this afternoon... :cry:

S/N D04115398351
Purchase date: 17/3/05

It's worked flawlessly for 7.5 months. When I power it up, it makes a buzzing sound for about 1/2 a second and that's it. System details are in my sig. At the time of failure the system was idle and had only been doing light work for several hours (downloads and email).

It's devastating that it's blown up in such a short period of time.

I'm guessing it's going to take a while to get it replaced, so I guess I'll have to find a replacement in the meantime. Fortunately Seasonic's are available here now so will probably get an S12 430W. It's going to be strange going back to a power supply with a fan!

zenith
Posts: 46
Joined: Mon Jun 07, 2004 4:09 am
Location: norway

Another one bites the dust...

Post by zenith » Fri Nov 04, 2005 12:49 am

Guess what, another Phantom just died in my arms. This is a replacement unit for a Phantom I bought and sent back to Antec Europe (The Netherlands). This time it didn't even survive 24 hours. Later this evening I came home and discovered that my computer didn't make any sound. Had to switch off the PSU, then turn on my computer and after a few seconds it would just die. Now it doesn't stay on for even a second.

Serial No: D04125431925

(Judging from the serial this is 2004 model. Same as the last one that died)

This is really disappointing, I don't trust these PSUs anymore. I've filled out another RMA request, but since it will take a couple of months to receive a replacement I'll have to buy something else. Sadly enough Seasonic is not available here in Norway :(

ATWindsor
Posts: 285
Joined: Mon Apr 18, 2005 11:53 pm

Post by ATWindsor » Sat Nov 12, 2005 2:49 am

To post my experience, I bought a phantom 350 Watt about two months ago. Its a 05-model. Its in the lower chamber of a p180 with a nexus at 5v cooling it, its varm, but not painfully varm. It has worked fine unti this date (also checked it with prime95 or what its called for some hours).

AtW

timmytimmytimmy
Posts: 69
Joined: Wed Apr 06, 2005 1:17 am
Location: Sydney, Australia

Re: Another one bites the dust...

Post by timmytimmytimmy » Tue Nov 22, 2005 4:57 am

zenith wrote:Guess what, another Phantom just died in my arms.
Sounds romantic.. :lol:

Well, my Phantom is quietly (or silently, should I say) struggling through the heat.. Summer is approaching.. and the power supply (and case panels) get extremely warm... we shall see how it fares..

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