Antec NeoHE "High-Efficiency"

PSUs: The source of DC power for all components in the PC & often a big noise source.

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Hellspawn
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Post by Hellspawn » Tue Dec 06, 2005 6:54 am

S1mon wrote:Hellspawn, thanks for dragging yourself away from playing games long enough to let us know the results. :D Looks hopeful.

However, for myself, I've been in touch with the store that I got my Neo HE from and they have acknowledged that there is a known problem and have offered to let me RMA it and to get a different model instead (probably a Seasonic S12-600).
arguably a better solution than even getting a revised edition of the neo he.

UPDATE:Asus A8n-SLI going in the box this afternoon when I get home from work.

AntecRep
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Post by AntecRep » Tue Dec 06, 2005 10:58 am

Interestingly Hellspawn is the only one that I know of that we've actually shipped out to.

6 others are in process however.

klankymen
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Post by klankymen » Tue Dec 06, 2005 11:35 am

i assume I am one of the 6 in process, or at least i hope. in anycase my RMA should be in somebody's inbox, if not in process. well, either way, it'll probably be at least a week, more like 2, til i get mine. however i do appreciate something is being done and hope I'm as "lucky" as Hellspawn.

Hellspawn
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Post by Hellspawn » Tue Dec 06, 2005 5:43 pm

UPDATE: Seems like all is well with an Asus A8N-SLI Premium w/ AMD 4000+ chip. No shutdowns during CPU burn, 3dmark05 or Need for Speed Most Wanted or F.E.A.R. Played about a total of 1 hr of the two games and about an hour of the cpu burn and 3dmark 05.

I do notice however that I'm seeing every line below the voltage level, and the 12v+ running at 11.77, weeeelll......

Everything is running as expected at this time. The Asus board had the original bios and did not exhibit the problem, when tested with this new revision of the NEO HE 430.

Tomorrow:Intel D945PVSLK and the Asus P5GDC for a final test. (Socket 775, P4 650).

oracle00
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Post by oracle00 » Tue Dec 06, 2005 6:09 pm

hi hellspawn.. thanks for all the updates :D

do we know the reason for all these incompatibilities? i am from singapore and my understanding that the p150 which has recently hit the stores here have no user complaints so far... so am interested to know if the reason for these incompatibilities have been made known?

cheers!

rei
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Post by rei » Tue Dec 06, 2005 8:51 pm

ack. sounds like one of those mosquito-killing lights, bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. ..

Hellspawn
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Post by Hellspawn » Tue Dec 06, 2005 9:28 pm

oracle00 wrote:hi hellspawn.. thanks for all the updates :D

do we know the reason for all these incompatibilities? i am from singapore and my understanding that the p150 which has recently hit the stores here have no user complaints so far... so am interested to know if the reason for these incompatibilities have been made known?

cheers!
Not sure on the reasoning for the problems.

I'm just very pleased that these boards are powering up with the revised unit and I'm able to pass along some hope to you all.

I'm particularly happy to relate to all that the A8N-SLI Premium, latest bios is posting and running fine for about 6 hours now.

hravn
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Post by hravn » Tue Dec 06, 2005 11:51 pm

Hellspawn wrote:I do notice however that I'm seeing every line below the voltage level, and the 12v+ running at 11.77, weeeelll......
Measured with? Onboard sensors or multimeter?

Hellspawn
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Post by Hellspawn » Wed Dec 07, 2005 9:36 am

AntecRep wrote:Interestingly Hellspawn is the only one that I know of that we've actually shipped out to.

6 others are in process however.
Had it since Monday and so far so good. Very well behaved, not like the first 2 that were sent. To be honest with you, I'm a bit disappointed however as to how proactive I had to be to get the attention of Antec in this problem. I presented clear data from my time with at least 4 boards, how I arrived at the conclusion (using other Antec supplies with no problems) and was frustrated several times with a response that I must have "a defective "(meaning isolated) PSU. I was even given this reasoning when the 2nd RMA was sent at first (that also would not POST the boards), that it must also be "bad".

I did not simply call in and say "yea, your psu is bad, gimme another". I presented your department with details on the boards used, symptoms and such, what I thought would be thoughtful suggestions to help narrow down the problem. I was then told that a few Asus A8N boards with old bioses were the culprits, and my suggestion that it was more widespread were all but dismissed with the explanation of 'rumor spreading on the internet'. I have an Intel, 2 Asus and an Abit at the moment. I also saw a Biostar and Soyo not power up with my psus. I felt this was important data and thusly tried to pass along.

My further frustration was seen by the fact that Antec insisted on shipping these RMA PSUs to me UPS ground, a full 5 business day trip from California to Illinois.

I was especially incredulous at the fact that the tech wanted me to try a 'revised unit' for them to see if it would help, and my request for some sort of expedited shipping was refused. I did not even ask for overnight, but 2 or 3 day delivery. I did ask for an advance replacement on the first one and was granted that, to their credit, and Antec did pay to ship back the 2nd unit and upon presenting the tracking # they shipped this revised unit out (albeit UPS ground again).

I don't feel that Antec 'saved the day' by getting a revised unit to me, they simply provided a product that does what it is supposed to do; post my system and run it quietly (and hopefully efficiently). Had the revised unit not worked out, I simply would have returned the P150 to Newegg and purchased a Sonata II and not bothered with that model.

That being said, I'm glad to have the P150 appearing to be running as it should, and that there was a good resolution (in the end) to the situation.

Tonight I'm tossing in a socket 775 board that was the first one I found out of my collection that the NEO would not power up, I expect it to work as these others have.

LDRunner
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Post by LDRunner » Wed Dec 07, 2005 2:55 pm

Hellspawn:

It is too bad YOU had to go through so much trouble before Antec figured out there was a problem. Maybe you should ask for an independent contractor fee from Antec for all your troubleshooting efforts?

Sent my NeoHE 430 in today. Hopefully I get my updated PSU next week. I really think Antec should pay for shipping the defective unit to them or they should cross ship the updated unit.
Last edited by LDRunner on Wed Dec 07, 2005 3:46 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Hellspawn
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Post by Hellspawn » Wed Dec 07, 2005 3:33 pm

LDRunner wrote:Hellspawn:

It is too bad YOU had to go through so much trouble before Antec figured out there was a problem. Maybe you should ask for an independent contractor fee from Antec for all you troubleshooting efforts?

Sent my NeoHE 430 in today. Hopefully I get my updated PSU next week. I really think Antec should pay for shipping the defective unit to them or they should cross ship the updated unit.
Much agreed with the shipping reimbursement and the cross ship for neo he affected units. I plan to press for reimbursement of my shipping costs, plus the fee to return 1 P150 case when I was told the PSU was defective (when it was a design problem, not a failure).

UPDATE: Asus P5GDC powers up and posts , runs just fine. Will run stress tests later tonight. This is with a P4 650 chip. This takes care of all issues I had with the NEO HE 430.


OPEN STATEMENT TO ANTEC:

Congrats to Antec on getting it fixed. They need to work on the RMA process -- an end user having a PSU go down and no spare, then asking them to wait up to a week or two for a replacement with no option for cross-ship, unacceptable for a top-rate company such as Antec. As current policy reads, the old unit must be returned, then a new one shipped -- causing major inconveniences as not everyone has a spare PSU around like I do (maybe some people do, but I'm speaking generally). I must mention that Antec did pay for shipping back on the last unit and did ship out a replacement upon me giving them the tracking #. HOWEVER, they wanted me to try this revised unit, but insisted on shipping UPS ground (unless I offered to pay the extra shipping myself, no way! )-- From one Monday to the next before I received it.

Please rethink this policy, hope Antec is listening...

oracle00
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Post by oracle00 » Wed Dec 07, 2005 6:04 pm

Hi Hellspawn, thanks for the updates and all. Am glad that this has finally been resolved so it means there should be an avenue out for the rest of us should we get the defective PSU model.

To ANTEC
Please disseminate this known problem to the rest of your distributors in the other countries, especially Singapore. When I raised this compatibility issue in a hardware forum in Singapore, the Antec distributors were not aware of this issue. In fact, the distributor commented that they had not heard of any end user complaints and it was alluded that I was "THE" problem when I mentioned that I have read the issue of incompatibilities in this forum.

Hellspawn
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Post by Hellspawn » Wed Dec 07, 2005 7:05 pm

oracle00 wrote:Hi Hellspawn, thanks for the updates and all. Am glad that this has finally been resolved so it means there should be an avenue out for the rest of us should we get the defective PSU model.

To ANTEC
Please disseminate this known problem to the rest of your distributors in the other countries, especially Singapore. When I raised this compatibility issue in a hardware forum in Singapore, the Antec distributors were not aware of this issue. In fact, the distributor commented that they had not heard of any end user complaints and it was alluded that I was "THE" problem when I mentioned that I have read the issue of incompatibilities in this forum.
Well I was told somewhat of the same thing, that my problem was individual as far as they knew, and the reports of other NEO owners being discussed were nothing but 'internet rumors'.

S1mon
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Post by S1mon » Wed Dec 07, 2005 7:11 pm

Hellspawn wrote:Well I was told somewhat of the same thing, that my problem was individual as far as they knew, and the reports of other NEO owners being discussed were nothing but 'internet rumors'.
Given my experience and those of others with Antec, I am very relieved that I decided to turn to the internet store I purchased my Neo HE from rather than pursue Antec. So far, their customer service has been excellent. They've just confirmed that they've received new Seasonic shipments in today and will send my unit out shortly (I've delayed the process myself a little by asking them to price match).

oracle00
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Post by oracle00 » Thu Dec 08, 2005 12:46 am

Hellspawn wrote: Well I was told somewhat of the same thing, that my problem was individual as far as they knew, and the reports of other NEO owners being discussed were nothing but 'internet rumors'.
but there are some many ppl reporting of this prob in this forum and other forums as well. and these postings are made with ppl who seems to have actively partipated in these forums.. so i dont kind of buy the "internet rumours" story.

Hellspawn
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Post by Hellspawn » Thu Dec 08, 2005 6:17 am

oracle00 wrote:
Hellspawn wrote: Well I was told somewhat of the same thing, that my problem was individual as far as they knew, and the reports of other NEO owners being discussed were nothing but 'internet rumors'.
but there are some many ppl reporting of this prob in this forum and other forums as well. and these postings are made with ppl who seems to have actively partipated in these forums.. so i dont kind of buy the "internet rumours" story.
The 'internet rumors' started by just a few people excuse did not work for them for long, especially when I started presenting them with research about other board makers and they started getting more and more calls..

FYI: I was even told that sometimes people go on discussion boards and make up usernames and accounts to make things look larger than they are.

I won't detail more than that, but I was told that on my 2nd call about this problem, when I referenced that it wasn't just me, and that there were other reports coming up from people.

The whole experience has been frustrating, to say the very least.

S1mon
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Post by S1mon » Thu Dec 08, 2005 7:08 am

This is a an interesting read http://www.anandtech.com/news/shownews.aspx?i=25402 . It seems Antec are struggling a little with an old school business model in the Internet age. Information and disinformation equally spread like wildfire - companies need to accept this and embrace the benefits. A company that consistently does the right thing by its customers will reap the rewards as positive experiences spread on boards such as this.

mellon
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Post by mellon » Thu Dec 08, 2005 7:19 am

I don't have any personal stake here (luckily I read this thread before going out to buy the P150) but it really surprises me to see how badly Antec as a company has treated paying customers. These new Antec PSU problems probably do not come as a surprise to anyone who has been following their track record on making power supplies but it is still inexcusable to have customers work as betatesters and basically call them liars after they gone way beyond their part of the deal by doing extensive testing of the product.

Overall, this combined with my previous experiences with Antec PSUs (detailed in an old thread) has made turn to Antecs competitors for PSUs. And considering the P150 comes with an Antec PSU, my next case will also be from some other manufacturer. Making customers jump through hoops just to get a working product when they were paying for a premium product is a great way to alienate both current and future customers.

Tumlehund
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Post by Tumlehund » Thu Dec 08, 2005 1:40 pm

mellon wrote:I don't have any personal stake here (luckily I read this thread before going out to buy the P150) but it really surprises me to see how badly Antec as a company has treated paying customers. These new Antec PSU problems probably do not come as a surprise to anyone who has been following their track record on making power supplies but it is still inexcusable to have customers work as betatesters and basically call them liars after they gone way beyond their part of the deal by doing extensive testing of the product.
Without trying to start an anti-Atec Frenzy, I totally agree with this. Of course I understand that a company needs to pursue a problem themselves and not base anything on rumor. However, in this case especially Hellspawn has gone way beyond the call of duty and I fully understand if he (and others in the same situation) is fed up with Antec.
mellon wrote:Overall, this combined with my previous experiences with Antec PSUs (detailed in an old thread) has made turn to Antecs competitors for PSUs. And considering the P150 comes with an Antec PSU, my next case will also be from some other manufacturer. Making customers jump through hoops just to get a working product when they were paying for a premium product is a great way to alienate both current and future customers.
I also agree with the last part here. When you pay a lot of money you expect the product to be perfect in every way. If this is not the case, at least you expect the company to treat you the best way possible, making up for all the time you lost because of the hazzle.

Personally I can forgive a company for having a bad apple (I recall something about IBM and harddrives a few years back), however, they need to acknowledge the fact that they are trying to sell a product that dosn't work properly, and they need to find a way to remedy the unlucky customers.

Having said this, I'm not going to buy the Neo HE, since I don't want to wate my time on doing an RMA. Also I guess it will be months until the shops are have the revised units on sale here in Denmark. I'm still going to get the P180. Hopefully that will work out nicely...

aqm consultant
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Antec is backordered on P150s

Post by aqm consultant » Thu Dec 08, 2005 4:56 pm

I couldn't find the P150 on the Antec webstore site, so I called Antec sales regarding buying a P150 directly from them. Roscoe from customer support called back and told me they were back-ordered (no date yet for when they'd be in), but I might be able to find one elsewhere. I told him I recognized his name from the threads here, assured him only nice things were said about him, and told him my plan was for an Abit AN8 Ultra. He responded by saying that the backordered units he's waiting for will all have the PSU fix, but he didn't think I'd have a problem with the Abit board in any event. Anyway, I guess we'll know when the new PSU's arrive by checking to see if the P150 is in the webstore.

rei
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Post by rei » Thu Dec 08, 2005 6:36 pm

The Antec NeoHE 500 was most definitely the culprit of my graphics-buzzing problem thankfully and not my new 7800GT.

Did the most obvious thing and put back my old S12-430 and it's blissfully quiet again.

Back to the loving arms of Seasonic!


...say anyone want to buy a lightly-used NeoHE 500?

Hellspawn
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Post by Hellspawn » Thu Dec 08, 2005 7:19 pm

rei wrote: ...say anyone want to buy a lightly-used NeoHE 500?
umm...... no.

oracle00
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Post by oracle00 » Thu Dec 08, 2005 7:28 pm

damn... seasonic is not available in singapore....

rei
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Post by rei » Thu Dec 08, 2005 7:50 pm

(Good answer, Hellspawn. Haha)

Gotta pawn it off on a more-wattage-it-must-be-better friend now.

rei
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Post by rei » Thu Dec 08, 2005 7:55 pm

Since Australia recently started carrying Seasonic, can't you order it from there, oracle?

(edit: Oh hey, it's my 1 year anniversary registering on here! I'd like to thank you all for making this an obsession for the past year. :) Fitting I finally get everything working tonight!)

Hellspawn
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Post by Hellspawn » Thu Dec 08, 2005 8:12 pm

rei wrote:Since Australia recently started carrying Seasonic, can't you order it from there, oracle?

(edit: Oh hey, it's my 1 year anniversary registering on here! I'd like to thank you all for making this an obsession for the past year. :) Fitting I finally get everything working tonight!)
During the time I had my s12-430 Seasonic stuffed in the p150, my mobo temps were about 4-5c lower.. 120mm v. 80mm obviously. They still aren't bad now tho.

afrost
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Post by afrost » Thu Dec 08, 2005 9:14 pm

That's interesting that your temps were significantly lower Hellspawn.....only because so many people were complaining about the S12 "dumping" heat back into the case.

Hellspawn
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Post by Hellspawn » Thu Dec 08, 2005 10:01 pm

afrost wrote:That's interesting that your temps were significantly lower Hellspawn.....only because so many people were complaining about the S12 "dumping" heat back into the case.
This was the other day while using an Abit AN8 Ultra with the heatpipe assembly. I saw the value of about 98 or so with the s12-430 and about 102-104 with the NEO he. CPU value went up maybe 2f at the most, now around 95 or so. (This with a fanless scythe ninja). I no longer have the Abit board in my posession, but the asus a8n-sli deluxe is working with about the same temps in its place.

The air coming out the back feels about the same temp to my calibrated 'skin test' from both PSU, and honestly did not measure the output.

I'm pleased with the temps I'm seeing, especially the fanless ninja, it does reach about 45c on cpu-burn, but even that on it is excellent in my opinion.

I'm viewing the neo he as just an 'average' psu, but I will comment it is very quiet. I wish my s12-430 had modular plugs and a dedicated pci-e connector.. Perhaps the newer ones do/will.. Don't know.

Glad that ordeal is over. <looks around at his other hardware nervously> 'ok which one of you is gonna act up next'?

klankymen
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Post by klankymen » Fri Dec 09, 2005 4:22 am

well, I'm sending in my PSU today, and calculating Antec's Ground shipping, and the time to ship APO, i'm currently just hopeful that I'll get the PSU by christmas.

jldet5
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Post by jldet5 » Fri Dec 09, 2005 2:59 pm

Hellspawn wrote:
During the time I had my s12-430 Seasonic stuffed in the p150, my mobo temps were about 4-5c lower.. 120mm v. 80mm obviously. They still aren't bad now tho.
Well that does it for me then. I'm going with the S12. Thanks for the post!

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