Antec CPX PSU

judge56988 · Post by **judge56988** » Sun Mar 01, 2009 12:53 pm

Any thoughts on this?
Seems like the logical next step to me.

jhhoffma · Post by **jhhoffma** » Sun Mar 01, 2009 7:25 pm

Not a big fan of "upgrades" that aren't backwards compatible.

I have 2 antec cases, one less that 2 months old and won't work with this new form factor. Seems to be an awful big risk to me, especially after watching the whole RAMBUS debacle.

mishad · Post by **mishad** » Thu Mar 05, 2009 2:14 pm

When MikeC mentioned the change in PSU mounting in the P183 (http://www.silentpcreview.com/article840-page2.html) as "lowered (for reasons that cannot be divulged at this time)" I guessed that a 120mm inline PSU design was what they would announce -- and I wondered why anyone would want to be tied to such a proprietary standard.

Doesn't Mike's "radical idea" (viewtopic.php?t=52410) of using the 120mm fan in the P180/2 bottom compartment as the main fan for the PSU give you almost all the benefits, without the lockin?

judge56988 · Post by **judge56988** » Fri Mar 06, 2009 5:46 am

mishad wrote: Doesn't Mike's "radical idea" (viewtopic.php?t=52410) of using the 120mm fan in the P180/2 bottom compartment as the main fan for the PSU give you almost all the benefits, without the lockin?

It does, yes. I had forgotten about it. I would just prefer something neater and purpose built. Maybe it'll catch on and other case manufacturers will include the option. Maybe the inline 80mm fan units are quiet enough already and this is a step too far. I've currently got a Nexus 350w PSU which is pretty quiet to my mind. I need an inline unit for what I have in mind and had been thinking about a 650W Antec Signature, although it's expensive and too powerful for my needs.

Aris · Post by **Aris** » Fri Mar 06, 2009 11:41 am

Putting the fan on the outside = GREAT IDEA!

Now i can get rid of their crappy stock fans easily to replace them with something more quality. Oh and that finger guard would be the first thing i unbolted off of that thing.

I also prefer the whole (fan on the inside blowing front to back) configuration. Keeps airflow in a straight line, and keeps the fan away from the outside of the case as much as possible. Should help with cooling and acoustics a lot.

I think as long as you have a case with a bit of room around the PSU (like in most cases i own), you could likely mod this to fit in just about any case.

blackworx · Post by **blackworx** » Fri Mar 06, 2009 11:56 am

Yeah +1 for the easy fanswap. Mind you that does take away half the fun.

judge56988 · Post by **judge56988** » Mon Mar 30, 2009 7:37 am

9.5/10
http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?na ... y&reid=142

mr. poopyhead · Post by **mr. poopyhead** » Mon Mar 30, 2009 8:15 pm

does the extra breathing room make for a quieter PSU? shouldn't they be focusing on making them more efficient and thus cooler? then we wouldn't need a bigger form factor. not a big fan of bigger PSUs and bigger cases...

Tir · Post by **Tir** » Fri Apr 17, 2009 6:24 am

I've decided to buy a CP-850, it's much more than I need but at that low price I feel compelled to get one for my new P183, and it'll last me many upgrades. I'll let you know how it goes.

New review here too:
http://www.hitechlegion.com/reviews/pow ... 0-watt-psu

Like I said previously, I was unable to max out the CP-850, but I did get it up to 521W and it was so quiet, I had to keep checking to make sure the fan was running. Not to mention that the CP-850 rose only a degree above room temperature at the 521W, which is awesome and shows that the 120mm fan and the design of the CP-850 are doing their jobs very well.

Ven · Post by **Ven** » Mon Apr 27, 2009 1:14 am

Did you get this PSU?
I'm thinking about purchasing it as it seems to be pretty good PSU for computer I'm going to buy. It looks like there aren't too many good PSUs in this price range available here that would handle Core i7 and SLI.

Ubor · Post by **Ubor** » Sun May 03, 2009 9:34 am

I'd be interested in hearing anyone's views who has actually had one in a setup. From looking online in the UK everyone seems to be quoting next week as when they will be in stock. Has anyone actually managed to get hold of one?

I think for the price point the setup makes alot of sense depending on what you want out of your computer. So for me games, graphics, encoding, etc. A decent size silent case is great but then when you start looking at properly quiet PSUs to go with it they are very expensive. At Â£220ish for the P183 and the CP-850 it looks very attractive.

And the reviews have been very, well extremely, positive. It seems to be a top notch PSU.

On two other points. The backwards compatibility issue I can't seeing such a problem. You are likely to buy one of the Antec cases if you are getting this PSU - I don't really see that many will hack their cases to bits to squeeze one in but then some cases (Lian-Li with all their double PSUs) you almost certainly could. Then the only time "backwards" compatibility comes into play is when you change your case but I suspect many people look to buy cases only on really big upgrades when often I suspect you'd consider a new power supply anyway?

The size/efficiency comment - I think this form factor should be looked at as an alternative to ATX - I don't think even Antec look at it as a replacement for the ATX layout. Sort of shown as the form factor is identical apart from size? What it does give us is the chance at building some powerful machines and have a chance of keeping the PSU cool and quiet. Something that I think has been missing for a long time. As ATX power supplies get more efficient so will the CPX ones. It's just a bigger box. I think Antec's aims where firmly in noise and cost.

What I have been wondering is does the size mean they can use some slightly large parts to keep the costs down? I'm just wondering how they have overbuilt it to such a high standard for such a low cost?

I like the idea. I hope that some manufacturers do adopt it in some cases. But I think it will only happen for machines where a lot of power and being quiet counts. A growing market? HTPC, Desktops, or when space is at a premium it makes no sense. But I think Antec know that.
Be interested in what others think.

Oklahoma Wolf · Post by **Oklahoma Wolf** » Mon May 04, 2009 3:08 pm

Ubor wrote:What I have been wondering is does the size mean they can use some slightly large parts to keep the costs down? I'm just wondering how they have overbuilt it to such a high standard for such a low cost?

Essentially, they just really overbuilt it. They used five 60A rated output Schottkys on the 12V where three were already enough... that kind of thing. You could run the secondary side to well over 1kW and it still wouldn't be very stressed.

My review sample's been doing 24/7 in my main rig since the review. That 120mm fan barely spins in the Twelve Hundred... the unit just doesn't heat up much in there.

CocoBryce · Post by **CocoBryce** » Tue May 05, 2009 2:15 pm

I'm really curious if antec will release some version with less wattage - maybe a 450w and a 550w? I really find this form factor to be excellent for silent operation do to the great airflow through ths psu, meaning that the fan barely spins.

Ubor · Post by **Ubor** » Tue May 12, 2009 4:00 am

Well I finally managed to track one down in the UK as everywhere I could find said stock on the 20/05. Morecomputers.co.uk had 2 listings one with no stock until 20th and one with 25 in stock now. Took a chance and ordered it Sunday and sure enough it turned up today.

It's definitely huge, but looks right in a P183 case. Just have to get it all plugged in now

Will let you know what I think.

Domain · Post by **Domain** » Thu May 14, 2009 11:00 pm

Hmmm I picked one of these up as well after swaying back and forth between the Modu82+ and the Signature 650 for my P183. After reading Oklahoma Wolf's review, and given the price I figure it is worth a shot...

I was concerned the 80mm on the Signature would have to ramp up too much with my build (426W+ during load), and I wasn't fond of Enermax's proprietary fan (seems I have replaced a fan at least once in every supply's lifetime)... so having a 120mm, that looks like it is easily replaceable (or I assume from the pictures) seems to be the best of both worlds.

Still this thing is probably about 200-400W overkill for me...

jrs91 · Post by **jrs91** » Sat May 23, 2009 5:42 pm

I'm considering this PSU. I've long pined over antec P18x cases and I finally ordered a P183 last week because i'm sick of the noise. I need a psu, hsf, and video card cooler to go with it.

The only other thing I'm considering is the nexus 430 value, but I don't think it gives me enough headroom for video card upgrades, etc. I guess if the fan is easily swappable, there's no way to lose with this thing. It's $50 more than the nexus, but eliminates the need to upgrade in the near future.

Ubor · Post by **Ubor** » Tue May 26, 2009 8:24 pm

I was exactly the same. Those P18x cases had been taunting me ever since buying my last computer in 2005 - just before the P180 hit the scene. I was a bit taken back by the love it/loath it reaction to the P183. I'll admit I haven't seen the P182 up close but the P183 looks good to me. Even with the door open its not bad to look at. The photos tend to look more savage that the real life.

Well after 2 weeks of using the P183 and CP-850 I have to say I am very impressed. The power is very solid and I've had no issues. I clocked up my 920 to 4Ghz with HT on and Prime95'ed it for 8 hours with no problems. The voltages all stayed the same. Slight 0.03v fluctuation under load of the CPU but nothing to cause any concerns. What I do really quite like is the lovely solid click noise when the unit resets. Might be a bit annoying if you are after total silence but for me I like it. Sounds very robust.

You just cannot hear the PSU at all even under load unless you open the case and put your ear up to it. You can hear more of the fans but even that is only a very faint hum.While I have not tried changing the fan on the back of the PSU it does look very easy to do - but frankly I am not sure there is much point. It just doesn't seem to use it enough to make any noise in the first place.

Other observations of the P183. You can turn the power on/off without opening the door. It's like they deliberately lined the button up so that you can push it through one of the holes so don't be put off by that.
The case seems not to have cooling problems. I've got 4x1Tb, 920, True 120, and a GTX260 with 4 Noctua fans. It's all been Soundproofed and has sound blocks in all the spare 5.25" bays. Even then it stays at 40C in the case, with the cores bobbing between 80-82C at 4Ghz HT when Prime95'ed.

Overall - I'm very pleased. Good value for money, great performance.

jrs91 · Post by **jrs91** » Wed May 27, 2009 10:17 am

Cool, Im' gonna go ahead and order it then. I'm ordering a bunch of scythe slip streams as fans.

Are you using a fan controller? I'm wondering about clearance with the door...

Ubor · Post by **Ubor** » Wed May 27, 2009 11:16 am

I have all the fans plugged into the motherboard at the moment but I am not using any control for them. I got a P6T so one fan is on a LNA adapter rather than plugging into the PWR fan on the motherboard which cannot be controlled.

I set up Speedfan and by playing with that I can get rid of the low hum at idle easily. It does add 4-5C per core at idle but thats acceptable I feel. Really is inaudible to me then, without getting down next to it and listening closely. I'm sure with HT off and a manual fan controller you could make it practically silent for games/high end use. But I am a bit disappointed with the Noctua fans. I've done 2 soundproofed Coolermaster 335 Elite cases (suprisingly good for their cost) with 2 Noctua fans each and had great results. They just seem alot louder in the P183.

Scythe's look good and generally get better reviews - let me know how they go I'd be very interested.

Clearance on the door is about the height of a normal 3.5" hard drive. The door has a lip too so another few mm as well on that. Plenty for fan controllers I'd have thought.

My only real complaint about the CP-850 is that more of the cables aren't modular as pointed out in the review. I currently have the extra cables tied behind the motherboard but it makes soundproofing a bit painful. Think I might put them down the side of the PSU instead.

~El~Jefe~ · Post by **~El~Jefe~** » Wed May 27, 2009 2:11 pm

johnny guru review was awesome thanks

I will check out his site more often.

Does the psu mind having its pwm fan ripped off and replaced with completely externally controlled fans???

Yeah, this psu is my next psu. I enjoy the 850 wattage. Why not? makes have joyful images of it being dropped from 2 stories up on someone's pico psu rig......

jrs91 · Post by **jrs91** » Sat May 30, 2009 12:42 pm

I got everything installed. The antec psu is awesome. I couldn' believe how heavy it was. The antec weighs as much as a brick. You can see some pretty big components if you look in the back of it.Very good build quality. I can't hear it either, but that's because my 8800gts is the dominant noise in my system. I'm gonna have to buy a cooler for it to get the system really quiet.

I ended up going with the NZXT fan controller. It looks really sweet. The only thing I have left to do is route the cables for the temperature probes. I got home late and moving everything to the new case took a pretty long time, so i didn't really finish the job.

I wish there was a little more room behind the motherboard tray. I had a tough time getting the side panel back on. It's the cleanest cabling job i've ever done though.

The Scythe's are awesome though. I removed both of the Antec fans. I have 1200rpm slipstreams on my cpu heatsink, one in the top front intake, one in the rear, and one spare in case i decide to replace the fan on the psu