Choice between 2 Antecs?

[Taryam Krang]

My Antec Neo 480 gave up the ghost and they have RMAed a new Neo HE 500. I currently am runing an Antec SP500 temporarily (which interestingly runs very cool compared to the Neo 480), but don't want to stay with it given the spate of problems recorded. I also have a new Antec trio 550 that I picked up for less than $70. My case (P160) does not have windows and is well cooled by 2 1600 rpm 120mm fans.

My question to any (like Johnny) who have vigorusly tested them, which would you go with, the trio 550 or the neo HE 500?

Yes, I know there are better PS out there, but not for free (or less than $70 ) .

For the next build in late 2007- early 2008 I plan to go with a nice seasonic or silverstone, but not until I update to CD2 (or an new AMD quad?) and the next gen video (r600 or ?)

I figure either should be ok as far as power for my system, but am wondering from a quality perspective whether I should go with one vs. the other.

Thanks.

[MrWicked1968]

I've not read anything about the Trio's that would make me use one over a Neo HE500.

[GalvanizedYankee]

I agree with the above post.

[Bun-Bun]

I purchased a Antec Neo HE 550 and I love it for the price. It replaced my Antec Truepower 430w that died (see my thread (http://www.jonnyguru.com/forums/showthread.php?t=500) for pretty pictures ;)).

The Neo's are based on Seasonic which is why I purchased it. It is not a uber leet psu by any means but it has nice modular cables and is stable enough for my file server.

[Taryam Krang]

Thanks for the input guys. :)

Anyone else care to chime in? Based on what I had seen in the threads, I was kind of expecting people to point more towards the trio?:confused:

[jonnyGURU]

Why would you think that?

They took the NeoHE and figured out how to make it CHEAPER and UGLIER and not modualr.

I don't get it.

[Taryam Krang]

Perhaps I should have said based on what I had seen in "various sites forum threads & reviews".

From these I had gathered the following overall impression of the two:

Both powersupplies are built by seasonic. Both are of slighly less quality than the seasonic overall, but still good. Both are similar in efficiency. However, sites like x-bit seemed to have had issues with the HE (at least the 550, and least pre rev. 4) and it seems a number of users have reported similar problems with HEs (granted that it seems the majority of these are with certain models of ASUS MBs, which I do not have).

I hadn't noticed a similar volume of posts regarding problems with the trios. Also, while I did not see a review of any HE model on your site, your review of the trio 650 seemed to indicate that except for the test 6 hotbox fuse failure, the performance was quite good.

Since in this box I do not care about looks, and can take or leave the modular cables, I was leaning towards using the trio 550.

However, jonny, I get the impression you would go with the NEO 500 over the trio 550. From reading your reviews & comments, I have come to respect both your knowledge of electronics and your testing thoroughness. Consequently, if you believe that (esthetics aside) the NEO is the better PS of the two, I am inclined to be swayed in that direction.

One question though, as I did not see a review of the NEO HE models on your site, were you able to test one previously, or is your preference based on other experience with them?

Thank you for sharing your expertise.

[MrWicked1968]

you could sell both of your Antecs and get a better PSU altogether.

[CAD4466HK]

One question though, as I did not see a review of the NEO HE models on your site, were you able to test one previously, or is your preference based on other experience with them?

Older jG testing methodology goodness;) http://www.jonnyguru.com/PSU/NeoHE430/

[SKYMTL]

Where did you get that old review from? :confused: :confused:
The jG archives don't seem to be open to regular members.

[CAD4466HK]

Where did you get that old review from? :confused: :confused:
The jG archives don't seem to be open to regular members.

I am the Alpha and the Omega

[SKYMTL]

No, really. What is stopping us from seeing the older reviews?

[CAD4466HK]

thats one of jG's discontinued reviews,
I can't very well tell you, or you would have to die:p

[CAD4466HK]

Dude, I'm no different from you, just Google for them,
keyword=PSU make+jonnyGURU:p

[jonnyGURU]

thats one of jG's discontinued reviews,
I can't very well tell you, or you would have to die:p

LOL!

Yeah.. Google "jonnyGURU" and the model of the PSU and it'll pop up. You can also Google the URL "http://www.jonnyGURU.com/PSU/ and Google will show everything located in that directory (which is all the PSU reviews.)

[SKYMTL]

So there is no way to make them available through the actual website?

[Oklahoma Wolf]

Last time he did that, the trolls came out of the woodwork IIRC.

[Taryam Krang]

you could sell both of your Antecs and get a better PSU altogether.

The cash isn't an issue. Many thousands of dollars (and years) ago, I learned that when it comes to computer technology, it changes so fast that there is little point in buying more than what I need today, because tomorrow, I'll simply be tossing out the old stuff (or giving it away) and getting something new. In the long run I find that cheaper than trying to buy enough capacity for tomorrow and grow into it. Consequently, I tend to buy a little behind the curve for a lot less, and upgrade more often. I never have troubles doing any tasks like gaming, because by the time the software catches up to limit my current hardware, its time to move on anyway. I build new every 20 - 30 months, and update video and sometimes cpu every 9-18 months. I am halfway through that cycle now with one cpu upgrade and one video upgrade already.

My goal here was not to get the best power supply, but to get a decent one that is likely to give me stable power, and last for 12 - 18 months, and most importantly, and if it fails, not be prone to non-graceful failure.

I have built more than 300 PCs over the past 10 years. I have seen several power supplys fail over that time for different reasons. I have found that when the decent ones fail however, they stop working, they don't usually take other components out with them.

Given that I am planning to upgrade in the next 18 months, and that the current antec sp500 runs cool and stable (no probs at all when gaming), if it weren't for its low efficiency and reportly high failure rate because of the caps, I'd frankly be sticking with it untill the next upgrade. Since the NEO HE was free (RMA) it's an easy option, and at the price point I got the Trio for, I'd either use it or stick it in the next buget build I do for friend or family.

But I do agree that in the future, for either my personal machine or a high end custom build I do for another, I am inclined to go Corsair or Silverstone ZF.

[Taryam Krang]

Based on the advise received, I went with the Neo500. So far, so good, it has passed my basic stress testing and has had no problems with intensive gaming for several hours.

Interesting point, I posted my question in several PS forums. Except for here, most recomended the Trio over the NEO HE. I think it had a lot to do with the early reports of problems. (Mine's an A4). Also the voltages appear more stable on the 12 volt rail than the SP500 (but the SP was set about a .25 volt higher, perhaps to compensate?).

So thanks for the advise. And on the next upgrade in a year or so, a ZF model Silverstone might just be the ticket.:D

[jonnyGURU]

To my knowledge, the only real "problems" with Antec NeoHE's has to do with early revisions when used on a particular Asus motherboad (A8N-SLI.)

So those that recommend the Trio over the HE based on just that isolated incident without taking into consideration that they're both based on the same platform (but with the Trio being a little "cheaper") really surprises me.