Testing

To test the power supply I used the same tests to keep all the results fair and accurate. I ran the tests twice and recorded both results and if they were different I retested.

Using a Conroe based system:

Core 2 Duo E6600 @ 2.7ghz
Asus P5W DH Deluxe
OCZ 2gb Special Ops PC6400 @ 900mhz

I set the power supply to feed the system whilst it was running full screen RTHDRIBL (stress GFX card) and folding@home with Stress Prime on both cores. This was set running for an hour and the mean voltages was recorded. The results were all checked using a multimeter to ensure motherboard inaccuracies weren’t an issue.

The Antec Earthwatts was put head to head with the equally powerful and efficient Akasa Greenpower which you can read here.

After the load portion of the test, the computer was left to idle for another hour and the mean voltages were taken. Below are the results:

Both power supplies performed fantastically. The Akasa Greenpower proved to be the more stable and the more accurate as far as voltages go. The load test didn’t even begin to phase the unit and it stuck with its idle voltages. The 3.3v rail is better than the Antec but we are talking 0.04v. The 5v rail can’t be faulted at 4.99v but the 12v rail is a little high @ 12.32v.

The Antec however varied slightly in the 5v stage with a difference of 0.03v between idle and load. The 3.3v rail isn’t as accurate as the Akasa but still WAY within ATX spec. The 12v rail is better than the Akasa and just as stable.

While testing I did a little human noise measuring. The Antec lives up to its 'Quiet Computing' logo and its barely audible over normal case noise.