Here we have a brand new PSU form factor from Antec – the CP-850.

The PSU is in my honest opinion THE most important component in a PC. It’s the beating heart that every bit of hardware in a computer relies on. Finding a high quality, quiet and dependable supply is the holy grail of any PC build. Antec have sent their CP-850 PSU for review so hopefully it will do well.



Antec are a well known and highly regarded silent performance case, cooling and PSU company. Having recently reviewed the excellent P193 ‘Performance One’ flagship enclosure i am hoping their new PSU lives up to my expectations.

A little info from the Antec themselves…



Antec, Inc. is the global leader in high-performance computer components and accessories for the gaming, PC upgrade and Do-It-Yourself markets. Founded in 1986, Antec is recognized as a pioneer in the industry and has maintained its position as a worldwide market leader and international provider of quiet, efficient and innovative products. Antec has also achieved great success in the distribution channel, meeting the demands of quality-conscious system builders, VARs and integrators.

Antec’s offering of enclosures includes a wide range of cases, such as its advanced Performance One Series, economical New Solution Series and VERIS family of media components designed for the home theater PC market. Antec’s products also include front line power supplies, such as its premium Signature Series, powerful TruePower Quattro Series and EarthWatts, one of the most environmentally friendly power supplies available. PC gamers are an increasingly significant consumer of performance components, and many Antec products are designed for the gaming demographic, like the premier gamer enclosure: the Nine Hundred. Antec also offers a line of computer accessories comprising many original products, including its patented LED fans and notebook cooling solutions.

Specifically they describe the CP-850 PSU as follows…

The CP-850 features a unique design with an advanced cooling system, exclusively compatible with some of Antec’s most cutting-edge Gamer and Performance One enclosures, including the Twelve Hundred, P183 and P193. By breaking the mold of standardised power supply size restrictions, the CP-850 design is able to provide an excellent price-to-performance ratio. A silent rear 120mm PWM fan and dual PCB layout also ensure optimal cooling performance and reliability.

Specifications:

The CP-850 is a modular PSU sporting some impressive figures:



+3.3v +5v max load 160w
+12v1 +12v2 +12v3 +12v4 max load 768w
+3.3v +5v +12v1 +12v2 +12v3 +12v4 max load 827w

It also comes fully certified with RoHS compliance, Antec’s ‘Quality’ 5 year warranty, is rated to be at least 80% efficient and is SLi capable.



• Unique power supply construction compatible with new Antec cases (Specifically – Antec 1200, Antec P183 and Antec P193)
• Advanced hybrid cable management improves airflow and reduces clutter
• Dual PCB layout optimizes cooling efficiency and allows for heavy duty components
• Two 8-pin(6+2) PCI-E connectors and two 6-pin PCI-E connectors
• MTBF: 100,000 hours
• Safety approval: UL, FCC, TÜV, CE, C-tick, CCC, CB, BSMI
• Dimensions: 175mm (W) x 119mm (H) x 200mm (D)

Packaging:

Once again Antec supplies the product in an attractive and clearly labelled box. There’s no mistaking what you’re getting. You get a pretty picture of the CP-850 on the front and a selection of technical information on the rear.



Upon opening you find that the CP-850 is well packaged. Flanked by plastic foam and wrapped within an additional layer of plastic the PSU should have been safely cocooned during transit.



Also contained within are a basic instruction sheet, 3 pin power cable, screws for securing the PSU in the PC case and a selection of modular cables.

The CP-850:

I removed all packaging to get a good look at the CP-850. It’s a simple and clean looking unit. The business end of the supply shows the PSU’s trump card. Where you would normally find a lowly (and normally noisy!) 80mm fan resides a much larger 120mm fan. This is a PWM quiet fan which should provide very decent airflow whilst at the same time operate in near silence.



The height of the PSU’s case is much greater than the standard ATX design. Of course this unusual shape allows for the inclusion of that 120mm fan but it does rule out its use in any cases other than Antec’s own 1200, P183 and P193. The position of the 120mm fan is most important as it is the ideal location for drawing air efficiently over the components within the CP-850 and maintaining the airflow seen in most PC case designs. Many PSU designs use a 120mm (and 140mm) fan at the base of the PSU case… this is of course an inefficient design due to the airflow having to change direction to exit the rear of the unit… on top of that these intakes can easily be blocked by many PC cases and/or the components within.

Looking again at this portion of the PSU you can also see the selection of captive cabling consisting of the following:

24-pin (20+4) main connector
4-pin ATX12v
8-pin EPS12v
2x 8-pin (6+2) PCI-E
3x Molex + 1x Floppy
3x SATA



Pretty much enough for any mid/high level system never mind the modular expandability!

Also present are four modular sockets designed to work with the additional cabling that has been supplied. These consist of 2 upper 6-pin sockets in black (Rail 1) a middle 8-pin socket in red (Rail 3) and a lower 8-pin socket also in red (Rail 4). The extra cabling consists of the following:

2x cables containing 3x molex connectors (each)
2x cables containing 3x sata connectors (each)
2x cables containing 1x 6-pin PCI-E (each)

The sides are a standard design with one side being completely blank (apart from a subtle Antec logo stamped into the metal) and the other stating the make, model and technical specifications of the unit. Tidy and to the point.



The back of the unit looks a little odd due to that extra height but from here you can clearly see Antec’s approach. The additional space allows the use of dual PCB’s, better component selection and better layout meaning costs are kept down while component and thermal performance are improved. A simple yet effective design it would seem. Hopefully this will follow through during testing.

Installation:

After the recent P193 test the Tagan 900w PSU i had used needed to be removed.



Once it was out of the way all that was left before the CP-850 was installed was the removal of the ATX adapter plate.



As you can see this leaves a considerable hole ready to accept the CP-850.



Installation was very straight forward due to the size of the P193 – and once in place i found that the CP-850 had very generously long cables. A particular cable of note was the 8-pin 12v motherboard cable.



Originally the Tagan i first installed in the P193 caused me issues and i ended up routing the cable in open view across the motherboard and under the GPU. In stark contrast to this the CP-850 allowed me to use Antec’s intended cable route making the install much tidier. I was very impressed!

Testing:

Processor: Intel e6600 @ 3GHz
Motherboard: Intel Badaxe II P975
CPU Cooler: Thermalright XP90-C
Optical Drive: NEC Optiarc DVDRW
Graphics: Zotac GTX295 1792mb PCI-e
Hard Disk: Samsung Spinpoint 320GB
Case: Antec P193



I monitored the PC’s voltage rails at idle and then at load. I used OCCT to load the PSU, monitor the rails and then noted the results.

Results:



Although i couldn’t fully load it (even with a GT295!) you can see the CP-850 was a wonderfully stable unit – a nice performance.

Sound:

In operation the CP-850 was an almost silent operator – at idle the fan barely spun but did produce noticeable airflow thanks to the wonderfully efficient characteristics of the design. At full load the fan’s speed only picked up slightly and never became remotely intrusive. Certainly quieter than the many Thermaltake, Hiper and Tagan units i’ve used recently. Truly impressive.

Conclusion:

I\\\’ve found the CP-850 to be a wonderfully well thought out unit and a consummate performer in all areas.

It\\\’s average price at the time of writing comes in at around £90 which is a truly astonishing price for a unit of this quality and performance. On top of this the 5 year warranty is a wonderful safety blanket too.

Of course all this praise has to end somewhere and it turns out that its best feature is also its achilles heel. The larger form factor means it can only presently fit in three Antec designs. If you don\\\’t have one of these cases then you would have to either buy one, modify your current case to accept it or go for another PSU model.

It is my sincere hope that other manufacturers decide to take on Antec\\\’s design direction. The CP-850 provides a stable platform to build a PC from. It\\\’s very quiet, easy to install, well specified, powerful and most importantly great value.

I can thoroughly recommend the CP-850 and have chosen (despite the inherrant compatibility issues) to award it our \\\’Gold\\\’ award due to its simple and innovative design.

Vortez Hardware would like to thank Antec for supplying the CP-850 for review. To discuss this review please visit the Vortez Hardware forum.