are Antec PSUs actually reliable?

[tynopik]

i was talking to someone who does motherboard repair and he said he sees a lot of boards fried by Antecs and i've seen quite a few people here mention problems with their Antec

is Antec's quality reputation actually deserved?

 

[Mik3y]

Antec is among the top. since antec is the most popular, i'd assume taht there would be more announcements of defects. think of it like 5 out of 100 psu's are defected, which is quite normal. as a law, what can go wrong will go wrong, making it true taht no matter who you buy a psu from, you can still get jipped.

 

[natto fire]

Never had any problem with my 1yr old true 330. Had problems with my 3yr old enermax 465, but I think it was because I had never plugged it into a grounded outlet. That being said, I always plug my computer into a true grounded outlet. Never have heard of people having problems with Antec PS.

 

[bigj3347]

Just stay away from generic no name brands . . that's where u run in to the most problems, my Antec true 380 is awesome, no problems, two years and running.

 

[tfinch2]

you can't go wrong with antec

 

[Bateluer]

I had an Antec SL350, ran great. Just stuck in a Tru430, no issues.

 

[LanFear]

Pretty much all i'll buy, as well as cases, and never had an antec psu go bad on me.

 

[JohnPaul]

Have had a true430 for a year and a half with no issues. Have had others also with no problems at all. So yes, I think they deserve their good reputation.

 

[darkrisen2003]

Originally posted by: Captain_Howdy
Never had any problem with my 1yr old true 330. Had problems with my 3yr old enermax 465, but I think it was because I had never plugged it into a grounded outlet. That being said, I always plug my computer into a true grounded outlet. Never have heard of people having problems with Antec PS.

what do u mean an outlet that was never really grounded? in my experiance with sound systems for example, either u have a ground or not. the only trick to that is that u have to use the same size wires for the hot and ground if u want the best/most stable output. but ive never heard of anything like this in home outlets?

 

[Gurck]

Haven't had a problem with mine, and I've asked it to run pretty much 24/7 for a few years now. It's all I'd buy.

 

[Mitzi]

Never had a problem with mine and the PC is on nearly 24/7.

 

[Appledrop]

been running mynonamer 300/350 watt ( cant remember off hand) for 3 years. GENERIC 4 TYEH WEIN

 

[bates747]

what do u mean an outlet that was never really grounded? in my experiance with sound systems for example, either u have a ground or not. the only trick to that is that u have to use the same size wires for the hot and ground if u want the best/most stable output. but ive never heard of anything like this in home outlets?

I live in an older house that uses only 2 wire electrical cabling, however the outlets are 3 prong. There's just nothing connected to the ground prong. I ran some good 12/3 Romex cable to use a dedicated line for just my pc with nothing else on the circuit.

 

[Auric]

Specification for Mean Time Before Failure in hours:
50,000 Antec SL
80,000 Antec True & Neo
100,000 Seasonic, Fortron, etc.

Of course this reliability data only concerns the unit itself, not whether it will cause damage to other components when it fails or otherwise is overloaded. Any decent PSU has sufficient protection and simply trips its own breaker. A crap one could be expected to destroy only itself. One that destroys other hardware must be exceedingly shoddy. Antec is not a manufacturer or supplier to OEM's and so is really a small player but has relatively strong retail sales. So other than the lower reliability spec, it is conceivable that a high proportion of motherboard damage could involve Antec since it would imply self-assembly by possibly inexperienced users. As for their reputation, well, it is primarily a marketing company.

 

[caz67]

No issues at all..!!

 

[tynopik]

guess they aren't that bad after all

 

[mechBgon]

I have about 35-40 of them at work, some of which are going on two years old. No complaints. They're a mix of TruePower330's and SmartPower350's with the exception of a TruePower550 EPS and a PP-352XP.

 

[Auric]

Clearly a sufficient sampling. As purchasing manager for Dell, I am going to ignore the MTBF specs and immediately order 100,000 units from Antec. Sure, we could get the same thing direct from CWT for a lot lower cost but I'm a sucker for flashy advertising.

 

[ectx]

1. have 2 true control 550 no problems
2. don't think it is common for a psu to fry a mb.

 

[ROcHE]

I got a Smartpower 300 watts. It died after 2 months of use. Waiting for RMA. This does not mean that they all suck but that's my experience so far

 

[bigboxes]

I've had a 300w and am currently using a 430 TruPower. Love 'em. Sometimes I run my pc 24/7 for 10 days at a time. My pc has 4 hdd's and is rock solid. Antec is to psu's as Corsair is to memory. Quality.

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: Auric
Clearly a sufficient sampling. As purchasing manager for Dell, I am going to ignore the MTBF specs and immediately order 100,000 units from Antec. Sure, we could get the same thing direct from CWT for a lot lower cost but I'm a sucker for flashy advertising.

Does Channelwell offer a three-year warranty? Where do I send my faulty CWT PSU for replacement?

 

[CraigRT]

Antec is good... they are on the high end of the average IMO.. I had an Antec 400W for a couple years, finally bit the dust recently (went out in a blaze of glory - stunk pretty good) but it ran solid and reliable for those 2 years. Still have an Antec 300W about 3 yrs old now, powering my Athlon 1.33 rig.

 

[compudog]

Antec PSUs are great. I have only ever had one fail and that was because it was very overloaded. Enermax are also very good. All of my PCs at home are either Antec or Enermax. See sig.

 

[kkeennyy]

zero issues with my many antec TRU PSUs >400