INTRODUCTION

   This is it people, NVIDIA will finally unveil their next generation of graphics cards in less than 3 days during GAME24 their 24-hour event setup by gamers for gamers (if things go as planned of course) and aside the high-end GeForce GTX 980/970 models which we've been waiting to make their debut for quite some time now (and which may set new performance numbers for 4k gaming) it seems that they will also introduce their mid-range GeForce GTX 960 model which should be roughly half as power hungry compared to the flagship model of the new line and that brings us to today’s review. As many of you know although Antec introduced their latest EDGE series of power supply units in the USA roughly two weeks ago the EU announcement happened just a few hours and go and since the 550W variant should be sufficient to power the upcoming GeForce GTX 960 we decided to take a closer look.

   Antec, Inc., is the leading global brand of high-performance computer components and accessories for the gaming, PC upgrade and Do-It-Yourself (DIY) markets. Founded in 1986, Antec is recognized as a pioneer in these industries and has maintained its position as a worldwide market leader and international provider of efficient, quiet, and reliable 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 large range of cases, such as its technically advanced Performance One Series, cost-effective New Solution Series and server grade cases designed for the needs of all workstation and server markets. Antec’s products also include front line power supplies such as its TruePower Quattro Series and EarthWatts, the most environmentally friendly power supplies available. PC gamers are an increasingly significant consumer of performance components, and many Antec products are geared toward the gaming demographic, like the Nine Hundred, the premier gamer enclosure. Antec also offers a computing accessories line comprised of many original products, including its patented LED Fans and Notebook Cooling solutions. Antec is headquartered in Fremont, California, with additional offices in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, as well as in Germany, China and Taiwan. The company’s products are sold in more than 40 countries throughout the world. Please visit www.antec.com for more information.

   The EDGE power supply models by Antec (550/650/750W) are 80 plus gold certified and feature a fully modular design, 16pin power connectors (future-proof design), two high-current +12v rails, a thermal manager which controls the 135mm fluid dynamic-bearing LED fan, Japanese made capacitors and an assortment of industrial grade protections such as over current protection (OCP), over voltage protection (OVP), no load operation (NLO), short circuit protection (SCP), over power protection (OPP), over temperature protection (OTP) and surge & Inrush Protection (SIP). The +12v rails of the 550W variant which we have here with us are capable of using roughly 98.2% of the units total output (540W) with up to 30A each and although they are not as good as the ones of the recently reviewed High Current Pro Platinum series still such specs accompanied by Antec’s Quality 5 year warranty should cover the majority of gamers out there.

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

The EDGE series PSUs are packed inside a box that has a partial picture of the product at the front alongside its main features, the 80 Plus Gold and Intel Haswell certifications and the company logo.

On the left side of the box we see the features list in two languages while on the right side we see the electrical table and available power connectors.

The features list is also printed at the rear in 6 languages.

You can see some pictures showcasing the main product features at the top of the box.

At the bottom we see the features list in two more languages (10 in total) and a picture of the box used to show its size.

As always packaging is excellent so no problems in this area.

Along with the EDGE PSU you will get its modular cables, a storage pouch, power cord, 4 mounting screws, 4 anti-noise de-couplers, warranty information paper and the product overview paper.

THE EDGE 550W EXTERIOR

As mentioned earlier the EDGE 550W is fully modular and features a black matte finish.

Antec has opted for a 135mm LED fan with 11 clear blades.

Both sides are perforated and have the Antec plate logo at their center (we used to see that logo at the rear of other models).

The sticker that has the electrical table is placed at the belly of the PSU.

All of the modular connectors are tagged and as you can see right next to them Antec has placed the on/off switch for the LEDs of the fan.

Once again the rear features the regular honeycomb perforation, an on/off power switch and the EDGE logo.

The anti-noise de-couplers are a nice touch and although i prefer the red ones (red/black combo) the black ones are not bad either.

THE EDGE 550W INTERIOR

The 135mm fluid dynamic-bearing LED fan is manufactured by Ong Hua and can reach speeds of up to 2000RPM.

Although not clear at first this board seems to be made by Seasonic.

A single Hitachi capacitor rated for use up to 105 degrees Celsius is placed on the primary side.

The secondary side of the power supply features capacitors made by both Rubycon and Nippon Chemi-Con (also certified for use up to 105 degrees).

Now i would like an RGB LED fan more but as you can all see white is not bad either.

TEST BED

TESTING METHODOLOGY

     Using a dedicated measurement instrument such as a Chroma or a SunMoon to test power supply units is without doubt the most ideal and accurate way (not to mention the fastest) to do that currently. However it's certainly not the only way there is and so pretty much anyone can test a power supply unit just by using a computer. Certainly limitations do apply and so you can't really test a 1000W power supply if your system only uses 500W at peak loads and that's why during the past 5 years i have saved certain hardware components for the purpose of building a dedicated PSU test rig. True it may not be as accurate as the above mentioned solutions but it comes really close and is in fact closer to real world usage. So as always we ran several games with maximum graphic options enabled at a resolution of 2560x1600 in order to stress every hardware component and increase the overall power demands of the system. The Passmark BurnIn Test was also used to overstress the components in an effort to provide the most accurate results possible. As a final test we also used the latest OCCT 4.4 software and its dedicated PSU testing suite since it can really bring a power supply to its knees after inside a few minutes.

       Rail stability was checked/measured with the CPUID Hardware monitor and a Metex multimeter which also recorded the system load in idle and in load. As always try to remember that the power consumption numbers listed in the graph are the highest (Peak) ones recorded during the entire duration of the tests and not the average ones. Noise levels coming from the fan were recorded using the high precision HD600 ExTech Sound dBA Meter from the rear of the unit and at a range of no more than 5-10cm. Readings under load are recorded the exact moment we manually switch the fans of all graphics cards from full speed to almost zero, that way the fan of the power supply does not have enough time to slow its RPM and so by doing this we get very accurate noise level readings. Needless to say in order to get 100% accurate readings you need to have a noise isolated room for that exact purpose, something which is quite impossible unless you are working inside a real lab (some people use very small noise insulated boxes but due to their size both heat and noise exceed normal levels and so the results can't really be considered to be 100% accurate). Also do take into account that since all noise measurements take place from just 5-10cm away the final noise levels to reach your ears will be considerably less.

TEST RESULTS

RAIL STABILITY

All rails proved to be quite tight and not really that much far from some 80 Plus Platinum units.

POWER CONSUMPTION

Instant power consumption almost hit 600W but to be honest with all of you i never did expect any issues.

NOISE LEVELS (SPL)

With just 42.8dBA even at load the EDGE 550W is one of the quietest PSUs we've ever gotten our hands onto.

CONCLUSION

   It's no secret that both Antec and Seasonic are two of my favorite PSU brands so when both come together to design and manufacture a power supply unit things just can't go wrong and the EDGE model is proof of that. It certainly can't reach the High Current Pro Platinum line of PSUs again by Antec but it was obviously never ment to do that besides how many times have you see the mid-end line surpass the high-end one? What the EDGE series is ment to do is offer very good performance and future-proof compatibility via its fully modular design and 16pin power connectors to gamers around the world without breaking the bank and i think it does that exceptionally. The fact that Antec released the EDGE series just in time for the unveiling of the latest GeForce cards is probably not a coincidence but we can't be certain although it's a good bet that with all the exposure Antec has been getting lately potential GTX 98/970/960 buyers will certainly have the EDGE series in their crosshairs by now.

   So how much for an 80 Plus Gold Certified, fully modular and future-proof 550w power supply unit? Well fortunately Antec has followed a somewhat good pricing policy with this specific PSU model since you can currently find the 550W variant for around USD119 inside the USA and for 129Euros inside the EU (Amazon.co.uk). As usual the competition at around that price point is fierce so you can find many similar solutions from other brands but only Antec’s offers their Quality 5 year warranty and i really doubt you can find a more silent model with the same performance levels as the EDGE. Once again Antec has released a very good power supply unit which may indeed not be the best but it's certainly worth our Golden Award.

PROS

- Build Quality
- Very Good Performance (Rail Stability)
- Fully Modular (Future Proof)
- LED On/Off Switch
- Low Noise Levels
- 5 Years Warranty
- 80Plus Gold Certified
- CircuitShield Electrical Protection Suite (OCP/OVP/NLO/SCP/OPP/OTP/SIP)
- 2 Sets Of Anti-Noise De-Couplers

CONS

- Current Availability (USA)