Antec’s NeoPower series is a great all-around power supply for gamers. NeoPower power supplies 500 watts and up are Nvidia SLI certified, so they should adequately power 2 video cards at the same time, in addition to the standard hardware in your system. It’s also capable of up to 85% efficiency, and at least 80% at all times – but most modern power supplies are SLI capable and have good efficiency. What makes Antec power supplies (and the NeoPower series) unique are their other, more useful features. For example, it will never go above 50 degrees (C), even if you ran it at full load for days. And this isn’t due to a large or loud fan, either. The NeoPower series feature just one small 80mm fan which changes speed depending on system load – so it’s silent when it can be, and quiet when it needs the cooling (up to 18dBA).
The review unit I received was the NeoPower 650. It looks fairly plain, due to the gunmetal-type cover (although power supplies are rarely known for being cool-looking). Due to the cable management system, the only cables which are hard-wired to the PSU are the 20/24 pin 12V motherboard connector and the 4/6/8 pin PCIe GPU connectors. In addition to that, you have 5 “expansion” sockets on the rear where you can plug in adapters included with the PSU – Advantage of that being, of course, that you don’t have extra cables hanging around your system. Not only are those extra cables ugly and hard to manage, but they block airflow and can cause your system fans to work harder, resulting in a louder, hotter system.
Fact is, this power supply isn’t lacking at all, in any area. It’s got the wattage to power all of your hardware, the certifications to prove it (Nvidia SLI, RoHS, 80 Plus). And for those of you wondering about reliability, not only is the NeoPower series backed up by “Industrial grade” power protection circuitry (preventing short circuits, under voltage, power overloads, excessive current, excessive voltage), but it’s backed by a five year warranty as well. If you’re looking to build a system or even upgrade your existing hardware, Antec has shown that they are simply the best choice for power supplies, yet again. Gamers and system builders need power and reliability – and the NeoPower 650 delivers that and much more.
