Antec Goes 80Plus Platinum With New Earthwatts

[duckula]

The new Antec Eartwatts series comes in three flavors. They are EA-450 Platinum, EA-550 Platinum and EA-650 Platinum. MSRP for those units are 109.95, 119.95 and 129.95USD respectively. OEM is rumoured to be FSP.

http://web.antec.com/Believe_it/Information/file/Power/EarthWatts_Series/EA-450%20Platinum/flyer/EA-450%20Platinum_SCN.pdf
http://web.antec.com/Believe_it/Information/file/Power/EarthWatts_Series/EA-550%20Platinum/flyer/EA-550%20Platinum_SCN.pdf
http://web.antec.com/Believe_it/Information/file/Power/EarthWatts_Series/EA-650%20Platinum/flyer/EA-650%20Platinum_SCN.pdf

[duckula]

Probably based on the FSPxxx-80ETN platform. No idea about the topology, though.

http://www.plugloadsolutions.com/80Plus ... =37&type=2

[shovenose]

FSP=tiny heatsinks.

[c_hegge]

^
http://hardwareinsights.com/2011/11/ ... -review/3/
Maybe, maybe not.That one has alright heatsinks, although on an 80plus platinum, it doesn't really matter that much. When the efficiency is over 90%, there's not much heat to be dissipated.

It's odd that Antec is using FSP as the OEM for these. They've only used them for the basiq series in the past. The newer earthwatts are made by Delta.

In any case, though, I doubt if I'll be able to get my hands on one to review.

[duckula]

It's about time to unveil the mask. The EA platinum is merely a fine-tuned FSP Aurum. Unimpressive. I like the Japanese made caps on the secondary, though I dislike the CrapXon on the primary side.

[c_hegge]

The caps are stressed more on the secondary side, so it's more critical there, but yes, a Japanese PFC capacitor would be better.