Contents
Antec NeoHE 550W
The Original Capacitors
Unlike the CWT-made SmartPower SP-400, this unit is made by Seasonic and uses OST capacitors. They are more reliable than Fuhjyyu, but they are far from the best, and are known for failing with no visible signs of it. Like the Hipro HP-D3057F3H, this unit has two filtering capacitors for each rail. There are a 3300µF and a 1000µF capacitor on the 12V rail, a 2200µF and a 1000µF on the 5V and 3.3V rails, a 1000µF and a 330µF on the −12V rail and a 3300µF and a 220µF on the 5Vsb rail.
The replacement capacitors
| Role | Qty. | Original Value | Replacement |
| 12V Filtering | 1 | 3300µF 16V OST RLS | 820µF 16V Nichicon LG |
| 12V Filtering |
1 | 1000µF 16V OST RLS |
820µF 16V Nichicon LG |
| 5V Filtering |
1 | 2200µF 6.3V OST RLS |
1500µF 6.3V Sanyo OS-CON SEPC |
| 5V Filtering |
1 | 1000µF 10V OST RLS |
1000µF 6.3V Fujitsu RE |
| 3.3V Filtering |
1 | 2200µF 6.3V OST RLS |
1500µF 6.3V Sanyo OS-CON SEPC |
| 3.3V Filtering | 1 | 1000µF 6.3V OST RLS |
1000µF 6.3V Fujitsu RE |
| -12V Filtering |
1 | 1000µF 16V OST RLS |
820µF 16V Nichicon LG |
| -12V Filtering |
2 | 220µF 16V OST RLS |
330µF 16V Sanyo OS-CON SEP |
| 5Vsb Filtering |
1 | 3300µF 10V OST RLS |
1500µF 6.3V Sanyo OS-CON SEPC |
| 5Vsb Filtering |
2 | 220µF 16V OST RLS |
220µF 6.3V Chemi-con PSA |
The Stress-testing
| Test | Result |
| Performance Test |
Fail |
| 24 Hour In-PC Test |
N/A |
| Rail | Load | Voltage (After) | Voltage (Before) | Ripple (After) | Ripple (Before) |
| 12V | 33A | 11.58V | 11.84V | >800mV | 19.0mV |
| 5V | 5A | 4.91V | 5.07V | ? | 9.4mV |
| 3.3V | 10A | 3.25V | 3.28V | ? | 7.6mV |
| -12V | 0.1A | -12.74V | -12.35V | ? | 23.4mV |
| 5Vsb | 1A | 4.91V | 4.92V | ? | 36.2mV |
From the moment I hit the power switch, it was obvious that this power supply wasn’t going to work well with polymer capacitors. There was an annoying high-pitched squeal, and the ripple was off the scale on the 12V rail, which means it was above 800mV. The voltage regulation was also worse. After I finished reading the voltages and 12V ripple, it shut down and wouldn’t start up again, so I didn’t get to read the ripple on the other rails. This power supply is clearly optimised for the capacitance and ESR of the original capacitors, and doesn’t work well when these properties are changed significantly.
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