Antec HCG-520M Review

Greater than 1kW
power supplies certainly are fancy and popular, but the truth is, most users do not
require that kind of power, including gamers and overclockers. The majority of
power users prefer a power supply tailored to the needs of their system rather
than the most powerful product on the shelf. To this end, Antec presented their
High Current Gamer series, consisting of units ranging from 400W up to 900W,
modular and not. Today we are having a look on the most popular version of the
series, the HCG-520M. As the name suggests, it is a 520W rated power supply and
of modular design.

Although
neither the peak power of 520W nor the 80Plus Bronze certification will sound
like much to the hardcore enthusiast, the output of the HCG-520M is plentiful
for the majority of single-GPU gaming computers. As the power supply may be
found retailing for as low as $81.84 at the time of this review, we can
easily figure out what is making it so popular. But how well does it perform? Read
on to find out.

 

Antec High Current Gamer 520W Power Supply Features:

• 520
  watts of Continuous Power
• 80 PLUS
  Bronze certified — up to 87% efficient
• High
  Current Hybrid Cable Management — special 10-pin and 5-pin modular connectors
  for High Current rail
• Quiet
  135 mm Double Ball Bearing cooling fan
• Stealth
  Wires: all wires darkened for minimal visibility in chassis
• All
  Japanese brand capacitors for reliability
• Thermal
  Manager: an advanced low voltage fan control for optimal heat & noise
  management
• Up to
  90% power available on +12V rail
• ATX12V
  version 2.32 and EPS12V version 2.92 compliant
• Heavy-duty
  protection circuitry on all rails prevents damage from a variety of dangers
• MTBF:
  100,000 hrs