Preview: Antec BP450PS

Antec BP450PS

Price: Rs 2400 (Amazon.in)

 

Antec has recently launched a whole range of low cost and high value PC power supplies to cater to the masses who want the most without spending a lot. The Antec BP450PS is one such power supply unit. It promises 450 W continuous power to PC components and a 75% efficiency to reduce electricity bills. Its 120 mm fan is meant to spin silently to cool the PSU without making any disturbing noise. All the bells and whistles sans nonsense, as the company puts it.

 

 

Looks and Build

The looks of a PSU should normally not be given too much importance as it is never going to be in view, except in case of cabinets with see-thru side panels. Nevertheless, the BP450PS has a powder-coated black matte finish, which looks good. The rear surface is perforated for ventilation. A power button has been provided here to switch the power supply on and off from here if required. 

 

 

The build quality is a bit questionable as there is a fair amount of play and some alignment issue between the covering panel and the body. This still should not be a deal-breaker because the PSU is going to stay secured inside the cabinet. 

 

Voltage levels for input as well as output are clearly mentioned on one side of the PSU.

 

 

 

The large 120 mm low speed fan ensures that it does not produce noise while the PC is running. This will be valued more by those who use the PC to watch movies or listen to music. 

 

Specifications

• 450W Continuous Power - Guaranteed 450W of Continuous Power from Antec
• Up to 75% efficient - To reduce your electricity bill
• AQ2 - Antec Quality 2-year warranty and lifetime global 24/7 support
• 120 mm Silence - Whisper-quiet high-quality fan with long lifetime
• Thermal Manager - An advanced low voltage fan control for optimal heat & noise management
• Multi PCI-E - 2 PCI-E connectors for multiple GPU support
• CircuitShield - Full suite of industrial grade protections
• Heavy-duty Caps - High-performance capacitors ensure tightest DC stability and regulation
• ErP Lot 6 - Compliant to the toughest energy standard available
• MTBF >= 80,000 hours
• Dimensions: 15.1 cm (W) x 14 cm (D) x 8.5 cm (H)

What is continuous power?

Here’s something about continuous-rated PSUs such as this one. Such PSUs deliver the rated power at all times as long as they are running. There are also peak-rated PSUs, which deliver the rated power only as a peak value but cannot maintain that wattage consistently. The third type, which is the worst of the lot, is over-rated PSU, which actually cheats the consumer by advertising a certain wattage, but can deliver that only for a few seconds before falling back to a much lower value. 

 

Needless to say, it is always safe to go for a continuous-rated PSU to ensure the longevity of your PC components. 

 

The company also mentions heavy duty capacitors, which should ensure a steady and stable DC power supply with a maintained regulation. 

 

Dual 12 V power rails ensure better stability due to better load balancing.

 

Connectors:

Although this is an entry-level PSU, it comes with all the connector that you might ever need. The cables are not covered with a wire mesh, so tend to get entangled. This is obviously the result of cost-saving from Antec.

 

 

 

Four SATA power connectors: You can use four different SATA devices such as hard drives and optical drives. 

Three MOLEX connectors: You can connect to older devices requiring this type of power connector. Also expansion power cables usually require this power connector. 

Floppy drive power connector: While this may no longer be used to connect to a floppy drive, because those are no longer used, it can be useful to connect to certain PCI Express cards such as sound cards. 

24-pin ATX power connector: This plugs into the socket on the motherboard. 

8-pin CPU power connector: This provides additional power to the CPU to help it run more stable, especially when overclocked. 

Two 6-pin PCI-E connectors: These are to power up graphics cards that need them. Low power graphics cards do not need any, but medium power graphics cards may need one or both. One of these is power connectors can be expanded to an 8-pin power PCI-E power connector to connect to certain graphics cards.

 

Preliminary Conclusion 

The Antec BP450PS with its 450 W continuous power should be able to comfortably run a moderate gaming rig with games running at medium resolution and settings. You will still struggle to run today’s games at the highest resolution and settings because the graphics card and CPU will require more than 450 W to do that. At its current price, it is challenged by the comparatively priced Corsair VS450, which comes with 3 years warranty as against the 2 years from Antec and claims 85% power efficiency as against Antec's 75%. However, Antec claims to use dual power rails as against a single used in the Corsair. Overall, the Antec BP450PS seems to be a good buy for the price.

NOTE: Antec has informed that this PSU comes with 2 years warranty and an additional 1 year (thus 3 years warranty), subject to the following procedure.

"Antec is providing additional warranties on specific PSUs. Any products purchased during 1st July 2013 - 31st December 2015 gets additional warranty on registration. Request you to kindly incorporate this fact for all BP series review made so far. If possible you can also include the link mentioned below for redeeming the additional warranty.http://www.antecindia.co.in/?page=registration"