Antec EDGE 550W Power Supply Review
by E. Fylladitakis on October 3, 2014 10:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- Antec
- 550W
- Edge
Cold Test Results
For the testing of PSUs, we are using high precision electronic loads with a maximum power draw of 2700 Watts, a Rigol DS5042M 40 MHz oscilloscope, an Extech 380803 power analyzer, two high precision UNI-T UT-325 digital thermometers, an Extech HD600 SPL meter, a self-designed hotbox, and various other bits and parts. For a thorough explanation of our testing methodology and more details on our equipment, please refer to our How We Test PSUs - 2014 Pipeline post.
The performance of the Antec EDGE 550W unit at room temperature is excellent. The unit easily justifies the 80 Plus Gold certification, reaching a maximum 92.4% conversion efficiency at 50% load. The conversion efficiency is also very stable, with an average of 90.9% within the nominal load range (20% to 100% of the unit's capacity). Naturally, the efficiency of the Antec EDGE 550W unit drops at very low loads, dropping to 74.1% at 5% load. This is the expected behavior of any switching PSU and the Antec EDGE 550W has an output of just 28 Watts at that point; most systems will be closer to twice that power draw at idle, where the EDGE will be more efficient.
The high efficiency and low output of the Antec EDGE 550W translate to low losses across the entire load range. As such, the cooling system can easily cope with the thermal losses of the PSU, maintaining very low operating temperatures without the need to speed up the fan. Even under maximum load, the fan of the Antec EDGE 550W at room temperature is barely audible.
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bsim500 - Friday, October 3, 2014 - link
Good review but I really don't understand the point of a low-mid wattage PSU that's 170mm in length when other brands on the market are only 140mm? Doesn't the target market for these also go hand in hand with compact short depth Micro-ATX cases?...PS: How about a roundup on the really low wattage stuff for increasingly popular Mini-ITX builds (ie, 40-160w "Pico-PSU"), and maybe Seasonic G360 (budget, Gold rated, 140mm length, ultra quiet) / X400 (totally fanless), etc, which are all a lot more interesting from a custom build HTPC / "netbox" perspective?
willis936 - Friday, October 3, 2014 - link
Well at this point the target market is everyone who isn't running SLI or an overclocked HEDT CPU. In most cases (figurative and literal) the smaller PSU is nice but some people still do mid ATX cases with ATX mobos rather than uATX so I guess this is the PSU for them.willis936 - Friday, October 3, 2014 - link
Also after looking at price and results I can't see why anyone would forgo a SS PSU if they care about sound and performance at this price.Bobsy - Friday, October 3, 2014 - link
Well, it this is indeed based on the SeaSonic S12G, then it's like a S12G but modular, for almost the same price. I can easily see how this can be appealing.bebimbap - Friday, October 3, 2014 - link
I believe the size is due to the "silence" of the PSU.smaller/compact PSUs would be harder to cool with no/less air flow.
I have the seasonic G360 it is a beast. even with a highly oc'd 4770k @4.5ghz and gtx 670 oc'd to 1250 with boost. it doesn't have a single hickup. but that said, Most workloads are either high GPU with low cpu load (gaming) or the opposite no gpu and high cpu load. Not many workloads can max out a 4core with HT AND a upper tier GPU. So in the end i'm sure i won't hit the 360w limit. But I too would be interested in small PSUs in the 40-160w range.
TelstarTOS - Saturday, October 4, 2014 - link
There are more and more people that wants a quiet computing, and use midtower or even full tower cases where space is NOT an issue. It's a trend that Antec chimed in.kmmatney - Monday, October 6, 2014 - link
Yep - that's I I still have my huge Antec P182 case, with sound deadening panels. While I prefer shorter PSUs, I prefer silence even more, and with a large case it doesn't matter what I use. I've been using a Corsair 650W PSU for the last 6 years, which for all intents and purposes, is dead silent.The_Assimilator - Saturday, October 4, 2014 - link
This PSU utilizes the S12G platform, which is not designed for modularity. Hence additional space was needed for the modular cables' PCB.JoBalz - Friday, November 7, 2014 - link
Definitely one where you'll want to measure your available CPU space before ordering. Some cases the length would be a definite problem. I think I could get it physically in my case but having to attach or remove cables might be the problem as it's push up pretty close to the hard drive bays in the front of the case. Otherwise, it sounds like a good unit and a good price for most mainstream users that don't overclock and that have only one GPU to power.JoBalz - Friday, November 7, 2014 - link
Excuse me, I meant to measure your available PSU space before ordering (particularly if you're replacing an existing unit),.