Antec hcg gold 650w review in Spanish (full analysis)

A few months ago, we were able to analyze the new bet of the Californian brand Antec in the mid-range sources market, the EAG Pro. Today, we present to you its older sister: the High Current Gamer Gold range, which maintains its 80 + Gold certificate. And it stands out for its 100% modular cabling, hybrid fan mode, and more. Do you want to see how is this Antec HCG 650W? Let's start!

We thank Antec for trusting us with this source for analysis.

Antec HCG Gold 650W Technical Specifications

External analysis

The front of the box summarizes the most outstanding characteristics of this Antec HCG: Japanese capacitors, 80 Plus Gold, modular wiring, hybrid fan mode and a 10-year warranty.

In the back, these benefits are explained a little more, where some interesting features are added such as the use of a DC-DC circuit, which we will check in the internal analysis, and an extensive amount of protections (we will only miss OCP in 12V, characteristic of sources with several 12V rails, which is not the case in this Antec).

The protection found when opening the box is excellent, with a cover for the supplied modular wiring bags, and the fountain protected with foam. In addition to everything expected like the user manual or the screws, Antec includes some velcro straps with the image of the brand that we love, and also several normal nylon straps. Do you appreciate this set of accessories that will help a lot to organize the wiring?

How many connectors does this Antec include? Well the numbers are good, with 4 PCIe connectors, 8 SATA, 3 Molex and 1 8-pin CPU. Regarding the latter, two would have been much better for PCs mounted on the X299 or X399 platform, for that reason, the 750 and 850W versions include them, and there we do find it somewhat mandatory.

SATA and Molex cables are flat, while ATX, PCIe, and EPS use good quality meshing. The ones that are meshed contain capacitors that help filter the source output ripple. However, we believe that they are unnecessary since their effect is minimal, while they are a drag on the organization of the wiring.

Virtually all competition includes these capacitors. Fortunately, they do not affect the flexibility of the cable as much as in other cases, which will not be a great concern for the assembly process.

The exterior of the fountain does not have the most attractive design we have seen, as it is completely flat. But remember that in this component the true beauty is inside ?

A very remarkable and important aspect is that the chassis of this Antec HCG is especially compact. At just 140mm deep, it stands out from most. For the 650W model, it is not something tremendously special, but it is for the 750 and 850W models, which have the same dimensions. This is appreciated for mounting in boxes that do not leave much room for the power supply.

The front of the source includes a button to enable or disable Hybrid Fan Mode, something that is also greatly appreciated since many users prefer not to use it.

The modular board leaves no room for doubt and fortunately it is impossible to connect a cable in the wrong place.

Let's see what this Antec has inside! Remember that opening the source invalidates the warranty and carries certain physical risks, since the primary capacitor can store high voltage loads even with the source fully disconnected.

Internal analisis

We start with an overview of the Antec HCG. Again, the manufacturer is the reputed Seasonic, basing its interior on its Focus Plus Gold platform, very similar to that of the previously reviewed EAG Pro.

So, it is based on the two most popular technologies in its range: the efficient LLC on the primary side and the DC-DC converters on the secondary side, crucial to ensure the maintenance of good voltages in all load scenarios.

The primary filter has everything you need: 4 Y capacitors, 2 X capacitors and 2 coils. In addition, for various protection characteristics we have a varistor or MOV, which reduces surges, and an NTC thermistor along with a relay to prevent the source from being damaged by spikes when turning on the equipment.

The two GBU1006 rectifier diode bridges, cooled by a heatsink, are very generously sized for 650W.

The primary capacitor is manufactured by the Japanese Hitachi, with a capacity of 470µF and 400V of voltage at 105ºC.

Entirely Japanese capacitors are also used on the secondary side, and we have no complaints regarding their durability, they all belong to decent series. The electrolytics are from Nippon Chemi-Con (KZE), Nichicon (HD) and Rubycon, while there are also several solid capacitors (the blue band, more durable) from Chemi-Con.

The minor rails are generated by DC-DC converters, so we make sure that the voltages are not too distorted with today's equipment, which apply most of the load on the 12V main rail and unbalance the rest.

We go to the other side of the PCB, where the soldering work is just excellent by Seasonic. We have found no construction flaws.

Here you can see the Weltrend WT7527 supervisory circuit that provides most of the protections.

On the modular board, a few more capacitors are present for filtering tasks. Overall, the internal design is excellent, clean and advanced.

We finished with a Hong Hua HA1225H12F-Z 120mm fan that makes use of dynamic fluid bearings. Unfortunately, in the part of the performance tests we will explain a problem that we have had with the speed profile of this fan?

Test bench and performance tests

We have carried out tests to regulate the voltages, consumption and speed of the fan. To do this, we have been helped by the following team:

TESTING BENCH
Processor:	Intel Core i5-4690K
Base plate:	Asus Maximus VII HERO.
Memory:	16GB DDR3
Heatsink	Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO
HDD	Samsung 850 EVO SSD. Seagate Barracuda HDD
Graphic card	Sapphire R9 380X
Power supply	Antec HCG Gold 650W

The measurement of voltages is real, since it is not extracted from Software but from a UNI-T UT210E multimeter. For consumption we have a Brennenstuhl meter and a laser tachometer for fan speed.

Test scenarios

The tests are divided into several scenarios, in order from lowest to highest consumption.

	CPU load	GPU charging	Actual consumption (approx)
Scenario 1	None (at rest)	~ 70W
Scenario 2	Prime95	None	~ 160W
Scenario 3	None	FurMark	~ 285W
Scenario 4	Prime95	FurMark	~ 340W

To measure the fan speed, an initial scenario is added that is measured just when the equipment is turned on, while the rest of the scenarios are measured after 30min of use (2h in the case of Scenario 1)

Voltage regulation

Consumption

The consumption values ​​are adequate and correspond to other 80 + Gold sources of different powers.

Fan speed

Stage	Charge approx.	RPM ( Hybrid ON)	RPM ( Hybrid OFF)
Scenario 0	<100W	0rpm	440rpm
Scenario 1	<100W	0rpm	476rpm
Scenario 2	<180W	0rpm	479rpm
Scenario 3	<300W	0-400rpm	498rpm
Scenario 4	<400W	0-600rpm / 200-600rpm	502rpm

We have tested this source twice, with the hybrid mode on and off.

Unfortunately, we have had a bad experience with hybrid mode enabled. Starting with Test Scenario 3, the fan started on and off every few seconds, in a loop that we observed for over half an hour. In Scenario 4, most of the time the fan ranged from 200 to 600rpm, about to shut down, something it also did every few seconds.

We believe that the reason behind this behavior is that the fan is simply controlled by voltage as a function of temperature and load, so when a threshold is passed it turns on, and when consumption drops again, the fan is turned off. So at variable loads like gaming, or midway between the fan on and off, these continuous loops may get in.

Due to this behavior, using a semi-passive mode does not make sense, since fans with this type of bearing suffer more when subjected to continuous on and off operations than operating continuously.

When we deactivate hybrid mode, the fan is kept at a very low speed, being virtually silent. In fact, at high loads it spins slower than with hybrid mode off. We've seen much better performance with hybrid mode turned off, so we don't recommend keeping it turned on. The million dollar question is whether this will happen on all computers. It certainly doesn't have to, but the chance of it happening is enough for us to recommend disabling semi-passive mode.

Final words and conclusion about Antec HCG Gold 650W

Antec has made an excellent renovation of its catalog of power supplies. As with the Earthwatts Gold Pro we reviewed, your Antec HCG enjoys excellent quality and performance.

Outside, we liked the compact chassis used in this font, at just 140mm deep. The generous set of accessories, the modular cabling is well designed, and the only downside we can make about it is the use of capacitors in the cables, but it's something that 99% of competitors do, so we can't really blame it on Antec.

Inside, the internal design used by Seasonic is clean and modern, and the most outstanding aspect is how well built it is, with a very refined weld quality that has pleasantly surprised us. The components are of quality and the protection system is more than correct.

We recommend reading our guide on the best sources on the market.

As we have explained before, the hybrid mode of the fan has presented us with several problems. This is the biggest problem with this Antec HCG, but it doesn't make us avoid recommending this source, for two reasons: first, hybrid mode can be disabled (and we recommend it), and second, we are backed by the generous 10-year figure of warranty.

One of the most important factors of this source is its price, since for 99 euros for the 650W version, it is definitely highly competitive, to which is added a fairly high availability, making it one of the best options available in this price range.

ADVANTAGE	DISADVANTAGES
+ BIG PRICE / PERFORMANCE BALANCE	- THE HYBRID MODE MAY WORK INCORRECTLY, SO WE STRONGLY RECOMMEND THAT IT BE LEFT OFF
+ 10 YEARS WARRANTY
+ REASONABLY QUIET AND WITH A GOOD FAN
+ EXCELLENT INTERNAL CONSTRUCTION AND WELDING

The Professional Review team awards him the gold medal and recommended product, although it has been difficult to choose between gold and platinum.

Antec HCG Gold 650W

INTERNAL QUALITY - 95%

SOUNDNESS - 85%

WIRING MANAGEMENT - 90%

PROTECTION SYSTEMS - 85%

PRICE - 90%

89%

An excellent font at a greatly reduced price, albeit with a small flaw that is easy to correct by the user.