Antec hcg1000 extreme review in Spanish (full analysis)

Antec returns this time with its new series of power supplies aimed at the high or medium-high range, the Antec HCG1000 Extreme with 1000W of power, 80 Plus Gold certificate and a 10-year warranty.

Will it meet the high expectations of this market? Let's see it!

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

Antec HCG1000 Extreme Technical Specifications

External analysis

The front of the box shows us in all its splendor the range with which we are dealing, although it does not show an image of the protagonist to the sides.

In the back, they present some interesting features: 80 Plus Gold efficiency, guaranteed full power, its semi-passive mode that keeps the fan off, its 10-year warranty…

As soon as we open the box, which is perfectly protected, we already find the protagonist, in addition to the complete assortment of cables (including the current one), the different manuals and a bag with screws, as well as a generous number of plastic cable ties and velcro, details that are really appreciated.

Moving to the power supply, Antec has taken a certainly risky bet with a chassis in which the typical black metal plate happens to have a golden color that in our opinion gives it an excellent appearance. In any case, some users concerned with aesthetics may throw out the golden color for being quite unusual in PC configurations.

Now it's time to talk about the amount of cables that this source provides, and in the case of a 1000W model we have a lot to comment on.

Meshed cables in ATX, CPU and PCIe connectors

Flat cables in SATA and Molex connectors

In addition to the mandatory ATX cable, the brand provides 2 8-pin EPS cables (it would be unacceptable if they were not ), which are used in high-performance HEDT platform motherboards such as the X299 or X399.

Regarding the PCIe connectors, we found eight. It is about the expected in a source of this power, but still it is appreciated that they include this number of cables since some models of the competition only bring 6.

We must take into account how these PCIe connectors are distributed. 6 cables are provided, and all use an 8-pin connection on the modular board. Of these 6, four are totally individual, that is, in a cable there is only one connector. The remaining two have 2 connectors of 6 + 2 pins each. It is very important for high power graphics cards, since each cable is suitable for a ~ ~ 225W maximum, which would have to be divided in the case of double cabling. It is a bit of a hassle to explain, but the conclusion is that the cable management is designed to take advantage of the 1000W that the source offers without problems, and is totally suitable for using various high-power graphics, such as a GTI 1080 Ti SLI with which individual cables should be used. Great.

After this messy explanation about PCIe connectors, let's go with something easier: 12 SATA connectors divided into 3 cables and 6 Molex in one cable are included. Come on, more than enough figures for 99% of users?

Let us now go inside to see if the components used are of quality.

Internal analisis

Internally, Antec has once again trusted the manufacturer Seasonic and its Focus Plus platform for this High Current Gamer Extreme range. It is the same platform that we saw in the HCG Gold 650W review, so we arrived with good quality expectations. It is based on the LLC and DC-DC technologies that we almost always mention, as they are the most common in medium and high-end sources, given their efficiency and voltage stability.

Primary filtering begins on a PCB next to the power connector and is made up of 2 Y capacitors and 1 X capacitor, but continues on the main PCB for a total of 4 Y and 2 X.

The two rectifier diode bridges are located in their own large aluminum heatsink.

As expected, we have an NTC thermistor + relay that help reduce large current spikes that occur when turning on the source (due to the relay, every time you turn the source on / off you hear a loud "click", totally normal) , in addition to the varistor or MOV that reduces surges.

The primary capacitor is Japanese, manufactured by Hitachi, and at first it is scary to use a single capacitor and not two in parallel in the case of a 1000W source. However, we are relieved to see its massive 820uF capacity, which means that you will be able to do your best.

A look at the DC-DC converters from this source.

On the secondary side we find a large dispersion of Japanese Nippon Chemi-Con capacitors, belonging to the W series, and Nichicon. There is also a good amount of solid capacitors, the latter of extremely high durability.

If we move to the part where the welds of the components are, we observe an excellent construction, as expected.

It is also here where we find the supervisory chip of the protections, a Weltrend WT7527V. Regarding this aspect, the only failure of this source is the lack of overcurrent protection (OCP) in the 12V rail, it is only present in the 3.3V and 5V rails. We would like to see it implemented in a high-end font.

The 135mm fan is the HA13525H12F-Z, which features top-quality dynamic fluid bearings, although there have been several complaints of 'clicking' noise coming from this fan. The truth is that it can be audible by the most demanding users, but with the hybrid mode on it will be off and at high loads the rest of the fans of the team will be more audible, most likely.

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)

Keep in mind that due to the variable nature of these tests, since it is difficult to guarantee that very disparate tests over time are carried out under the same conditions, we always make comparisons with sources tested the same day, so that tests such as the consumption test can vary between different reviews.

Voltages and consumption

In our charging equipment, which unfortunately hardly exerts a load of 30 or 35% on the source, there have been no problems in the basic performance tests. Everything is going great.

Fan speed

Antec again makes use of hybrid mode on this power supply. When it is activated (leaving the Hybrid Mode button without activating), the fan stays off until medium / high loads, while if it is disabled it keeps it always on.

With the semi-passive mode, we find the same control system as that of the HCG Gold, and with it its propensity to turn on and off loops at certain times, something that can make dynamic fluid bearings suffer, although It could be a somewhat alarming conclusion considering the 10-year warranty.

With the fan on, from low speeds there is a slight clicking that we have already seen reported online with this same Hong Hua fan. It could annoy extremely demanding users who want a PC with absolutely no noise, but for most even a working HDD serves to mask the noise .

With this power supply we recommend using hybrid mode activated, generally.

Final words and conclusion about Antec HCG1000 Extreme

This power supply is added to a fairly consistent product line in terms of quality and performance.

Thanks to the collaboration with Seasonic as a manufacturer, a product is obtained whose internal quality is excellent. As expected, we find the use of a modern internal platform with very good components and excellent build quality. Sure, a font made to last your 10-year warranty.

Regarding the external aspects and the functionality, this attractive source has a very well organized modular wiring system, which is really well thought out, with a quantity of connectors very suitable for a 1000 watt model and with a distribution that favors all types high performance mounts.

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

We were expecting a somewhat quieter fan with the hybrid mode turned off, simply to be able to attract the most demanding users who don't like this mode. Surely that type of user is not even 1%, but you have to take it into account. For those who want to use the semi-passive mode, the 10-year warranty gives us confidence in it and, while it is not the best we have seen, at least it does its job of not making the source noisy during medium and low loads.

The price in stores of this power supply is between € 190 and € 210, which we consider high since other models with similar and even superior characteristics move through this price range, being able to see Platinum options of more than 1000 watts with some benefits that we do not find in this unit. However, this Antec is still one of the options to consider, and it definitely earns good consideration from us.

ADVANTAGE	DISADVANTAGES
+ INTERNAL QUALITY AND EXCELLENT CONSTRUCTION	- IMPROVABLE OPERATION WITH THE HYBRID MODE ON AND COULD BE MORE QUIETLY IT OFF
+ 10 YEAR WARRANTY	- HIGH PRICE
+ GENEROUS AND VERY WELL THINKED WIRING ASSORTMENT

The Professional Review team awards him the gold medal.

Antec HCG1000 Extreme

INTERNAL QUALITY - 96%

SOUND - 83%

WIRING MANAGEMENT - 95%

PROTECTION SYSTEMS - 85%

PRICE - 79%

88%