Antec HCG 850w Bronze Power Supply Review

Efficiency, PFC and Voltage Regulation

Voltage Regulation

We are always curious to see exactly how bronze rated power supplies will perform. That certainly doesn’t mean that we expect them to be bad. You do, after all, have to achieve definitive figures to get the rating. We have, however, in the past seen a few questionable results when a power supply is put to the test.

In terms of voltage regulation though, the Antec HCG does very well. The only power output that shows any deviance of note is the -12V and given that that isn’t a particularly important one, it’s absolutely nothing to be worried about. It is, however, perhaps slightly concerning that at 40% load, the voltage output was quite significantly lower than it should be.

Power Efficiency

In the terms of its 80 plus bronze rating, the Antec HCG gives figures higher than usually expected. While this power supply is clearly a fair way off the gold rating in terms of efficiency, this is still in the higher end of the bronze efficiency requirements. This, at the very least, certainly falls more in line with a Silver rating, which is a good thing if you’re planning on buying this.

Power Factor Correction

The Antec HCG initially struggles with its PFC rating when at the lowest level of load. This does, however, begin to improve quite significantly the harder you make it work. below 40% output though, the results are a little disappointing. In addition, it is unusual to see such a large variance between the upper and lower figures. This, combines with the efficiency rating, would indicate that the Antec HCG power supply is best when used at around a 60% capacity.