The Athena Power 350W FlexATX is certainly a change of pace for Kitguru, because we don't often review power supplies designed for 1U Mini ITX Chassis.
As an overall product design it will certainly be a worthwhile purchase for the intended audience. That said, on a technical level it doesn't really excel in any key area. Ripple suppression falls within rated parameters, but it isn't the cleanest design we have tested, by a long shot. With such a small fan it can also get noisy in the upper 20% of power output.
Efficiency also fell a little short of 80 Plus Bronze levels of certification, but it may have been this particular sample. It certainly wasn't a bad result falling at 84.67% at 50% load and 80.24% at full load, but nonetheless a little disappointing. On a more positive note, load regulation was fairly good and indicate a decent design.
As a somewhat niche oriented power supply, the cost is a little higher than many people would expect – Newegg are selling it for $85 in the US and the expected price in the UK will be around £55 inc vat.
Pros:
- a solid design for the Mini ITX audience
- stable
Cons:
- doesn't really excel at anything
- can get loud at higher load
KitGuru says: if you have a specific demand for one of these units, then this is a decent purchase.