Antec HCG Extreme Series 1000W PSU Review

This particular power supply has adopted a Hong Hua fan (Model: HA13525H12F-Z). This is a high grade Fluid Dynamic bearing fan built for quiet operation and long life. It is rated 0.50A at 12VDC. Maximum speed is rated at 2,300 rpm. We have seen this fan used in most of the Seasonic GOLD and PRIME Platinum power supplies. The lifespan is rated at 150,000 hours when operating at 25c.

Below - a High Resolution Gallery of the internal layout of the power supply

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Soldering quality is high throughout, as we would expect from a Seasonic OEM design. The design is based around the FOCUS PLUS+ platform which I reviewed some time ago (I didn't get the 1000W unit, but the 850W is clearly from the same platform). Its very clean throughout and the layout is intelligent. Antec claim that they have a server grade 50c Temperature rating on the HCG Extreme which ‘delivers non stop industrial class performance for high end computer systems'.

We can see that Antec have upgraded the Bridge Diodes, PFC MOS, PFC diodes (based on internal shots of the Focus Plus+ 1000W that Seasonic sent me). We can see that Seasonic Focus Plus+ is rated 0-40C (40C ~ 50C @ 80% load). All Seasonic PSUs are 0 ~ 50C @ 100% load notated at Safety Agency testing. For 40C ~ 50C, Seasonic Focus Plus operate at 80% derating.

Inside are a fair few smallish heatsinks to aid with cooling key components. The power supply is using a full bridge LLC topology with synchronous rectification with DC-DC VRM’s for +3.3V and +5V rails on secondary.

Input filtering starts on a small PCB with Y and X capacitors in place – moving to the main PCB for completion.

This design uses high grade 105c rated Japanese capacitors throughout the build, with a single 105c 820uF 400V Capacitor used in the primary stage. By comparison , the PRIME 1000W Gold supply we reviewed back in April 2017 shipped with two primary capacitors rated 450uf and 560uf (for a total of 1010uF). The older Seasonic PRIME GOLD 1000W has around 200uF extra, which might prove useful under very heavy load situations.

I never tested the newer ULTRA revision but as far as I was told by Seasonic at the time, they never felt the need to send it to me to test as they only made small component tweaks and DC cable capacitors were moved to the back plane. As I don't have one on hand to check, I could be wrong.

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