INTRODUCTION

   It seems that no matter how many times we and others in this industry point out the significance of owning a good power supply unit there are always those who'd spend all their money on tier/grade-a mainboards, CPUs and graphics cards leaving only scraps for the power supply selection. Now I would perhaps expect this from people who are just taking their first steps in the world of PCs and are thus not very knowledgeable but most of the times that's really not the case (far from it). With that out of the way ever since we reviewed the High Current Gamer Gold 850W Power Supply Unit (review here) by Antec some of you reached out to us asking if we could also take a look at the 750W variant and even though it did take a while for us to get a sample from our friends over at Antec we did and this is what today's review is all about.

   Antec, Inc. is the global leader in high-performance computer components and accessories for the gaming, PC upgrade and Do-It-Yourself markets. Founded in 1986, Antec is recognized as a pioneer in the industry and has maintained its position as a worldwide market leader and international provider of quiet, efficient and innovative products. Antec has also achieved great success in the distribution channel, meeting the demands of quality-conscious system builders, VARs and integrators. Antec is headquartered in Fremont, California, with additional offices in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, as well as in the UK, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, China and Taiwan. The company’s products are sold in more than 40 countries throughout the world.

   Once again as clearly stated by its name the HCG 750W Gold (also available in 650/850W outputs) features an 80 Plus Gold efficiency certification (up to 92% electrical efficiency) and can deliver up to 750W of continuous power (862W peak). The HCG 750W Gold also features a fully modular design (future-proof), powerful 62A single +12V rail which can deliver up to 99% of the units total power output (744W), minor rails with a total output of 118.6W, 100% Japanese capacitors, PhaseWave design (full bridge LLC with DC-DC topology), ATX v2.4 support, Zero RPM fan mode for complete silence and the CircuitShield suite of industrial grade electrical protections including OVP (over-voltage), OCP (over-current), UVP (under-voltage), SCP (short-circuit), OPP (over-power), NLO (no-load operation), OTP (over-temperature) and SIP (surge and inrush). Finally, in order to show just how much trust they have in their latest power supply models Antec covers the entire High Current Gamer Gold line with a rather generous 10 year limited warranty.

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

We received the HCG 750W Gold inside a bot that has the main product features at the front right beneath the company logo, model name and power output.

On the left side Antec has placed the unit's electrical table right over drawings of the available power connectors.

All of the features are listed in detail at the rear of the box right next to a graph showcasing the 80 Plus Gold electrical efficiency.

The main product features are also printed at the base of the box in 8 languages.

As usual the PSU is placed between two thick pieces of black foam (and wrapped inside a fabric cover) while the rest of the bundle is placed next to it.

Along with the HCG 750W Gold, its fabric cover and its power cord you are also getting a cloth bags filled with modular cables, 12 cable ties, 4 mounting screws, 3 cable straps, warranty information paper and a product overview paper.

THE HCG 750W GOLD EXTERIOR

The HGC 750W Gold comes with both round braided power cables for the mainboard and graphics cards and flat SATA power cables.

Just like the 850W variant the HCG 750W Gold is also a compact PSU and measures just 150mm in width, 140mm in length and 86mm in height.

A 120mm fluid-dynamic bearing fan is placed at the top and features two different modes normal and hybrid (Zero RPM Manager).

The model name is printed on both sides of the enclosure right next to the company logo.

A large sticker containing the electrical specifications table is located at the base of the enclosure.

All modular connectors are tagged and different in size/shape.

At the rear we find the typical honeycomb perforation, power on/off button, Hybrid fan mode on/off button and the power port.

THE HCG 750W GOLD INTERIOR

The 120mm FDB fan used with the HCG 750W Gold is the same model as the one in the 850W variant and so it's manufactured by Ong Hua and can reach speeds of up to 2200RPM to produce airflow levels of up to 73.9CFM with up to 32.4dBA of noise.

Seasonic is the OEM behind the entire HCG line of PSUs by Antec.

This time over the primary capacitor is manufactured by the Japanese Rubycon and is certified for use up to 105 degrees Celsius.

Secondary capacitors are manufactured by Nichicon and United Chemi-Con and are also certified for use up to 105 degrees Celsius.

TEST BED

TESTING METHODOLOGY

     Using a dedicated measurement instrument such as a Chroma or a SunMoon to test power supply units is without doubt the most ideal and accurate way (not to mention the fastest) to do that currently. However, it's certainly not the only way there is and so pretty much anyone can test a power supply unit just by using a computer. Certainly, limitations do apply and so you can't really test a 1000W power supply if your system only uses 500W at peak loads and that's why many years ago I put aside certain hardware components for the purpose of building a dedicated PSU test rig. True it may not be as accurate as the above mentioned solutions but it comes really close and is in fact closer to real world usage. So as always, we ran several games with maximum graphic options enabled at a resolution of 2560x1600 in order to stress every hardware component and increase the overall power demands of the system. The Passmark BurnIn Test was also used to overstress the components in an effort to provide the most accurate results possible. As a final test we also used the latest OCCT 4.4 software and its dedicated PSU testing suite since it can really bring a power supply to its knees after inside a few minutes.

   Rail stability was checked/measured with the CPUID Hardware monitor and a Metex multimeter which also recorded the system load in idle and in load. As always try to remember that the power consumption numbers listed in the graph are the highest (Peak) ones recorded during the entire duration of the tests and not the average ones. Noise levels coming from the fan were recorded using the high precision HD600 ExTech Sound dBA Meter from the rear of the unit and at a range of no more than 5-10cm. Readings under load are recorded the exact moment we manually switch the fans of all graphics cards from full speed to almost zero, that way the fan of the power supply does not have enough time to slow its RPM and so by doing this we get very accurate noise level readings. Needless to say, in order to get 100% accurate readings, you need to have a noise isolated room for that exact purpose, something which is quite impossible unless you are working inside a real lab (some people use very small noise insulated boxes but due to their size both heat and noise exceed normal levels and so the results can't really be considered to be 100% accurate). Also do take into account that since all noise measurements take place from just 5-10cm away the final noise levels to reach your ears will be considerably less.

TEST RESULTS

CONCLUSION

   When we reviewed the HCG 850W Gold model back in late 2018 we had very high expectations from it since Seasonic is not your average PSU manufacturer and Antec deciding to use them for their entire HCG line was not a coincidence. In the end it met all our expectations and so does the HCG 750W Gold since it too features solid rail performance (trades blows with its 850W brother in our tests), comes with the 80 Plus Gold electrical efficiency certification (up to 92% efficiency), has an array of industrial grade electrical protections (OCP/OVP/UVP/SCP/OPP/NLO/OTP/SIP), 100% Japanese made capacitors (by Rubycon, Nichicon and United Chemi-Con for our sample), is compact and is covered by a 10 year limited warranty. Again, the 120mm FDB fan did become a bit noisy during our tests but only when our test rig reached its peak consumption (slightly noisier than the 850W model but that was expected really) so i don't expect that to be of any issue for most potential buyers.

   Almost a full year after Antec released their High Current Gamer Gold line of power supply units the 750W variant retails for USD115 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and for just 82Euros inside the EU (Amazon.co.uk). Unfortunately, due to low stock/availability on the other side of the Atlantic (Antec could be phasing out this model - EOL - to make room for a new one) the price is exactly the same as what the 850W variant cost back when we reviewed it but luckily over here things are way better. At the end of the day the HCG 750W Gold power supply unit by Antec has it all (especially if you happen to be living in the EU) and so if its power output is sufficient for your system you really should give it a chance, we did and that's also why it gets our Golden Award.

PROS

- Build Quality
- Solid Rail Stability
- Fully Modular Design
- Compact Size
- 80 Plus Gold Certified
- CircuitShield Electrical Protections
- Peak Output (862W)
- 10 Year Warranty
- Zero RPM Feature
- Current Price (EU)

CONS

- Noisy At Over 90% Load
- Current Price (USA)