INTRODUCTION

   Last month we witnessed the introduction of the world’s fastest single GPU graphics card the GeForce GTX Titan by NVIDIA which is basically a cut down version of the K20 Tesla compute accelerator for supercomputers. Owning such a graphics card however is only the beginning since you also need to pair it with a very high quality power supply unit capable of feeding it with lots of clean and stable power. The 80Plus Platinum certification has been out for almost 2 years now and always accompanies the highest quality and performance power supply units the market has to offer, at least until 80Plus Titanium Certified units finally get released. The latest Antec High Current Pro Platinum 1000W PSU is amongst the best out there and although it's been around for quite a while we decided to check it out as we will many other 80Plus Platinum PSUs in the near future.

   Antec, Inc., is the leading global brand of high-performance computer components and accessories for the gaming, PC upgrade and Do-It-Yourself (DIY) markets. Founded in 1986, Antec is recognized as a pioneer in these industries and has maintained its position as a worldwide market leader and international provider of efficient, quiet, and reliable 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 Germany, China and Taiwan. The company’s products are sold in more than 40 countries throughout the world. Please visit www.antec.com for more information.

   At first glance there are four things about the HCP-1000 that will certainly impress even the most demanding enthusiast, the 80Plus Platinum certification offering up to 94% power efficiency, the completely modular design making the HCP-1000 future proof just by using a different power cable, the 100% power output on just the 12v rails aimed towards enthusiasts and overclockers alike and the 7 years warranty offered by Antec. At first glance however there's also a downside and that's the rather obvious power/price ratio since there are quite a few 80Plus Platinum certified PSUs in the market offering more power for less and that's perhaps the only thing that Antec really needs to counter. Of course the performance of the unit is what matters most and so it all comes down to whether or not the HCP-1000 by Antec has what it takes to be amongst the best 80Plus Platinum Certified PSUs in the market today something which we will find out soon. 

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

Even the box of the High Current Pro Platinum 1000W stands out since unlike every other box by Antec this one is painted platinum at the front.

The unit’s electrical table is placed on the left side of the box.

On the right side we see a large table showcasing just how much money one can save by using the HCP-1000 and a list with all the available power connectors.

The specifications list is present at the rear in 6 languages.

Excellent packaging as expected from Antec with both the PSU and the modular cables wrapped inside bags made out of fabric.

Along with the HCP-1000 you are also getting the modular cables, power cable, 2 Velcro straps, 4 mounting screws and the user’s manual.

HIGH CURRENT PRO PLATINUM 1000W EXTERIOR

The fully modular HCP-1000 features a black matte paint and is actually smaller than i was expecting measuring 190mm in length, 150mm in width and 86mm in height.

To showcase its size i placed it right next to a standard ATX sized 900W unit and a larger 1200W unit.

For cooling Antec has chosen a 135mm 7 blade dual-ball bearing fan.

The Antec logo along with the product name is present on both sides of the unit.

As usual a sticker with the electrical table of the unit is placed at the top.

The modular connectors are not just color coded but also tagged according to which 12v rail they use.

Moving at the rear of the unit we see an Antec badge, the power on/off button, power port and the usual honeycomb perforation.

HIGH CURRENT PRO PLATINUM 1000W INTERIOR

The 135mm dual-ball bearing fan is manufactured by Delta Electronics (12v, 0.38A).

The entire layout of the unit very clean with very good filtering and the usual DC-to-DC conversion (the entire PSU is also made by Delta Electronics).

Primary capacitors are by our all time favorite Japanese Nippon Chemi-Con and are rated at 450V, 470uF, 105°C.

Most secondary capacitors are also by Nippon Chemi-Con but there are also some by Rubycon (again rated at 105°C).

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 during the past 5 years i have saved 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 even just 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 far less.

TEST RESULTS

RAIL STABILITY

Perfect rail stability even while using roughly 48W over the units total rated output is not a small feat.

POWER CONSUMPTION

Our test system power managed to draw a total of 1048W at full peak which was slightly less from what we were expecting.

NOISE LEVELS (SPL)

Although we were unable to find out the exact specifications of the 135mm dual-bearing fan by Delta Electronics 43.9dBA is not a bad result (especially from just 5-10cm distance).

CONCLUSION

   With the introduction of the quite excellent Quattro line of PSUs a few years back followed by the High Current Pro line consumers know what to expect when purchasing a high end model from Antec and naturally so do we. So when they announced the latest High Current Pro Platinum 1000W power supply unit we knew it would follow the highest standards in quality and performance and as clearly shown from our charts it does. The fully modular design also makes it future proof since consumers can later on purchase just the latest power cables to hit the market and be ready for all the latest mainboards, graphics cards and drives. Also with an efficiency of almost 94% (80Plus Platinum Certification) the HCP-1000 will most certainly save you quite a bit of money from the electrical bills, however in the end you will have to decide if that's enough of a reason for you to swap your current PSU. The only issue i can find with the HCP-1000 is that it only comes at 1000W (1KW) and so for people who plan on using multiple GeForce GTX Titan graphics cards or dual GTX 690's/7990's it just may not be powerful enough. Sure Antec has made it possible so people can use two HCP-1000 together but that's not really the same now is it? Still the HCP-1000 is more than enough to cover 99% of the consumers out there and that's what really matters in the end.

   As with any ultra-high end PC hardware component the High Current Pro Platinum 1000W has a somewhat high retail price tag which is currently set at USD243.84 inside the USA (Amazon) and at 210Euros inside the EU (Overclockers.co.uk). Of course at the end of the day the money required to purchase a powerful PSU like the HCP-1000 is nothing compared to the money some of the best graphics cards cost so for people who can actually put 1KW of power to good use i really don't think that such a price tag can be considered an issue. Thanks to its 80Plus Platinum Certification, completely modular design, OC link feature, rail stability and 7 years warranty the HCP-1000 is truly one of the top power supply units in the market currently and that's why it gets our Platinum Award.

PROS

- Build Quality
- Great Performance (Rail Stability)
- Fully Modular (Future Proof)
- OC Link (Can Connect Two HCP-1000s)
- 7 Years Warranty
- 80Plus Platinum Certified 

CONS

- Price (For Some)
- 1KW Model Only (Currently)