INTRODUCTION

   This may not come as a shock to some people (however it does to me sometimes) but not every gamer or professional in the market is willing to spend much on a quality power supply unit even if they happen spend hundreds and hundreds of dollars/euros on a single graphics card. The good thing with this however is that it's not possible sometimes since really strong graphics cards require quite a bit of power and to get that people have no choice but to spend a lot more than they'd like to. On the other hand if you just want to power a low-mid/end system you don't have to worry about that (not as much anyways) and so even a low-output PSU should suffice. Today we're taking a look at one such PSU, the Strictly Power VPF550 550W model by Antec.

   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’s offering of enclosures includes a large range of cases, such as its technically advanced Performance One Series, cost-effective New Solution Series and server grade cases designed for the needs of all workstation and server markets. Antec’s products also include front line power supplies such as its TruePower Quattro Series and EarthWatts, the most environmentally friendly power supplies available. PC gamers are an increasingly significant consumer of performance components, and many Antec products are geared toward the gaming demographic, like the Nine Hundred, the premier gamer enclosure. Antec also offers a computing accessories line comprised of many original products, including its patented LED Fans and Notebook Cooling solutions. 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.

   The Strictly Power VPF line of power supply units is aimed towards consumers who are either not willing or just don't need something special and so unlike most others currently in the market all cables are hardwired into the chassis. The VPF line also features an 80 Plus Bronze efficiency certification, 2 high-current +12V rails, 120mm thermal controlled fan, ErP Lot 6 support and Antec’s CircuitShield™ suite of industrial grade protections such as OCP (over current), OVP (over voltage), UVP (under voltage), SCP (short circuit), OPP (over power), NLO (no load), BOP (brown-out), OTP (over temperature) and SIP (surge & inrush).

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

We received the VPF550 inside a small box with a product image at the front along with the company logo and its main features.

The features list is also placed on the left side in 4 languages.

The units’ electrical table and available power connectors are listed on the right.

At the rear and top of the box we find the same features list in 10 more languages.

Packaging is somewhat basic but it works so no problems here.

The bundle is also very basic so aside the VPF550 you will also get its power cord, 4 mounting screws, product overview paper and a warranty information paper.

THE VPF550 EXTERIOR

The enclosure of the VPF550 features a dark gray matte color and measures 150mm in length, 140mm in width and 86mm in height.

A single thermal-managed 120mm fan is placed at the base of the PSU.

The electrical table is placed on a large sticker found on the right side of the enclosure.

Antec has given long power cables to the VPF550 but not long enough to use in large full and HPTX cases.

Only the main 20/24pin power cable is sleeved and even that doesn't extend to the interior of the unit.

The company logo is engraved on both sides.

At the rear we see the typical honeycomb perforation along with a power switch and the power port.

THE VPF550 INTERIOR

The 120mm fan used in the VPF550 had no sticker on it but according to Antec this is a Yate Loon fan capable of spinning up to 2200RPM to produce up to 88CFM airflow with up to 40dBA of noise.

Interior layout is very clean but i don't think I’ve encountered this design in the past.

The primary capacitor is made by Samxon and is certified for use up to 105 degrees celcius.

Secondary capacitors are supplied by Samxon, Taicon, Nippon Chemi-Con and Rubycon (certified for use up to 85 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 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 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 RESULT

RAIL STABILITY

As you can see rail stability is not as good as we were hoping it would be but still quite good for a 550W PSU.

POWER CONSUMPTION

Had we used up to 500W of power then the above results would not be what i call good but using up to 584W changes things.

NOISE LEVELS (SPL)

Noise levels are perhaps the only thing we had a tiny "problem" with the VPF550 since 48.3dBA at load is somewhat high.

CONCUSION

   The very first thing some people pointed out to us when they saw the VPF550 on our photo bench was the non-modular design and i will tell you what i told them, Higher wattage models need to be modular mainly because there's very little chance that you'll be using all of the available power connectors so the ones you will not use have no place in your tower (better airflow and better looking without them in the way). However when we're talking about a low wattage model like the VPF550 there's really no need for modular cables since you will probably use all of its available power connectors. On the other hand however the Yate Loon fan is not inaudible and i honestly expected more by Antec since the VPF550 is clearly not aimed towards serious gamers with loud graphics cards so almost 50dBA of noise could be annoying to some people. Also worth mentioning is that although on the box it states that the VPF550 is covered by 3 years warranty (AQ3) on the specs sheet and on the warranty information paper it says 2. This of course doesn't impact the performance of the VPF550 but no matter how we all look at it that's definitely a small drawback.

   The VPF550 Strictly Power 550W PSU is one of those models which are not available inside the USA currently (or is with a different model name) but it is available inside the EU for a price tag of 55.80Euros (Amazon.de). Now although in terms of performance the VPF550 is certainly not the best PSU money can buy (nor the best 550W model in the market) i can't say that we had any complaints from it during testing and a price tag of 55Euros can only make things better and that's why we highly recommend taking a look if you're out in the market for a new low-wattage power supply unit.

PROS

- Good Quality
- Good Rail Stability
- Two PCI-E Power Connectors
- CircuitShield™ Protections
- Price (For Some)

CONS

- Non-Modular Design
- 2 Years Warranty (Not 3 As Stated On The Box)
- Noise Levels (Load)

* UPDATE: According to Antec the VPF series comes with a 3 year warranty and not two as stated in the warranty and specs sheets (the VP series feature 2).