Final Thoughts and Conclusions
The Antec Quattro 1,000W power supply has a lot of very good features. The voltage regulation is excellent and the overall efficiency is very good. Under normal operating conditions (below 600W load) the Quattro 1kW is quiet and runs relatively cool. The Quattro comes fitted with a good balance of hard-wired and modular connectors that can support dual, high-end video cards. And let’s not forget active PFC and Antec’s 5-year AQ5 warranty!However, the relatively high AC ripple on the +3.3V output, while still in spec, gives rise for concern. And the very noisy +5VSB output is unacceptable. The majority of users probably won’t encounter problems when using the Quattro 1kW PSU because of the AC ripple, especially if they don’t push the unit too hard. On the other hand, outputs with high AC ripple can cause intermittent system instability. If you don’t need a 1,000W PSU then I recommend considering a high-quality unit with less capacity. If you really need 1kW PSU then spend the extra money to get one with clean outputs. If Antec/Enhance can clean up the noisy outputs this will be an excellent power supply; until then I can’t recommend it as strongly as I would like.
The MSRP for the Quattro 1,000W power supply is $299.99 USD and it is currently available through normal retail channels. This is one of the lowest prices we have seen for a 1kW PSU.
Strengths:
• Up to 1,000W DC output
• Excellent voltage regulation
• Quiet during normal operation
• Very good efficiency (80 Plus certified)
• Active PFC with universal AC input
• Quad +12V outputs, up to 70A combined
• Four PCI-E connectors (two 6-pin and two 6/2-pin)
• Fixed and modular sleeved cables
• Racing stripe paint job
• 5-Year AQ5 warranty
Weaknesses:
• +3.3V output relatively noisy (AC ripple)
• Excessive AC ripple on +5VSB output
I would like to thank Antec for sending us the Quattro 1,000W PSU to review.
And if you have any questions or comments about the article, or would like to see what others have to say about the Quattro 1kW PSU, just click into our Case, Cooling and Power Supply forum to join in the discussion!
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