Final Thoughts and Conclusions

The Astro PT 700W Platinum power supply from High Power is an interesting new PSU. The Astro PT 700W easily meets the 80Plus Platinum criteria for high efficiency and is virtually silent until the output is increased to more than 50% load. The cooling fan does not even turn on until about 25% load. The APT-700 comes with a good combination of cables and connectors and the cables are a little longer for easy cable management. While High Power claims this unit should be capable of extremely tight voltage regulation (down to 0.5%) our test results showed 1~2% voltage regulation, which is still very good and nothing to complain about. The Eagle-Eye real-time LED power meter on the back panel works as advertised and proved to be quite accurate during our load testing. It’s too bad it will typically be on the back side of your PC and out of sight for most users.

(Astro PT 700W Eagle-Eye LED power meter, 50% load)

The Astro PT 700W power supply is currently selling for $159.99 USD (Newegg.com, June 2013).

Strengths:
• Excellent efficiency across a broad range of loads (80Plus Platinum certified)
• Tri-color LED real-time power meter
• Very good voltage regulation (1~2% for three primary rails)
• Low AC ripple on the three primary outputs
• Virtually silent operation up to mid power levels
• Operates in silent fanless mode up to ~25% load
• Combined +12V outputs can deliver up to 58A/696W
• Four PCI-E connectors (6/8-pin) and two 4+4 pin/8-pin ATX/EPS
• Active PFC with universal AC input
• Good assortment of fixed and modular cables
• Longer cable lengths for easy cable management
• 5-Year warranty

Minor Weaknesses:
• AC ripple on the +5VSB output a little higher than we would like to see


High Power Astro PT 700W Power Supply

I would like to thank our friends at High Power for sending us the Astro PT 700W PSU to review – thank you.

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