Antec Edge 650W Modular Power Supply Review

Ryan Martin / 10 years ago

Final Thoughts

Pricing

Antec’s Edge 650W has an MSRP of $150 USD and comes with a 5 year warranty. EU pricing is €145.99 and UK pricing is £90. You can pre-order it now from Scan in the UK.

Conclusion

The Antec Edge 650W boasts very strong performance in all aspects of what makes a good power supply. On the aesthetic front the fully modular design with all black cables is an excellent choice and the LED fan compliments things well. If the white LED isn’t to your taste Antec even give the option to turn it off. Furthermore, Antec provide two sets of rubber end-pieces for the Edge 650 allowing you to keep it stealth black or go for a red accent. The new fan grille design from Antec is also pretty sweet; it makes a nice change for the usual hexagonal mesh.

Moving over to performance and we see the Antec Edge 650W offers all of the hallmarks of a high quality Seasonic platform: quiet operation, high efficiency & PFC, strong voltage regulation and excellent ripple suppression. The only blemish on an otherwise superb performer was the hike in fan speed at 100% load which seemed unnatural and was unnecessary: the unit simply doesn’t get hot enough to justify 1700 RPM at full load.

Where does this unit stand given its hefty price? I think we can assume that the Antec Edge 650 will arrive to market cheaper than its MSRP as most power supplies do tend to. Right now it is hard to make a concrete judgement about the Edge 650 given the uncertain pricing but we can see that it faces stiff competition from a lot of rival power supplies. Take for example, the BitFenix Fury 650G (€140), the Corsair RM650 (€105), the Super Flower Leadex Gold 650W (€110) and the Silverstone Strider Gold 650W (€120) [prices accurate at time of writing]. Of course not all of these rival power supplies have a fully modular design, all black cables, changeable anti-vibration end-pieces, LEDs and such strong internal performance. Antec always hold a premium over other brands because Seasonic platforms are expensive: but the extra expense is justified due to the high performance.

Simply put, there are other alternatives that offer better value for money, but the Antec Edge 650W is a fantastic power supply nonetheless. Keep an eye on pricing because it is definitely worth buying if you can afford it and appreciate the extra quality.

Pros

Higher than certified efficiency
Strong +- 2% voltage regulation
Impressive ripple suppression
Quiet under most load scenarios
Fully modular with all black cables
LED fan and end-pieces – ability to “accessorise” your PSU’s aesthetics
5 year warranty

Cons

Expensive (but not for UK buyers!)
Loud fan at 100% load

“Antec’s Edge 650W may be expensive, but it has a flawless design and a ton of features. This power supply is well worth considering if you’re building an extreme performance system.”