Antec HCG 750W Power Supply Review

Final Thoughts

Pricing

In the UK the Antec High Current Gamer 750M isn’t as widely available as we would like to see but it can be had £99.95 at Overclockers UK. In the USA we are seeing pricing of $149.99 at NCIX USA, Newegg currently doesn’t stock the item. In Canada we are seeing pricing of $149.99 CAD at NCIX Canada.

Conclusion

Antec’s HCG 750W is an interesting power supply. As I anticipated at the beginning the price is much more expensive than more budget-orientated equivalents. For example the Antec HCG 750M costs around 20-25% more than other equivalents from Cooler Master, InWin, Zalman, Be Quiet and Corsair which cost around £75-85 in the UK compared to the Antec HCG 750M’s price of £99.99. Of course there is a dramatic difference which is that Antec’s HCG 750M uses a much more premium Seasonic platform while cheaper rivals use cheaper OEMs. Of course that’s not to say that rival solutions such as the CX750M, Pure Power L7 730W, GreenMe 750W and GX750W are inferior, but they simply can’t match the Antec HCG in terms of voltage regulation and noise/ripple suppression.We typically saw less than 1% movement on all the rails under all loads which is just a fantastic figure. Most PSUs of this wattage and certification would typically offer +- 2-3% so the HCG 750W obviously has a clear advantage.  The HCG 750M’s active PFC regulation was decent, though for a PSU of its type its results were equivalent to cheaper competitors.

In terms of fan noise and efficiency, for the extra price I didn’t really see the Antec HCG 750M offer more than its rivals. Efficiency was a decent 80 Plus Bronze as we’d expect but considering how close this unit is to 80 Plus Gold certified units in terms of pricing I am slightly concerned they didn’t opt for at least 80 Plus Silver to justify that higher price. In terms of noise the results weren’t that impressive either and up to 2100RPM at full load was very loud. The power supply did have quiet operation between 0 and 60% but any higher than that really was quite unpleasant on the ears, so that’s definitely something to consider if silence is important to you. The cabling on the unit had pretty nice sleeving and was definitely above average, though as is my pet hate on a lot of expensive power supplies this cabling doesn’t cover the entire cable and doesn’t completely hide the multi-coloured cabling underneath.

The Antec HCG 750M is a tough one to come to a conclusion on. It has excellent voltage regulation and noise/ripple suppression, well above that of equivalent rivals and matching that of much more expensive rivals. However, everything else fails to inspire. The pricing is uncompetitive compared to the competition, the efficiency is roughly the same, PFC performance is roughly the same, the unit is quite loud and the cabling can’t match the all-black design of cheaper rivals like the CX750M. If best in class performance really matters to you, and you’re happy to pay 20-25% more for it over other units with the same wattage and efficiency certification then the Antec HCG 750M could be for you. However, from my perspective I would rather pay less and lose a little voltage regulation and ripple/noise suppression. When you create a rugged gamer-orientated 80 Plus Bronze PSU, pricing is crucial because there is so much competition at this price point. I think for most gamers having +-1% voltage regulation instead of +-3% voltage regulation isn’t something they’d pay more for but if it is then you really can’t fault this unit for its epic performance.

Pros

• Amazing voltage regulation +- 1% on all rails
• Excellent noise and ripple suppression
• Decent PFC performance
• Premium Seasonic OEM platform

Cons

• Very costly relative to the competition (20-25% more)
• Gets noisy above 60%~ loads
• Cables are not that well disguised

“Antec’s High Current Gamer 750W modular power supply has exceptional performance in terms of voltage regulation and noise/ripple suppression so if you’re in the market for that kind of high performance PSU then this truly delivers in abundance. However, for the significant price premium over the competition I do not think the Antec HCG 750M offers enough in other areas (such as acoustic performance, PFC, efficiency and cable quality) to justify that significant price premium. If you can manage to grab a good deal on this PSU then it certainly will not disappoint but I think money speaks this time.”

Thank you to Antec for providing this review sample.