Antec has a special place in mine and other quiet PC enthusiasts hearts. The
Fremont, California based manufacturer was one of the first to make a real effort to
improve the cooling and sonic efficiency of the average case. With their high
quality line of cases and power supplies, they continue to lead although
nowadays, there seem to be a few more competitors in the marketplace.
One member of their power supply line, the
Phantom 500 (initially introduced as a 350 Watt Model) although not newest
member of their power supply lineup has some unique and enviable
characteristics. I jumped at the opportunity to review this product and it wasn’t without reason.
In 2006 I had reviewed
Antec’s
Performace One Series P180B, a high end quiet case that brought forward the
concept of multi chambered cooling enclosures. Antec actually recommends the
Phantom 500 as a perfect choice for the P180, and since that time I’ve always
been curious to see how these two unique products would perform together.
Certainly if you’ve had either product in your sights, read on as each offers the
other some interesting benefits.
The Concept
Antec introduced the Phantom line in 2004 with the Phantom 350 as a completely
silent alternative to a fan cooled power supply. Heavy external aluminum heat
sinks bonded to or linked to with thermally conductive pads allowed the working
components within the power supply to direct heat to the exterior of the case.
Certainly at that point the traditional solution of having the power supply
attempt to cool itself via warm air from within the case was starting to be
recognized as a not-so-cool solution. But of course 350 Watts does not capture
the average extreme machine builder’s imagination, even if they do want to keep
things quiet. This is where the Phantom 500 steps in.
Beefed up to supply a max
of 420W on the 12V rails the Phantom 500 also has a managed fan system for thermal
protection. I know when I first read of the Phantom 500, the addition of the fan
seemed like a compromise to the design theme. Afterall, the brochure says
…”Quiet as a mouse – dead mouse that is”. I wondered at what point would this
little thermal mouse spring to life and what kind of noise would it make? Why
did they feel that they needed to have a managed fan system? The answer it turns out,
all comes down to the variability of the enclosure environment, which I’m going
to cover in detail. First though, let’s get the box open.
Packaging
As usual Antec has done a fine job of the packaging. Definitely not an OEM white
box PSU. It's also well packed for the rigors of shipping.
Contents
The unit comes some small mounting brackets (see center) and a 32 page manual
that goes well beyond the basics, elaborating on connector pin outs, over temp,
voltage, and current protection. The manual also describes the use of the three
settings for thermal management but does not detail how the mounting brackets
are to be used.
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