Introduction

We would like to thank Antec for supplying the review sample.

Antec is without any doubt one of the key players in the PSU market. According to their claims they occupy the first spot worldwide for units sold in branded retail and they have the lowest return rates in the industry. Strangely enough, although they closely follow the competition's moves, till now they didn't have any platinum units among their products. This changed with the announcement of the new Platinum EarthWatts series, which consists of three mainstream units with capacities ranging from 450W to 650W. The afore-mentioned series is classified between the EarthWatts and High Current Gamer series and according to Antec this is the first wave of new series and updates. So expect higher powered Platinum units real soon from Antec.

The EarthWatts Platinum series is in essence the updated representative of the older EarthWatts PSU family, which focuses mainly on ecological power for everybody. The new units strictly follow the minimalistic philosophy of the original series but with the crucial difference that they provide the highest possible efficiency for a competitive price. So they give the budget oriented user the ability to purchase a Platinum unit, without breaking the bank. The only downside is that they must get along with the minimalistic design which lacks modular cables and exotic features/characteristics.

Today we will test the strongest of Antec's Platinum units, the EarthWatts Platinum 650W or EA-650 Platinum. It will be globaly released to the market in the end of January - early February, along with the other two smaller units of the new series and its MSRP is $129.95 but hopefully in the stores you will find it at lower prices, since MSRPs are is much higher than the retail price. In fact newegg already sells it at $119.99, ten bucks lower than the MSRP.