Antec EarthWatts EA 380D Green 380W
by Martin Kaffei on October 2, 2010 7:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- PSUs
- Green
- Antec
- Earth Watts
- 380W
Cooling & Noise Level
| Sound Pressure Level | |
| Load | dB(A) |
| 10% | 21 |
| 20% | 22 |
| 50% | 23 |
| 80% | 24 |
| 100% | 28 |
| 110% | 34 |
Objectively the noise level is above the level of the quietest PSUs, which often start below 20 dBA. But the increase is moderate until load reaches 80%. After that, the RPMs increase quickly, which results in nearly 35dBA at overload. But there is sufficient cooling because the exhaust air always stays cool and the result is a higher lifespan of the PSU.
Like the first generation of the EarthWatts PSUs, Antec is using an ADDA-fan (AD0812H5-A70GL), which has a ball bearing and a power consumption of 0.25A. The fan draws the warm air out of the rear of the PSU. With a fan vertically mounted to the PCB, heat-sensitive components have to be placed in the airflow. The air flows relatively unobstructed through the case, while top blowing fans guide the air first to the PCB and then to the outside. So basically it doesn’t matter which concept is chosen because both ideas have advantages and disadvantages. The fan itself and its control mode is more important.
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8steve8 - Saturday, October 2, 2010 - link
power consumption of 0.25A.azimex - Saturday, October 2, 2010 - link
Ok, its current drawn . Txs for pointing it out.gvaley - Wednesday, October 6, 2010 - link
I've seen worst. For example, "The current's power is 220V." :-)fausto412 - Saturday, October 2, 2010 - link
Ok, everyone who reads Anandtech and can use one of these 380W PSUs in any of your current or future rigs please raise your hand. anyone? hello? (crickets) anybody?Who thought it wise to waste their time reviewing this? I won't even read it.
DanNeely - Saturday, October 2, 2010 - link
Everyone who builds HTPC's raises hands and applies cluebats.bwj - Saturday, October 2, 2010 - link
I have a Core i7 CPU, 12GB of memory, six hard drives, three SSDs, and two video cards with a 300W power supply.Samus - Saturday, October 2, 2010 - link
I enjoyed the review, especially its technical component layout. It's nice to see Antec is making quality affordable, unlike PCP&C which makes quality unaffordable :)najames - Saturday, October 2, 2010 - link
I think you'd be surprised at the number of people using this size of power supply or even smaller. A lot of people even run dinky Pico power supplies. I have a couple rigs using 330W Seasonics, but I should be using even smaller supplies. I don't play ANY video games onboard video is fine for media server, or computers that crunch data.If I have a media server with a i3 530 that draws 35W idle and 100W load, I'd want a small power supply to make it run in the 80% efficiency range if possible. I'm looking to build a new one and am going to read the article. Even if it is not the power supply I want, I might still learn something.
mindless1 - Saturday, October 2, 2010 - link
The only system you should need a > 380W PSU in is your gaming rig. Since you can't play games on more than one system at a time, the rest of your systems won't need it unless you're a quite extreme overclocker.Leyawiin - Saturday, October 2, 2010 - link
I appreciate this review. I build a lot of basic PCs for friends and family that don't need what I have.