I can't belive that after more than 2 years with this problem it is still present!

Here is my story:

I have owned the NeoHE 550 SN#0512... since the beginning of 2006. It has been working fine with 2 systems:

1. Gigabyte P965-DS3 + GeForce 7800GTX
2. Gigabyte P35C-DS3R + GeForce 8800 GTS

But when I recently switched the 8800GTS to a GeForce 6200 (since I'm trying to quit gaming) my system wouldnt boot. It seems like I got the "low-power-draw-problem" like so many others before me. But since I did not know about this thread at the time I ended up paying for an unnecessary RMA of the motherboard.

Upon discovering this tread and reading every post since page 6 my perception of Antec really have changed. I used to think of Antec as a reputable company but not anymore.

From what I have read here it is obvious that Antec from the start never fixed the real problem but rather just handled the RMA:s as silently as possible. I am even sceptical to if Antec produces (or ever has produced) any "good batches" of the NeoHE or if it is just luck of getting a unit that happens to work. People are still having problem with A4 revisions produced as late as 2006.

And then there is the issue with the warranty-sticker. My sticker is broken and I swear that I have never touched it or done anything to it that would make it to break. And judging by this thread I am not the only one with this issue. I bet Antec figured that delivering products with broken/very fragile warranty-stickers is a great way of "handling" the situation.

Right now I am waiting for my RMA request and if I get denied because of the sticker or get a replacement that does not work I will never buy an Antec product again.

I will update this post as things progresses.


Some questions:

1. What exactly causes this problem? Is it a design flaw or a lack of proper quality check in the production?

1.a If it's a design flaw, has Antec fixed it? I am whondering since some people with A4 revisions produced in 06 still seem to have problems.

2. Has anyone with a broken warranty-sticker managed to get their power supply replaced?

Yesterday I got my replacement PSU for which I waited a bit over a week. Even though they said I should send in the PSU only I got a full retail package back. Quite impressive service here, especially when it comes to mind that I didn't have the invoice anymore...

Now I don't know if I should sell it or keep it in stock...

I am building a new HTPC and had obtained the NEO HE 500 at Fry's to use with the system. The components are as follows:

Gigabyte GA-965G-DS3 MB
INTEL CORE 2 DUO E4300 PROCESSOR
A-DATA 4GB(2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)
Seagate 500 GB SATA Barracuda HDD
LG BURNER (CAN PLAY HD DVD/BLURAY)

I connected the system together and when I initially applied power there was no response from anything - no fans or any other indication of power to the MB. So, I tried disconnecting everything, including the CPU, from the MB except for the CPU FAN. and then powered the system on with the NEO HE 500 connected via the 24 pin and 4 pin connectors. The fan did not work. So, I returned the PS to Fry's and got a replacement and went through the whole process again and got the same response. So, I called Gigabyte, thinking the MB was bad and I returned it to them on an RMA. They returned it (two weeks later) saying the the MB was fine, no problems.

So, my question is this. Does the Gigabyte MB of this variety have the same issues as some of the Asus MB's? Has anyone tried a NEO HE 500 with this Gigabyte MB and been successful? And, are there any ideas as to what I should try next?

Thanks for any help.

Ron

My problems were also with a Gigabyte mainboard (965P-DS3), but they were with a 430W unit and happend after several months of usage.

The 430W unit has the same connectors as the 500W, I assume, so that means that this unit should work with the DS3 MB which means that I did get two bad ones in a row.

So, I will be looking forward to getting the unit back from Antec to try again - meanwhile I got a Cooler Master 550W PS to try to get my system going.

Thanks for the input

I'm back with news.

I got a replacement unit with serial S0707... from Antec. The problem is that THE problem still persists. I've now tested the old NeoHE550 (S0512...) and new (S0707) with two different motherboards (Gigabyte P35C-DS3R and Asus P5K-SE) and I get the same problem. No boot/barely boots with low power parts in my system.

Confirmed: No version, new or old, has a fix for this problem. Both Asus and Gigabyte motherboards are affected.

where do you have the modular plugs connected? spread them out so that one is to the left, and the other plugs in to the right.

i've had a Neo 430 since jan 2006 w/o a single hiccup. used it on a asus p4s800 w/ 3.0 prescott and 6600gt. now using it on a e6550 w/ p35-ds3r and 8800gt.

I've always had it plugged in this way as well.

I've recently upgraded from a Zalman 460-APS to an Antec NeoHE 550W & have a similar problem. Upon first installing the PSU this Tuesday everything worked fine but since Wednesday the system will no longer power on. When I push the power button the power light turns on but half a second later turns off.

My system specs are as follows:

Intel DP965LTCK
Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 (stock 2.4GHz speeds) + Zalman 7000B-Cu
4GB Corsair PC6400 (4x1GB)
BFG 7900GS 256MB + Zalman VF900-Cu Led
2x Seagate 300GB SATA-II
Philips DVD-RW
Hercules Fortissimo IV
4x 120MM fans (the ones that come with the P182 case)

Could it also be that low power draw problem ?

*edit: I've found a temporary fix where I have to unplug the system for a couple of minutes, plug back in & then power on the system*

I have a system fired up right now with a Neo HE 550, acquired through a fry's sale for about $40. Before connecting the PS to the system, I started it up all by its lonesome, and since it seemed to work fine, putting out normal voltages, I went ahead and hooked it up. Thus far, it has run very very well, putting out more stable voltages under load than the Seasonic S12's and Corsair 450VX's I have used lately. The fan is the quietest stock fan I've seen in a power supply, despite being only 80mm (though I'd still swap it out, if it were for my own system). I guess I must have gotten lucky, but for all I can tell, this seems to be a really nice PSU.

5 samples, 3 * 430W and 2 * 550W.

2 * 430W, running 24/7 for a couple of years, no problems.
1 * 430W, a couple of hours a day for a year, no problems.
1 * 550W, 24/7 for a year, no problems.
1 * 550W, 24/7 very high load for a couple of years, no problems.

So only one vote for working flawlessly, but should count for 5.

I've had my Neo HE 430 PSU for about 18 months which came installed in an Antec P150 case. I posted in this thread on Thu Feb 01, 2007 at 7:13 pm that all was well. That was after it was only a couple of weeks old.

It's been running pretty much 24/7 since then and still running fine although there appears to be a humming/buzzing noise coming out of it now. If I gently nudge the case (like lift the case up from the back and set it down while running) the noise goes away. I'm pretty sure it's the PSU fan that is creating the noise.

So, I've opened up a ticket with Antec since this power supply has a 3 year warranty but I'm not sure what, if anything they'll do about it. My problem doesn't seem to be related to the other problems this thread identifies for this PSU.

Anyway, if I do replace, not sure I want to put in the same exact PSU or even another Antec PSU. But I want an equivalent PSU and one that is silent (or nearly so anyway!).

Would appreciate any suggestions. Thanks!

Unit in the sig running with zero problems for 2 years + a month or two, on 24/7, light use.

Recently bought on sale 500 and 550W units for future builds - would have preferred lower wattage, but that was not on sale. Both worked ok for week-long memory and stress tests with Intel Q9300 on a no-case bench test rig: cheap ECS G31 MB + 1 HDD, 1 DVD, 1FDD, 4GB memory, AC Freezer 7.

I find that the straight through airflow works very well with an Antec Solo type case with a duct to the PSU in the top 5.25" bay, and this PSU line is one of the few that is reasonably quiet, has straight through airflow, and has modular cables. I usualy use only 2 or 3 modular cables, which makes cable management much easier than with fixed cables.

I got the Neo 430 along with P150 case in Jan 2007 and finally got around to building a new PC (my first new PC in 10 years, huge upgrade from Athlon XP 1800+!!) It will not power up my ASUS P5E-K WiFI mobo with Asus EN9600GT video card. When I hit the power button I do not get anything. After changing the power supply to an Enermax modu82+ 525W the system boots up normally. I'm sending the PS back to antec for replacement for backup or ebay.

Off course I live in NYC and the closest local shop that sales the Enermax (rated the quiets PSU) is the MicroCenter on long island. Since I don't have a car it took me 4 hours round trip via train, grrrr.

old computer: p4 2.8 on some old via chipset ecs motherboard with 2 gb of ram

first i got a 550neo he from frys sometime in jan or feb, took it home and tried it, and it didnt work
went the next day to frys to get a replacement, still didnt work.
the day after, i got went to frys, and returned it. then i got 5 more new ones to take home to try. the first one i opened works fine.

and now i use it in my current computer : ip46 pro, e8400, 8800gt since then and everything works perfectly

System in the sig built this spring, works perfectly.

I'm also trying to deal with the "low-power-draw-problem" as I changed my set-up to a motherboard with integrated graphics.

My original receipt is from January 2005 for a Phantom. Two Phantoms and two Phantom 500's later (all broke down in one year) I was given a HE430 just when they hit the market. I realized the "low-power-draw-problem" and got a another HE430. After that I just tried to deal with it adding more hardware to my system.

I think I'll give up on Antec now. Bye bye

Okay I've got 2 of these currently in use and one in the cupboard, it was actually an RMA replacement at absolutely no cost.......

The one that died was run in a high heat environment (in a non AC's warehouse) and then we had some power issues in our suburb... My home theatre systems PSU also died shortly after so I suspect it had little to do with the PSU.. however Antec replaced it anyway ...... Thankyou.....

That system now has a 650W version.. again no troubles ...
This is an NF4 motherboard (Abit KN9 SLI pro or premium or something)
OPteron 170 at stock speed (tv tuner cards don't like it when the CPU is OC'd)
8800 GTS and 2 TV tuner cards (one dual one single) and 2 HD's 5 fans and a fan controller...... absolutely no issues at all...

The other one is an AMD 4200+ on an NF3 board with 4gb.. running as a file server/router/ distributed compiling/ database server with 7 HDD's .... you name it .. it does it..

Both systems are 24/7 (the opteron one has mythtv backend running for video recording)

Basically I cannot complain about the performance of the Neo HE's ..

I'm concerned about this low power issue that people are having as I'm building a lower powered HTPC.... (redeploying the 8800 card to an Intel based gaming box and moving the opteron on to a DFI RS482 and using the on board graphics for the mythtv setup......... ) but my experience has been so good so far that I doubt I will really have a problem...

My brand new Neo 430 is exhibiting the "power cycle" problem I've seen here, preventing computer from posting. All fans (including CPU fan) will come on, optical & hard drives will spin/eject.

Serial number is #0801... submitted to Antec for advanced replacement, hopefully a new one will work correctly.

Using with GA-EP45-DS3R, Q6600.

Have had my NeoHE 430 in P150 case since Mar 30 2006. Used an Intel 945 board and D820 and had no issues with boot up.

I replaced board/video and CPU in Feb 07 with an Intel DG965WH, and an E6300 with an XFX faless 7600GT- still no problems.

Two or Three months ago I began noticing PC would half power up- system fans and CPU fan would spin- but no drives. Recycle power a few times and I'd be on the go.

Am now building around an Antec Solo with Corsair TX650 and Intel board/CPU, but took my 7600GT out of unit with NeoHE 430(has on board vid) to use in new build.

Surprise surprise to find that by removing Video Card- only system fans spin at power up- 100% of time. If I put video card back in- it boots!

RMA requested last evening- while still under 3 year warranty

Chris

My 380 is working fine in bedroom HTPC since last summer. Got it when Newegg had a fire sale on them and cleared out their supply.

Sempron 64 2600
1GB DDR
640 GB WD
DVD burner
couple YL fans
Radeon 9700 Pro

Recently I got a NeoPower 430 A5 (means 5th version), but it failed on my desktop (can't start up, even the PSU fan can't run), with following components.

Intel E8300, no OC
Gigabyte GA-EP35-DS3 (Rev 2.1)
ATI HD3650
2GB DDRII800 x 2

I bought the Antec Neo Power 430 for 50 dollars CAN 12-15 months ago and I find it to be excellent.

It's as quiet as the review at SPCR states and has worked fine 12+ hours a day on my system:

Asus A8N5X
AMD64 3700+ (stock 2.2 ghz)
3 GB DDR
EVGA 7900 GS factory overclocked to 500 mhz (from 450 stock)
2 IDE hard drives
1 sound card

I might even keep this PS for my new Phenom II build since even a full Phenom II X4 955 build + 4890 Radeon video card consumes only 244 watts at load anyway.

I like how Antec states their numbers in a fair way. For example, the 430 watts can be output at 50 degrees 24/7, making easier to plan a system around this PS.

So, my third replacement Neo HE 430 is now failing. It randomly reboots. At least it has a 5 year warranty...

PSU: Antec 430W Neo HE
Mobo: Asus A8N-SLI Premium
CPU: Athlon64
RAM: 4Gb DDR
I can't give full specs because it won't boot now.

I've had a lot of trouble with my Antec 430W Neo HE. Thankfully it was in a box that was gifted to me, so no big loss except for time and a few dollars on cheap video cards. I presume it was thrown because they also lost time and patience trying to figure out what was wrong. I was nearly ready to give up on it until I found a post that led me here.

The main problem is just getting it to boot. The box came sans GPU. I tried a couple of basic PCI-E cards in it with the same result. Most of the time it just gives one long beep then two short ones (indicating video failure). I got it working for the first time yesterday with a different video card (GeForce 6600 based) and it worked reliably enough (numerous reboots) to allow me to reinstall windows, repartition and install linux. Today, however, it's back to the same old problem... 1 long beep, 2 short beeps and no graphics.

Until today, I'd suspected the motherboard might be causing the issue. I don't know yet whether the GPU is damaged yet. I hope it'll still work with a different PSU. Yes, it's frustrating, but at least I can fix it now I know what the problem is. Thanks.

Guess I'm extra lucky. I've got 2 NeoHE 380W. One has been working 24/7, the other one working 16 hours a day since the day they've been bought. No problems whatsoever. And I only paid like $20 each after rebate.

Rofl, seems like I spoke too soon. This Sunday, just about two weeks since my last post one of my NeoHE's died. Replaced the power supply with spare seasonic I had and the system booted up no problem. The second one is still working, hopefully it will keep working.

EDIT on 2014-01-07: Or maybe it's not dead? I rebuilt HTPC and apparently the new system doesn't like the older fanless FSP 300W power supply I was using so I had no choice, but to try and reuse the NeoHE. To mu surprise it started right back up. So I have no idea why it wasn't willing to power my server, but is fine with HTPC.